If you want to stay somewhere central in Gouda without dealing with a large chain hotel setup, Short Stay Gouda is a great option. The location was one of the biggest selling points for me because we could walk into the main part of town in less than five minutes, which made everything significantly easier during our stay.
This is not the type of property you book for canal views or luxury hotel amenities everywhere you look. Your view is mostly a parking lot. But the tradeoff is being extremely close to Gouda’s historic center while still having more space and privacy than a standard hotel room.
The overall setup felt more like staying in a modern boutique apartment than a traditional hotel.
If you are planning a larger Netherlands trip, my Where to Stay in the Netherlands (Best Areas to Do in One Trip) guide helps a lot when figuring out how Gouda fits into a multi-city itinerary.
Short Stay Gouda is located inside a historic 1917 Art Nouveau building right in central Gouda. Instead of a full hotel with a lobby, restaurant, elevators, and dozens of rooms, the property only has two private studios.
That smaller setup made the stay feel quieter and more residential compared to larger hotels we stayed at during this Netherlands trip.
The studios have their own entrances and use lockbox key access to get physical room keys. They send instructions before arrival that you’ll need to check to get into the building and room.
It sounds slightly intimidating at first if you are used to normal hotel check-in desks, but the instructions were straightforward once we got everything set up.
The location is probably the biggest reason I would recommend staying here.
We were less than a five minute walk from the main part of Gouda, including the canals, restaurants, shops, and central market area. That made it very easy to explore without constantly moving the car or dealing with parking every few hours.
If you are planning your time in town, my Best Things to Do in Gouda Netherlands guide covers the places we spent the most time during our stay.
Gouda itself is also a good base if you are driving around the Netherlands and visiting smaller nearby towns. We used it as part of a larger tulip season road trip, and the location worked well for that style of travel.
The only thing worth mentioning is that the immediate view from the room is not particularly exciting. Ours overlooked the parking lot. So if you are picturing dramatic canal-front windows and Dutch postcard scenery directly outside your room, this is probably not that type of stay.
But once you walk a few minutes into town, Gouda immediately gets much prettier.
The room itself was much larger and more functional than a standard hotel room.
Our studio included:
Having a kitchen ended up being more useful than I expected during this trip because after days of driving, walking around Dutch towns, and eating approximately our body weight in pastries, it was nice having extra space to spread out a little.
The air conditioning also deserves its own mention because not every stay in Europe fully participates in air conditioning culture the way Americans tend to prefer. I do not thrive in warm hotel rooms, so having full control over the air conditioning made the stay much more comfortable.
The overall design felt clean and modern while still fitting the historic building.
Parking is available directly next to the studios in the Klein Amerika parking lot, which is convenient location-wise.
The confusing part is how the parking pricing works.
When booking, the listing mentioned public parking nearby for around €13 per day, but it was not very clear that overnight parking and daytime parking are charged separately.
So if you stay overnight and also leave your car there the following day while exploring Gouda, you will likely end up paying twice.
This was not a huge issue financially, but I do think it should be explained more clearly during booking because it caught us slightly off guard.
Still, having parking immediately next to the property was very convenient once we understood how it worked.
Save this for later on Pinterest so you don’t forget it.
One thing I was not expecting was that guests have access to a free gym located on the same floor.
There is also a sauna that can be reserved during your stay at no additional cost, which gives the property a slightly more upscale feel but not a full luxury hotel situation.
Because there are only two studios, the entire atmosphere stays pretty quiet and private.
For most travelers, I think 1–2 nights is the sweet spot.
That gives you enough time to explore Gouda itself while also using it as a base for nearby towns if you have a rental car.
If you are visiting during spring, my 5 Day Netherlands Tulip Itinerary: Keukenhof, Windmills & Tulip Fields and Best Tulip Field Driving Route in the Netherlands guides pair well with staying somewhere central like Gouda.
Gouda is very walkable once you are in the center, so we never felt like we needed an overly long stay to experience the area.
A few practical things worth knowing beforehand:
I think expectations matter a lot here because if you are looking for a traditional luxury hotel with room service, large common spaces, and a staffed front desk, this is not that type of experience.
But if you want a modern, quiet, centrally located stay with more privacy and extra space, it works very well.
Yes, especially for travelers doing a Netherlands road trip or anyone wanting to stay somewhere quieter while still being close to Gouda’s center.
