A home away from home.

When we arrived the neighbour across the street gave us the keys and told us to help ourselves to whatever was in the kitchen. The fridge and pantry were stocked full and there was a big box of oranges stored outside for fresh juice. The house is a one-minute walk from a main street where there is an array of food shops with incredible pastries and other Dutch delicacies on offer. Every morning we indulged in custard donuts, croissants and other fattening treats, it was delish!

The house itself is just lovely, the downstairs living area has a great kitchen, a huge dining table (you could probably fit 14 people on it) and a comfy lounge area that was so inviting we ended up spending more time in the house than expected. The basement has a great laundry (they even had powder etc for us to use) and a big bathroom with a basic bedroom. Upstairs on the first landing is another great living room area with the master bedroom and ensuite adjacent. Then up another flight of stairs are three smaller bedrooms with a washbasin and shower that can be used by everyone. This top bathroom area is positioned in the passageway so you need to time your showers if you’re shy!

We absolutely loved staying there. The décor is both earthy and modern and - very importantly - the heater worked a treat. The stairs are very steep so you need to be careful going up and down but that’s very much the European way! You can get a tram into the busy parts of town really easily - it takes about 30 minutes - and the street itself is a pleasure to walk down. We had a wonderful time in the house, it really had a huge impact on our trip and even though we didn’t get to meet the owners they made us feel extremely welcomed by being so generous and making the house feel so homey on arrival. We would love to stay there again; it made our trip to Holland very special indeed.