Holland2Stay 

I strongly recommend thinking twice before renting from Holland2Stay

Based on my and my husband's experience, I would not recommend renting from Holland2Stay unless you genuinely have very few alternatives.

We rented a roughly 30 m² furnished apartment and paid around €1,500 per month for six months. What was described as furnished was, in our apartment, essentially two chairs, a table, a small sofa/seating unit and a bed placed in a loft area. We were charged approximately €75 per month for inventory/furniture. What particularly concerns me is that this inventory calculation appeared to include fixed items in the kitchen and bathroom as well. Our total monthly service-related charges exceeded €250.

The loft was used as sleeping space, although we later raised serious questions about whether it actually qualifies as a bedroom under the Dutch WWS system. The daylight situation there was also questionable, with only a small high-level window.

Another major problem was that we could not properly view the actual apartment before committing. We were told this was because the existing tenant's rights/privacy had to be respected. Instead, attractive representative photos were shown. When we eventually entered the apartment, the reality was very different from what we had expected, even down to inadequate lighting.

When our work situation later required us to relocate to another city, we informed Holland2Stay that we needed to leave and tried to find a reasonable solution. We proposed alternative termination dates and even offered to help find a replacement tenant. Our proposals were rejected. We are now formally disputing charges claimed for the period after we surrender the apartment and are having several aspects of the tenancy reviewed.

This experience is particularly disappointing when Holland2Stay's website says: “We've got your back” and describes itself as a “sidekick for life in the Netherlands.” Our experience felt like the opposite. Instead of making our life in the Netherlands easier, this experience genuinely damaged some of the positive feelings we had about living here.

My advice to prospective tenants is simple: do not rely only on marketing photographs or descriptions. Ask to see the exact apartment before signing, request a complete inventory with the individual furniture charges, check the WWS points yourself, ask exactly what every service charge covers, and carefully check the termination conditions. Get everything in writing.

We are keeping our documentation and correspondence and are considering the appropriate legal and regulatory options. If other former or current tenants have experienced similar issues, I would also be interested in hearing about their experiences and, where appropriate, exploring lawful collective options.

I can only describe what happened in our own tenancy, but based on that experience, I would personally not rent from Holland2Stay again.

===================≠========== Answer to 1. Reply========

Thank you for your reply. Our review is not about expecting humanity or help from Holland2Stay. We have already received all the answers we needed.
Our purpose now is to inform other tenants.

Message to other people:
If you have experienced similar issues, I strongly encourage you to document everything carefully and report your own case to the appropriate Dutch housing and tenant authorities. I will be doing the same and will continue updating this review as my case progresses.

Very disappointing and extremely inflexible treatment of a tenant. (If you have any other option, please go for it; do not make bussiness with those people. They will change the company name; please be aware it will be CODOMO)

I understand that Dutch tenancy law allows the contractual notice period, and I accept that I signed the agreement. My complaint is about how Holland2Stay chooses to treat tenants when circumstances change.

I currently pay around €1,500 per month for approximately 30 m² with extremely limited window/natural-light space. After my work situation changed, I finally found another home closer to work in an extremely difficult housing market.

I explained everything, requested an earlier mutually agreed termination, offered several alternative dates, and even asked whether finding another tenant would help. Every option was simply rejected. Holland2Stay then confirmed that the apartment was already booked again immediately after my tenancy ends.

So yes, they may be able to rely on the contract. But repeatedly saying “we completely understand your situation” while refusing to consider any practical solution felt dismissive rather than understanding.

I will submit the complete case to the relevant tenant/housing authorities for an independent assessment and update this review after the final handover and deposit settlement.

+------- Answer to below reply ------+
Thank you for your reply, it is a summary how you handle your "bussines"

Unfortunately your reply misrepresents both my contract and my complaint.
My minimum rental period was six months, not one year. My tenancy started on 11 February and the six-month minimum period had already expired on 11 August. My working circumstances had changed months earlier, leaving me with approximately 43 km of travel and around three hours of commuting by public transport every day, but due to the housing situation it took me months to find a suitable alternative.
I am not asking Holland2Stay for preferential treatment or a special exception. My complaint is about how the situation was handled. I notified Holland2Stay on 21 August, offered several alternative termination dates, and even offered to help find a replacement tenant. I simply asked whether the apartment could be rented again earlier — for example on 5 or 10 September — rather than keeping me financially responsible until 21 September. Every proposal was rejected.
Holland2Stay has already confirmed that the apartment was booked again immediately following 21 September. In a housing market where so many people are desperately searching for accommodation, this is exactly why I find the complete unwillingness to consider an earlier takeover so unreasonable.
Please do not present my complaint as a request for an “exception”. I am asking for reasonable, transparent and tenant-oriented handling of a genuine change in circumstances. That is also why I will have the contractual and financial aspects independently reviewed.
I will update this review after the checkout, deposit and service-cost settlement are completed.

