The Qbic hotels advertise themselves as being “Cheap Chic & No Frills”. They cater to the budget conscious traveller who’s looking for “fun, sassy and efficient” hotel accommodation. The whole concept hinges on the Cubi – a cube-shaped element that combines bed, desk and bathroom –, self service – check in terminal and Grab & Go corner –, and a heavy focus on design – Philippe Starck design bathroom elements amongst others.
Although I’m a sucker for well-designed furniture and living spaces, the whole self service part had me expect a rather cold and impersonal reception. Also the thought of having a hotel half hidden in these enormous business towers seemed a bit weird to me.
Because the confirmation I received by e-mail included very detailed directions with photos and 3D maps of the WTC towers I feared the hotel would be hard to find. So it was with some apprehension that I walked up to the WTC towers in Amsterdam on Thursday afternoon. Yet the distinctive red Qbic logo was clearly visible at the entrance, and follow-up signs led me effortlessly to the hotel itself. It was located next to a TNT Post Business Point, and because there was no clear demarcation – both rooms were open – entering the lobby was a very undefined experience.
Actually there was no real lobby, just an open corridor next to the lounge. Before I could start looking for the self service check in point, I noticed a young woman sitting at a computer in the wooden wall element (left of the video fire place in the picture above) in the lounge. She was very friendly; she greeted me cordially and proposed to help me check in. This went very smooth and efficiently.
Once I had my key card I quickly inspected the Grab & Go corner and the self service check in which I obviously didn’t get the chance to try out, then entered the hallway to go to my room.
Entering said hallway was a bit of a surprise. It bathed in green neon light, coming from TL lamps behind translucent walls. Those walls were decorated with a photographic curtain motif. Big room numbers were set vertically in Amelia, one of those typical Compu-retro display faces. Now I don’t know this from personal experience – hoo hah –, but the whole atmosphere reeked of seedy sex shops and brothels. Very bizarre for a hotel.
The room itself was just big enough, with the Cubi on the right and a chair, a stool/coffee table, and a coat hanger on the left. As I had seen on the website the Cubi element was indeed a stand-alone structure in the room. The red light integrated at the top of the element gave the room a special, dare I say also sex-flavoured touch. I tried to change the colours (the website advertised Mellow Yellow, Red Romance, Deep Purple Love, ...) but the switch didn’t seem to work. Switching on the integrated halogen spots in the Cubi, the desk light, and the standing lamp counter-balanced the red effect and the resulting light blend was very pleasant.
The left wall was covered with graphics which upon closer inspection revealed themselves to be advertising for two local furniture and interior design stores, but as it was subtly done it didn’t distract. The room had nice laminate flooring and simple off white curtains which went from ceiling to floor.
Opening the curtains gave me my second surprise – I looked straight into the offices at the other side of the main hall, so having them open was not really an option. As I have a very minor tendency to be claustrophobic this was less pleasant. I don’t know if the rooms on the second floor presented the same problem.
The bathroom section was functional, very tastefully designed, and had a great step in shower with rain shower head. Every minimalist detail matched.
When I came home after the presentation of Rijksoverheid Serif and Sans, the new type family by Peter Verheul, the main entrance of WTC building was still open, but access to the main hall where I needed to be was closed. This of course was to be expected of a business building, and by simply paging the night porter through the intercom I was granted access.
Once in my room I decided to put the desk element to the test. As I had to finish a My Type of Music post I thought I’d give the free high speed wireless internet a spin. The desk lamp was of the “touch me” variety. Its intensity could be increased in three successive steps by touching the stem. The desk ran as wide as the bed and easily accommodated my pimped laptop. As there were power plugs at both sides it was possible to plug in both the desk lamp and the power supply. The only problem I had was with the bar stool type of chairs. They had a circular foot rest on the stem of the chair, but nothing to rest my feet on attached to the bed, so after a while sitting at the desk became somewhat less comfortable.
I had a really good night’s sleep. The advertised Hästings bed was great, and because the neighbourhood was almost deserted and the traffic was not audible in the room the night was perfectly still.
Breakfast the next morning was served in a buffet and didn’t come in vending machines as I had been led to believe from the description on the website. As I overslept only one couple and a single person were sitting at the design table when I arrived, and they quickly left. Actually the table was more of a counter with an inventive shape allowing for a variety of configurations of guests, ranging from a single person to small groups. The steward was very helpful and showed me around the buffet. He also explained that the switches for the different light colours had been disabled, and that guests now had to request a “mood change” from the steward. It was a typical continental breakfast with fresh fruit, cereals with milk or yoghurt, orange juice, boiled eggs, delicious small pastries, rolls with different types of jam and marmalade, and so on. As I only drink tea I can’t judge the quality of the coffee, but the selection of teas was very nice. For me personally a benchmark for the breakfast served in hotels is the orange juice, and that seemed to be of very fine quality.
In conclusion I must say I was very pleasantly surprised by my first Qbic Hotel experience. It’s quite different from standard hotels, but my initial misgivings about it being impersonal proved to be unfounded. The setting is brilliant if you’re into interior design and no-nonsense approach, plus it is much nicer than comparable budget hotels. I spent a great night and will probably stay at the Qbic again when I next visit Amsterdam (or Antwerpen when it opens; dunno if I'll ever need to be in Maastricht).
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Great review of the qbic hotel Yves. I was there aswel, if I knew we could have met.
What did you think of the presentation? What do you think of the impact the new government brand identity will have? What do you think of the typeface, does is serve its purpose?
At my blog I've written a article summary of the presenation from last week. I'm interested to kown your thoughts on the Rijksoverheid typeface.
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I am writing an entry on the presentation, but it got a little delayed. Good thing you already posted yours. And indeed it's a shame we didn't meet.
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Hi there! I am mostly likely to book my husband and I in Qbic Hotel, Amsterdam. This may seem a stupid question to you but, is there a cleaning lady everyday to clean the room? I am allergic to dust, you see.
Thanks!
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Beats me. I only stayed there one night, and as I am not allergic to dust I didn't notice anything. Sorry I can't help you.
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