Hi/Lo — Local services in Utrecht

Wound up in Utrecht in 2007 getting off the train because I needed to validate my EU Rail Pass or pay a fine by paying the conductor. Easy choice, get off in Utrecht.

During that stay, I had the privilege of spending some quality time at Sarasani and another place not too far from Hi & Lo. Neither of those places were here when I visited again in 2012. Neither was Diablo. Since then I've visited Andersom (first time this visit), Wietstock (you can buy and roll there, but can't smoke, first visit, you could smoke there in 2007), Bordeaux Rood which you can smoke in, and Black & White which you can buy, but not smoke. It almost seems like those places are the cheapest, but Bordeaux Rood has good prices too.

I need to check out Cafe Freak to complete my list and t'Grasje.

Yeah, so that's Utrecht. As far as Hi & Lo. Watch the door on the way in, it's tranparent green and will knock you in the head if you don't take your act right pill walking in the place. Another warning, at the basement floor, there is a 3-4cm step that I see everyone who walks down there trip over. It got me too. But watching everyone else trip over it was sweet.

I wasn't able to get on the wifi here, the network appeared to be open, but it never asked for a password and couldn't connect.

As for the weed. I bought some G13-Haze, something reminded me a lot of Jack Frost from my days selling herb in Berkeley at a medical club. Utrecht is perhaps one of the most underrated weed destinations in the Netherlands IMO. Hi & Lo add to that degree of must visit when in Holland. It's the classiest establishment selling cannabis that I've ever been into.

My last visit here around this time last year, I was able to see into Sarasani, as the landlord was selling the place because the lease wasn't renewed on the business license. I have respect for him on that, because he didn't just up and throw them out. That place had history, and was much fun. I don't know of anything that could replicate it.

As per my visit to Hi&Lo the herb was phenomenal. It wasn't drenched in resin, but it had great flavor, a super uplifting affect. It burned well, I could keep a joint lit. I sat and played some video games on my computer for a good half hour afterwords. I also bought some of the Nepal hashish. Wow, that is really something special. I might stop back there tomorrow for their high end hashish and to relax before I catch my train to Brussels.

I really liked the atmosphere of this place. Double door security, plated service. Outside security. Chill rooms, study type rooms. The price is a little higher than the rest of the places I mentioned in this post, but you get what you pay for. It is also no far from the train station, and is a great stop for someone looking for a quality establishment and quality product.

If you are looking for cheaper places, Andersom, and the other place that lets you smoke there not far from De Wietstock, Bordeaux Rood is very good. Good ranking for food is because the vending machine selling drinks in the...

#1 Tip: CASH ONLY - Bring lots #2 Tip: Seating 21+ years only #3 Tip: Decent strains, nothing too special #4 Tip: Medium to high price for quality #5 Tip: Airco so good you need a sweater

This is a beautiful place to sit, if 21 or older, the music is nice and staff is ok, mostly managing the front. The smokers area is by far the best in all of Utrecht in terms of size, vibes and seating arrangements. There is one drawback to this store.

Because of the size of the shop and it's location, you should expect to pay a slight premium on your order and a big premium on drinks. The biggest issue with this shop however is that it's Cash Only, and the nearest ATM's are all the way back inside the station. Which means if you run out of cash you might as well leave. At the time I visited the upstairs room was quite cold because the air is ventilated very well, great if you have people with you that mind the smoke but not so great for those that easily get cold.

Another slight thing was the fact the Wi-Fi was not functioning when I visited, but it's a coffeeshop not an internet cafe.

Overall there are improvements possible, but...

Horrible, rude and ignorant staff. Me and my friend wanted to walk over to the back of the queue (as one would), staff behind the counter rudely yell at us asking us if we‘d already bought anything (is that not why we‘re joining the queue...?), upon us pointing this out, they just had blank expressions and didn't apologise. Once we got to selecting bud, the employees continued their unnecessary rudeness, the bud came out of old, scratched Tupperware boxes stored in dirty, dusty and atrociously old looking Ikea cabinets (caked with actual dirt on the inside). To add insult to injury, one can literally see a downstairs growing section from the front of the store. Horrible, horrible place,...