Nieuw Minerva  

The staffs are very friendly. and the location is in the central of the city.

Free WiFi in the lobby not in the room. The stairs are to steep, especially for elderly people with heavy luggage..

Very convenient hotel. In the center of Leiden, near a small channel. The room was clean, very quiet, and comfortable. Very friendly staff.

I had good pillows, a rarity in hotels! The building was charming, a series of 16th century buildings. The location was excellent, city center, close to railway station. My room faced an inner court, so was very quiet. The downstairs lounge also served as cafe. I found that fun, though other people complained that it was a bit noisy.

Room design was rather boring.

Rooms are really clean, bathrooms are simple but modern and well-equipped. Rooms have all you need and are homely. Staff is very friendly and helpful. Breakfast is great. Location in the city centre is very convenient. Atmosphere is good and relaxed, although a bit oldfashioned due to the furnishing.

Rooms are furnished with an eclectic collection of furniture; sometimes this adds to the historic atmosphere but mostly it just looks like some old stuff from grandma's.

Schoon, prijs en ambiance.

I came to Leiden to be a paranimf at a PhD defense, which took place in the Academiegebouw (Rapenburg). Nieuw Minerva is very close to that location, it was just a 10-15 minutes walk. I really recommend the hotel to everyone - specially from abroad - coming for such events. The hotel has a separate room where group dinners can be organised. The hotel is right in the center of the city. A very nice shopping street begins only 100 meters from the hotel, and there are a lot of nice restaurants and cafes close by. Also the train station is only 1km away, so one can even walk from and to there. The hotel staff is extremely friendly and helpful.

Breakfast is basic (nothing fancy), but cheap, copious and tasty (nice selection of tea and coffee).

The location, the bathroom was nice and staff was friendly.

It was cold in the room (single- glazed windows, it is December and the heating was weak) and the decorations (long pieces of fabric on top of each wall) were very dusty. No tea/coffee making facilities in the room and the lights were very weak.

the room, the view and the general atmosphere

that the breakfast wasnt included in the price

Friendly staff, it was not too busy, location, bathtub

bit stuffy

Lovely old fashioned reception and dining areas with well-equipped and comfortable bedrooms and bathrooms. Right in the centre of Leiden and a short walk from the station. I had a twin room for single use overlooking the canal and it was very good value. I thoroughly recommend this hotel.

cozy central simple

Location was excellent! Very close to the town center and the train station. The hotel itself was very quaint with original features and the staff were friendly and helpful.

Our room was a bit noisy in the mornings due to squeaking floorboards - one of the downsides of staying in an old building!

I loved the location. The hotel was recommended to me by the University of Leiden international office staff, with whom I was coming to meet. The staff were efficient and friendly. My room was perfectly adequate to my needs and was comfortable.

I didn't mind this, but potential guests should be aware that there is no lift, so they'll have to haul any luggage they have up the steep and narrow stairs. I was there for business, so not having internet in my room would have been a significant inconvenience.

location

mini-bathroom hotel maids do not use to knock the door

The hotel was conveniently located and has a nice personal touch.

If you are a woman travelling with a heavy bag there is no lift.

My room was very nice-beautifully decorated in old dutch style.The little bathroom was gorgeous-which is a rare thing in Holland-believe it or not!

The noise from the street was horrendous.-It was only the next day when I discovered there was a nightclub or venue underneath.You couldnt hear the music-just very loud people going up and down the lane.No doubleglazing.

Good location; Nice room.

It happened tobe very noise in the street whilst we were there - 'student' summer groups

Friendly and helpful staff.

Breakfast was not very good. The bathroom was not well designed and the floor became flooded when taking a shower.

The location was very central.

The noise at night outside made it very difficult to sleep.

The hotel is very well located and quiet. The houses it is located in makes is charming. We had a view to a canal from our room, very nice. The personnel of the hotel is very friendly and helpful.

It would be good to have internet in the rooms for free, not only in the lobby.

Loved the old time classic style and architecture of the building and the staff was very friendly and always helpful.

This was my second time staying at the Nieuw Minerva--the first time was seven years ago. I see that many other travelers have complaints, but my experience was great the first time and even better the second time: my spouse and I had a large room with an amazing view overlooking the canal, a bathroom with a full bath & shower, and wonderful service. My only trepidation was the wireless, which we needed to use--but we were on the first floor (U.S. second floor) and so got the signal for the free wireless in the downstairs lobby/lounge. Great price and the most central location you could ask for, but I don't felt we sacrificed quality or comfort for either.

Other reviewers obviously had smaller, less well-situated rooms than we did, and I can't speak to their experiences. I agree that the stairs are steep, and that the wireless fees are exorbitant, and there was a little street noise at night--though nothing that bothered us. Those things might be real problems for other people. But some of the negative reviewers seem to come from inexperienced travelers who have never stayed in a hotel other than a cookie-cutter Hilton or Raddison or Howard Johnson's. There are quirks to affordable European hotels in major cities run by real people, and within that category the Nieuw Minerva is far lovelier, larger, more charming and more delightful than any similarly-priced hotels I've stayed at in Florence, Vienna, Amsterdam, Prague, and Budapest. If you can't bear the idea that you might not have a bathtub, or that you might have to climb a flight of stairs, or that the room might be decorated in some zany style, you're not going to be able to get a well-priced, centrally-located hotel. And you'll miss out on a lot.

Perfectly situated hotel in the centre of Leiden. Our room was a bit old fashioned but nevertheless clean and with a nice view on the "Gracht" (little channel) in front of the hotel. WiFi is available for free in the lobby, but I still could connect to it on the 2nd floor in our room.

Great Location

Brilliant situation, right next to a large and busy canal, in the centre of Leiden, with excellent access to all the city places of interest. We were pleased with the friendly service, and they responded very promptly and generously to our concerns.

Our initial room was smaller than we expected and there was the noise of the fan in the toilet, but they kindly gave us a much better room at no extra cost.