The Dutch Diaries, Part Four: B&B Bij Jeanne (aka “the best!”)

Hello Once Again, Armchair Travellers of Bloglandia!

So far, the Dutch Diaries have been a whirlwind of sightseeing, which means it’s time to relax a little and settle into what might be the best bed and breakfast in all of the Netherlands.

Typing about where we rested our heads at night might seem a little mundane, but if a place treats its guests with above and beyond wonderful-ness, I think it deserves some attention.

Plus, you’ve got to check out the breakfasts!!

Before we step inside and get all cozied up at B&B Bij Jeanne, if you’ve missed any of the Dutch Diaries, you can catch up with Part One, Part Two, or Part Three.

Really? It’s Got to Rain NOW?

The day we left Haarlem to catch the train for Delft, the weather didn’t start out too bad. Cloudy and cool, sure. But not too shabby.

Then it got steadily worse as we headed south.

By the time we got to Delft, it was dumping rain.

Granted, we’re from Oregon. We can deal with rain. We even came equipped with umbrellas.

But when you’re dragging your wheelie suitcase for a couple kilometers in the wind and rain, umbrellas aren’t much help.

Needless to say, we were soaked by the time we got to our bed and breakfast.

Oh, and to make things worse…this was the worst wind and rain we encountered during our trip. As we’re lugging our suitcases. For two kilometers. Because the rain gods have quite the senses of humor.

A Warm Welcome

Luckily and amazingly, we didn’t get lost on our way to our b&b.

Which was a problem, because we were crazy early. Check in was normally at 3pm. It wasn’t even noon yet.

Granted, I had warned our host that we would be early and she was okay with that, but we were even earlier than earlier.

Still, when our host, José (= “Josie”), opened the door to her two soaked and bedraggled guests, she didn’t hesitate to usher us in and let us drip all over her beautifully clean floors.

Not only that, but she immediately offered us a cup of tea…which our rain-chilled bones gladly accepted.

And throughout our stay José was just all around friendly and warm and nice to talk to and, well…let’s get on with things.

Our Room with a View

A quick tidbit about B&B Bij Jeanne. “Bij” (=”bye”) is like “chez” in French, so the B&B’s name literally means “at Jeanne’s place”.

But I said the host was José, shouldn’t it be “Bij José”? 

Well, I suppose it could be, but Jeanne was José’s mom, and the B&B (Built in 1918) is the home José grew up in and recently converted into a bed and breakfast after she retired from her job as a nurse.

Anyway, back to our stay…

The two rooms at the B&B Bij Jeanne are on the third floor (second floor by European counting), and you do need to be able to handle two flights of those Dutch stairs pictured above, but seriously, after several days in the Netherlands, you’ll be flying up and down those stairs like a native.

Our room was the African room (named so because José’s daughter lives in South Africa) and looked over José’s gorgeous garden….which I spent far too much time gazing enviously at!

The room might be small by some standards, but Mr Husband and I stayed for 8 nights and we never once felt cramped or like we were bumping into each other. Plus, you can always make use of the sitting room on the first (ground) floor or the balcony on the second (first) floor.

The Breakfasts, Dear Lord, the Breakfasts!

When I say the breakfasts at B&B Bij Jeanne are filling, they are FILLING (especially considering that I’m usually hungry an hour after breakfast).

They were so filling, we never once ate out in Delft other than a quick snack in the afternoon or a salad and breakfast leftovers for dinner. 

Every breakfast started out with some sort of yogurt treat. My favorite was the Smoothie Bowl that was topped with all kinds of goodies….

You also get fresh-squeezed orange juice and coffee or tea or milk (or all of the above, if you like).

Then comes the parade of food: an egg (if you want), a big bowl of sliced fresh fruit, a plate of sliced meats and cheeses (she can do vegan, if you prefer), and a three-tiered tower of rolls, croissants, bread slices, crackers, and sweet goodies.

As if this wasn’t enough, nearly every day, José experimented with some sort of “extra” treat such as banana pancakes, French toast, or chocolate-banana bread.

And, she even encouraged us to take what we couldn’t finish in little doggy bags she provided, which is why we always had rolls on hand for a snack!

Like I said, this breakfast bonanza really helped reduce our dining budget!

Oh, and for anyone who’s curious, you also have all-day access to the fridge and microwave in the breakfast room so you can heat up a treat or keep your market purchases cool.

Above and Beyond (Laundry) Service

José chatted with us every morning at breakfast, asking what we did the day before and finding out our plans for the day ahead. And she was very handy for tips of what we might do, what not to miss, what to skip, etc.

This isn’t terribly unusual for a bed and breakfast….although we have stayed in some where the host seems to want nothing to do with her guests.

What was incredible was the laundry service. 

I’m sort of kidding, but not really.

Because really, who wants to laundry while on vacation? Plus, the nearest laundry place was pretty expensive and didn’t have many machines available.

But when we asked José about other laundry places, she offered to do our laundry for us! I mean, she charged a small fee (half what the laundry place was charging), but she collected our dirty clothes, washed them, dried them, and even folded them and left them in our room all fresh and clean! 

And believe me, after a building up a week of travel grime, those clean clothes felt SO good to put on!

An Offer We Really Couldn’t Refuse…

Okay, sure laundry was nice, but what really knocked my socks (clean socks!) off was when Mr Husband and I were talking to José about being a little nervous about getting to the airport for our flight home the next day (Schiphol was/is having one problem after the other, so showing up at least four hours early was/is recommended).

Well, José asks if we’d like a ride to the airport. That way we wouldn’t have to deal with getting the to train, possibly missing our train, or the train line being shut down (which did happen once during our time in the Netherlands).

Again, this wasn’t offered for free, but the cost? LESS than the train tickets would have been!

Did we jump at this chance? Oh yeah! (Turned out her husband was driving into Amsterdam for work that day, so it worked out perfectly).

One Last Hoorah…A Giant Bag of Breakfast!

Because we were leaving so early, we weren’t going to have time for the full meal deal breakfast.

When José offered to fix us something for the morning, we told her just a couple rolls and maybe some cheese would be fine.

What we ended up with was an entire grocery bag full of bottles of juice, sandwiches, and various sweet treats.

I mean, seriously, the bag was FULL of stuff.

Basically, I couldn’t believe the level of service and understanding and generosity of José. It really did make our stay in Delft all that much better…we kind of wanted to move in!

So, if you’re ever visiting Delft and are looking for a place to stay, don’t bother looking. Just book a room at B&B Bij Jeanne!!

And no, I’m not receiving anything for this recommendation, I just think it’s an amazing place that deserves every five-star rating it receives!!

Despite how wonderful this place was, we did manage to explore Delft…more on that is coming very soon!

Type at you then!

Note: Most images for this post were “borrowed” from the B&B Bij Jeanne website.

***

Looking for Something to Read???

I’ve got loads of Freebies, Binge-Worthy Fantasy, and Tales of Gods & Goddesses for you.

It’s been a while, but I’ve thrown my hat into a few bundles this month.

And by “hat” I mean my books…because putting a hat into a bundle with other people’s hats is nothing but a good way to get lice.

The trio of bundles below both feature books (not hats) by indie authors like myself. Even if you don’t purchase anything, it’s a BIG help for you just to gander at what we’re up to in the indie writing world.

So, please do check the three collections out (just give the images a tap and you’ll be whisked away all the reading wonders)

Note: That second one says it’s epic fantasy, but it actually features a wide variety of fantasy sub-genres.

Happy book browsing!