Menkemaborg

Great hotel and location, but breakfast could be more Dutch The Amsterdam Barbizon Palace is a very nice hotel in a fantastic location, right in the heart of Amsterdam and within easy walking distance of the main attractions and Central Station. The hotel itself was clean, comfortable and well maintained, and overall we had a very good stay. My only real gripe is the breakfast buffet. For a hotel in Amsterdam, I was rather surprised by the lack of some very basic Dutch items. There was no karnemelk (buttermilk), so I asked the waiter about it. His response was: “No, we don’t have that. It’s really Dutch though, isn’t it?” He made no attempt to check whether there might be some in the kitchen, as had apparently been possible a few years ago. There was also no komijnekaas (Dutch cumin cheese). Again, this is a very traditional Dutch product, and I would expect a hotel in Amsterdam to consider it fairly standard breakfast fare. These are small points, and certainly not enough to detract from an otherwise very good hotel experience. But if you are going to serve breakfast in Amsterdam, a little more attention to distinctly Dutch products would be a nice touch.