----- Answer to second reply (they are deleting their other responses!) -------------

Thank you for replying again. Please feel free to keep your previous replies visible as well — I believe the full exchange helps readers understand the situation. 😊
Once again, I am not asking for an exception to be granted after the fact, nor am I disputing that the contract contains a 30-day notice period. My review is about your complete unwillingness to reach a mutually agreed earlier termination, despite the circumstances and despite the alternatives I proposed.
A 30-day contractual notice period does not prevent two parties from mutually agreeing on an earlier termination date. I offered alternative dates and even offered to help find a replacement tenant. All of these proposals were rejected, while the apartment was apparently able to be booked for another tenant immediately after 21 September.
Therefore, repeating that “the 30-day notice period applies equally to all tenants” does not actually address the criticism in my review. Equal application of a rule and reasonable handling of an individual situation are two different questions.
In any case, please continue responding. I am happy for prospective tenants to read the entire exchange and form their own opinion. 😊

Maybe the worst company that you can rent from,
I stayed in zonnelaan in Groningen for a year. At the pre check out the lady told me that the situation of everything is ok and the wrinkles are normal on the flooring which happens because of normal usage, but when I left to my home country after a month they say based on the pictures the have decided to charge me for the flooring because it is my responsibility, So basically they expect to not sit on the chair or furniture so their cheapest version of flooring stays exactly the same like day 1. And now they are not giving me back my 900 euro deposit and because of the law system of the netherlands I cannot pursue from higher authorities because the cost of lawyers would be much more.
If you want to rent from them know the fact that your deposit will never be given back to you.

Living at Building The Y has been a frustrating experience, mainly down to maintenance, management responsiveness, and how tenant issues are handled.

TV/Internet problems get blamed on you. You're not given a choice of network or TV provider — it's whatever they've selected for the building. If your TV or internet stops working, management's default response is that it's a problem with your own hardware, even when the issue is clearly on their end. There's no real troubleshooting or accountability from their side.

Maintenance tickets closed without being solved. I've submitted requests for ongoing issues and they get marked as closed with nothing actually fixed. It feels like tickets are closed to keep the numbers looking good rather than to resolve anything.

You can't get anyone on the phone. There is no way to reach a real person directly. If you leave a message requesting a callback, you're told it'll happen within one business day. It doesn't happen.

Hallways smell of cat urine and feces. This is a basic building upkeep issue and it has not been addressed despite being an obvious, ongoing problem.

Rent increases every year regardless. Like clockwork, the cost of living here goes up annually — around 4%, or whatever the legal maximum happens to be — with zero corresponding improvement in service, communication, or maintenance quality.

For the price you pay to live here, the basics — working utilities, a responsive management team, and a clean, well-maintained building — should not be too much to ask. Based on my experience, they are.

Ik raad het af om bij Holland2stay te huren. Tenzij je:

- elke winter in de kou wilt zitten maar wel de kosten moet betalen
- je geen geen werkende ventilatie systeem wilt hebben waardoor er op diverse plekken in je huis schimmel ontstaat en een ongezonde leefklimaat.
- brandwerende deur die niet functioneert klemt en niet goed sluit pas na 1,5 jaar gerepareerd wordt.
- waterdruk rampzalig laag is
- stoppen er uit slaan omdat het goedkoop materiaal is maar er niemand langs komt om het te vervangen waardoor het je eigen kosten zijn.
- je meldingen maakt maar het niet erg vind als ze zonder afgehandeld zijn afgesloten zijn.
- als je het niet erg vind dat als je ze wilt bereiken je anoniem moet bellen of 2 weken lang elke dag belt in de hoop dat iemand eindelijk op neemt.
En als je het niet erg vind om een belachelijk hoge huur te betalen die elk jat omhoog gaat met daar boven op de verplichting om een parkeerplaats te huren en ook nog een flink bedrag aan service kosten.

Het is een ongezonde organisatie die heel veel werk te doen heeft om te gaan functioneren. Je naam veranderen heeft geen toegevoegde waarde hierin.

Ik zal het dus niet aanbevelen en bij andere organisaties gaan kijken.