The location made exploring incredibly easy, the room felt spacious and updated, and having things like air conditioning, a kitchen, and nearby parking made the stay more comfortable than many standard European hotel rooms we experienced during this trip.
I would stay here again for a short Gouda visit without hesitation.
Just go into it knowing you are booking the location and apartment-style setup more than scenic views from the room itself. Once you step outside and walk into central Gouda though, the scenery improves pretty quickly.
If you end up booking anything for your trip, using my affiliate links helps support my blog at no extra cost to you. I spend a lot of time researching and writing these guides, so I really appreciate the support.
I ate chilaquiles while a Cessna taxied past the window, and that’s just a normal Tuesday breakfast in Sedona.
@mesa_grill_sedona sits right beside the Sedona Airport Scenic Lookout, so along with your food you get red rock views stretching in every direction and a front-row seat to tiny planes lifting off. Chef Mercer Mohr runs the kitchen, serving up Southwestern comfort food from breakfast through dinner, chilaquiles, elevated diner classics, burgers, steaks, seafood, all of it.
The view is what pulls people in the door, but the food actually holds its own. Good enough that this place stays packed with locals, not just tourists passing through on their way to the lookout. It also picked up the 2025 Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice and OpenTable Diners’ Choice awards, so it’s not just me saying it.
Indoor seating if you want the AC, a pet-friendly patio if your dog’s along for the trip. Either way, get there before plane-spotting turns into a wait for a table.
Link in bio for the full Sedona breakfast roundup ✈️🌵
Confession: my newsletter is where the good stuff lives. Not the polished, edited-for-the-grid stuff, the “here’s the hole-in-the-wall I almost skipped” stuff, the packing lists I actually use, the “don’t book this hotel” warnings before you waste your money on them.
The newsletter is basically me texting you before a trip instead of after one. Sign up and you’ll be the first to know where I’m headed next, plus a few things I’ll never post here.
Link in bio if you want in. ✈️
Yes, it’s only July. Start planning anyway. Fall books faster than people expect, and a few of these destinations are worth getting ahead of. Here are five places worth putting on your radar right now.
Ireland: Cooler temps, moody skies, dramatic coastline fall was made for it. Tourist crowds drop, the green stays, and the whole country feels a little more like itself.
Great Smoky Mountains, TN/NC: Fall foliage in the Smokies is the real thing. The color peaks mid-October and the views from the ridgelines are hard to argue with. It’s also one of the most visited national parks in the country, so going on a weekday makes a real difference.
New York City: Fall is NYC at its best comfortable temps, the energy of the city shifting into a new season, and every neighborhood doing something worth showing up for. It’s also just a great walking city when it’s not brutally hot.
Japan: Fall foliage season is as good as spring cherry blossoms and somehow less talked about. The colors are dramatic, the temples and gardens are stunning, and it’s worth planning around peak dates by region.
Mystic, Connecticut: Small, walkable, genuinely charming Mystic in fall feels like exactly what a New England autumn is supposed to look like. Easy to pair with a broader New England road trip if you want to extend it.
Full guides linked in bio 🍂
There are two kinds of travelers: people who plan a trip and then figure out where to eat, and people who book a restaurant and then build the rest of the itinerary around it.I am the second kind. I will not apologize for this.
The reservation gets locked in first. The hotel search happens within the same 24 hours. The flights get compared around the restaurant’s hours of operation. The rest of the trip exists to fill the days before and after the table I actually came for.
If this sounds unhinged, I completely understand. It has also resulted in some of the best meals of my life, so I’m going to keep doing it.
Drop a 🍽️ if you plan your trips around food too.
Let’s talk about when to actually book that Dubai trip you’ve been pinning for two years. I get asked this constantly, so here’s the honest breakdown: October through April is your window. Anything outside that and you’re basically touring in a sauna!
October and November give you warm days and cooler nights, which is basically the sweet spot for wandering around without melting. December through February is peak season: gorgeous weather. March and April are the quiet insider pick, right before summer heat shows up and ruins everyone’s plans.
Saving this for later? That’s what it’s here for. Full breakdown linked in bio.
Follow @travelwithwendyplummer for Beautiful Beach Destinations, City Guides, Foodie Spots, and Luxury Hotel Recommendations.