Na een paar e-mails zijn wij aan het afwachten op het beloofde resultaat met betrekking tot de rekening.

I am very happy with living here. It is very nearby the station and transportation. TU delft is very nearby and a clean and very nice neighborhood. Free parking and also near the highway.

I am extremely disappointed with how my case has been handled.

We were selected through the lottery process and trusted that we had finally found a home. We believed that the purpose of the lottery program was to give people a fair chance to find stable housing, so we relied on that decision and already gave notice to our current landlord.

Then, they canceled our reservation by email without giving us the opportunity to respond or provide further clarification.
We also could not speak to anyone directly because only a call-back request was available.
Despite our willingness to provide additional explanations and offer extra financial security, our situation was not reconsidered.

As a result, we are now at risk of being left without housing.

VERY STRESSFUL & DISAPPOINTING

I sincerely hope Holland2Stay will review our case again and provide a fair solution.

Zijn net als change= oplichters echt vreselijk

Problemas graves con la devolución de la fianza / Retención indebida

Tuvimos una experiencia pésima con la gestión de la devolución de la fianza tras finalizar nuestro contrato. Entregamos el inmueble y toda la documentación bancaria requerida en tiempo y forma, cumpliendo rigurosamente con sus peticiones.
A pesar de haber confirmado que los datos estaban correctos y que la transferencia se tramitaría de inmediato, pasan los días y el departamento financiero no envía el comprobante de transferencia (MT103) ni realiza el reembolso de nuestro dinero.
Lamentable falta de puntualidad, comunicación y profesionalidad con los inquilinos internacionales una vez que dejamos el inmueble. No recomiendo esta empresa por el incumplimiento y la lentitud en la devolución de las fianzas retenidas.

Scammers! Be careful if you rent from them. They charge you for false and unreasonable things, they won't return your deposit, and their yearly charges are absolutely unreasonable. Stay away.

I have to mention this weird but beyond belief sequence of events. I agree with the person that said that they are very hard speak with them. Unfortunately there is where the problems have started.

They have this booking system in which you can apply for certain houses. I have tried this before. Unfortunately, I was not picked but that is ok. A few months later, the same place was available again. I wanted to book it again but it did not work. Because of this of this I called but they are hard to get a hold of. Ive tries several times and also left my number for them to call back (an option that they provide) but no call back. After a few tries, I gave up. This was in June.

Once again, the option in Tilburg was gone but came back again. We are in juli now. Again I tried to book it and it didnt work. I called again, after a few tries, I got called back. I was not able to pick it up because i work as an emergency operator. I called back, did not work until finally I spoke with someone.

The lady I spoke to said there might be an IT problem and an IT guy would call me back. Did not happen. Because the option was still available, I kept trying daily. Usually you're on hold for about 10 15 20 minutes. After a few days (and asking to be called back) I once again finally spoke with someone. She asked me if I noted a name. I didnt. She would take care of it. She did not because nobody called back.

So, I kept calling because the option was still available. After a few days I spoke with a lady. She told me to try to book it on a computer instead of my Phone. Fair enough. I tried but no. I called the next day. I SPOKE with someone and it was her again. She recognized me and told me to send an email with 3 salary statements. Because an manual booking might be possible but she did not know if she was allowed. I sent the mail and waited a week.

Here is the kicker. Once I called after waiting a week, I called during my lunch at 13 oclock. It said that they are not available. I thought the line was closed due to lunch. I called the next day at 16 oclock, again the same message. I then called with a different number and it want through. After 20 minutes, I spoken with someone. Instead of helping me or just giving me clarity they decided to block my number.

The only reason I had to call so much, is because they never pick up or dont do the thing that THEY say they would do. Also, to be fair, i have been instructed to keep trying because "de aanhouder wint". But man, this is just appaling.

I never gave an review. But in this case I have to. Honestly, just give me the clarity why it doesnt book. That is the only thing that I want. I am not saying that I should get the appartement in Tilburg. But I should be able to book it. If you want to help me, just give me the clarity.

The guy I spoke to last said that someone from booking would contact me on Friday. Hopefully this will happen but honestly I dont think so.

Update 30 juli: As I mentioned and believed, nobody contacted me on friday the 24th of juli or in general. Continueing their poor standards.

This is about the H2S building in Rijswijk.

At least once a month, one of the two elevators is out of order. Even worse, people sometimes get stuck in them and have to call the emergency number. They hope that a neighbor is awake to help them unlock the elevator by calling it from another floor.

They switched some neighbors' water and electrical meters and left them to deal with the resulting issues without providing any assistance.

They delivered the building late and unfinished. Work was still ongoing when we moved in, which came with all the usual inconveniences (noise, dirt, unready parking spaces, etc.), yet we were expected to pay the full amount.

They delivered the apartments in a very dirty state, yet they expect people to leave them cleaner than five-star hotels.

Some apartments did not have working floor heating during all winter, yet they still received huge bills from Essent.

Despite delivering the apartments late, they increased the rent after less than a year based on the initial start date.

You can't choose your internet provider; you have to use the one they impose, which has poor connectivity.

After 5 p.m., it's a miracle if the call center picks up the phone to address emergencies. For example, the apartments on the higher floors suddenly stopped having water after 5pm because of an issue with the pump. The building manager is completely unresponsive outside of working hours, even in the case of an absolute emergency, and the people in the call center cannot make decisions!

Water frequently has cut off for hours in the summer months, UNPLANNED , and they don't pick up emergency numbers during these times and seem to simply not care . This has already happened twice in two weeks - things I have never before experienced in other buildings . The lifts are also unsafe and go out of order frequently and there have been multiple cases where people stuck in.

Other than these critical issues, all is fine. Location is nice. View is nice. The building is fine too.

I stayed there for 2 years , very organized place , apartment was clean , comfy and they took a good care of the building, there is GYM , sauna , BBQ places , Parking for bike ,nice community, was great experience , i left only because i bought an apartment, but for renting , i highly recommend H2S

Worst-in-class service and customer support.

Living in this building has been an extremely frustrating experience. During my tenancy, residents were left without hot water for 10 days. The company's solution was to install temporary showers in a public parking area instead of providing a proper and timely fix.

The elevators have now been out of service for three consecutive months and are still not working at the time of writing. We have been informed that repairs may take another three months. This is completely unacceptable for a residential building.

The laundry facilities are also in a constant state of disrepair. There is almost always at least one washing machine out of service. The same pattern existed with the elevators for years before reaching the current situation where they are entirely unusable.

Building maintenance has clearly deteriorated over time. Cleaning frequency has been reduced, and despite living here for more than six years, no furniture has ever been replaced, all of it was already old when I moved in.

What is most disappointing is the H2S customer service team. On the rare occasion they respond to the tickets, residents receive generic messages such as "we are looking for a solution."

The elevator situation is the clearest example of what appears to be years of neglected maintenance. According to the maintenance company, major work should have been carried out long ago. Instead, residents are now paying the price for what looks like a deliberate unwillingness to invest in proper upkeep of the property.

Before posting this review, I can already predict the response: "We will forward your feedback to the property manager."

If the property manager is already aware of these issues, then it confirms every point made in this review and demonstrates a lack of action despite long-standing problems.
If the property manager is not aware, then it raises serious concerns about how the company is being managed and whether it is capable of fulfilling its responsibilities to tenants.
I am posting this review primarily to inform prospective tenants about the conditions they may face before deciding to rent here.

Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this property or its management under any circumstances.

Scammers, don't give back deposit. Charge high service cost but don't repair the facility.
4 elevator all broken and they do nothing for months.

Apartment is fine but the service is getting horrible. They don't care that the elevator is broken for two months and it will not be repaired for another few months. Complains are getting closed without any action on it.

Start a legal insurance before you rent with them. We live in their Philips Bedrijfsschool apartment in Eindhoven for 3 years. Our apartment is great but it comes with lots of headaches: Rent increases at max rate every year. Bicycles and packages gets stolen regularly. Homeless people live in the hallways in the winter months. Water might leak into your apartment or main hot water line breaks and you cannot use shower for weeks. Elevators never work. Currently 1/4 elevator is operational and last one keeps breaking regularly. We did not experience the checkout process but they are famous for scamming people when checking out.

After 3 years of trying to get an apartment with Holland2Stay, I finally got the chance to book one through the lottery system. When I applied for the lottery, it stated that the apartment would be available for an indefinite period, but when I was about to pay the 200 euro deposit, it said "this apartment can be booked for 6 months only". So naturally I contacted customer service to ask what the actual duration is.. by the time they got back to me, the booking was gone. It's absolutely sickening to play around with people's lives this way. If you know a customer has a question about a booking they have a deadline for, how can you not respond on time? Sickening.

Edit: I have paid for several accounts at Holland2Stay, because just a reminder, it's a PAID service. I created a ticket to complain directly from the corresponding account already and they said "we can't bypass anything in our system now" so basically there's really no point in replying to my review here and acting like anything I say matters now.