CELEST | evenementenlocatie & skybar — Restaurant in Rotterdam

If you're wealthy, don't care about value for money and have bad hearing, this place is awesome for you, GO! The views are the best in the country.

A much higher observation deck in London offers free entrance, but alright...

Having to reserve (limited capacity on fire department's orders, very understandable with just one elevator) is a bummer. On a clear day I can't easily just hop on by, or I'm at least heavily discouraged to try. Coordinating with friends is also harder as some may be out of luck once they get there.

The whole entrance procedure and pathway is a silly gimmick, and too dark for most to actually enjoy, probably. When I say dark, I mean you can't see where to walk. The reception is only on the first floor, kind of tucked away, it's all a silly afterthought it seems. Loads of people who wanted to be there must have been confused. The elevator is also a let down (yeah, fund graphics), but no signs or anything to make it easier, let alone a bespoke control panel to just press where to go. All a bit amateurish, to be honest.

Once upstairs, you get the great views, however, the music is too loud for my taste (especially for those acoustics) and I even took out my active noise cancelling headset to at least being able to have my own thoughts in there.

Significant to me, there's a huge offset to the floor below (as if a 360º balcony was originally planned), so you don't get to see the ground near the building which gives the best sense of height. A real pity for someone who comes for the Benelux record tall building. You're seeing the city a bit from the side rather than from above. This floor offset also makes the "cocktail" floor less welcoming to young and little people. There are no plaques to help you identify interesting land marks or try to see thing that are really far away. There's a glass wall and that's it. As a local I know the nearby buildings, but to understand that I was seeing the Schiphol control tower took some research. The whole Celest concept seems designed more for non-locals who don't care about cash. Dutch people, we want value for our money, even the wealthy. I'm not sure there are enough cruise ships to really help Celest out.

The floor offset will be much less an issue enjoying the restaurant on the second of two Celest floors (I didn't try), but guests will probably be looking outside a whole lot less, and focusing more on their table company.

What's worse, you've just paid an entry fee €15 worth 3-5 drinks or a nice pizza to go upstairs, and once you're there, the drinks and snacks are about the most expensive in the country still, as if we didn't just pay for the privilege of entrance. Water costs €4,50 for instance and you get 20cl. There's not really the reward for buying into the "concept". The cocktail card exists, but the pricy mocktails are limited and hardly welcoming, as are the alcohol free beer options, especially at these hefty prices. Seems it would not take a lot of good will or inspiration to offer guests a much more enjoyable experience.

I've enjoyed the view, thoroughly, even on foggy days, but it kind of feels like an overpriced jet set place that didn't earn it. When I was there, the place seemed overstaffed. Not something we often see the in the Dutch service industry, but that has to factor in with how they do business and work out pricing.

There's not a lot of seating on the cocktail floor, but was far from full when I visited.

Unlikely to return until there's a new pricing concept. Had it been a more complete concept on monthly fee with gym, I could have seen myself bringing them a lot of business, but as it is, I've been there, done that.

When I arrived there was no clear way to stow away a bicycle.

I wish they'd offer access to the 59th floor deck to experience 200 meters, out in the open air. That would make it a wholly different value proposition for me. If not accessible to wheelchairs or those unsteady on their feet, too bad, but 99.9% of visitors would like to get a fresh air for a few moments at least,...

I had really high expectations for this place. They've done an amazing job with their marketing! But let me start from the beginning.

It's not at all clear where the entrance to the building is, and my friend and I almost got lost trying to find it.

Once we were inside, we had to go up to a welcome hall where they took our coats and directed us to the elevator up to the 57th floor. I was pretty impressed with the elevator itself; it had a digital screen displaying the moon in a really cool, dynamic way. It took less than a minute to reach the 57th floor, I think.

But as soon as we stepped out of the elevator, there was this weird, sour smell. And honestly, the hallway leading to the restaurant could have been much nicer. It felt a bit dirty and tacky.

A hostess welcomed us and showed us to our table. We chose the chef's 3-course menu for lunch and ordered a bottle of water and some cocktails.

The food was decent. Some dishes were delicious, but others weren't really to my liking. They served these small, fried, oily balls that I thought were pretty low quality. The presentation of the food was nice though.

Now, about the drinks... we ordered two cocktails, a margarita and a paper plane, which took almost an hour to arrive! We had to ask the staff three times. Obviously, the food arrived long before the cocktails.

I asked one of the waiters if we could be compensated for the wait, maybe get the cocktails on the house. They didn't give them to us for free, but they did give us a 50% discount. Not great customer service, in my opinion.

To make matters worse, they charged us for two bottles of water when we only had one. They called it a "water arrangement" on the bill, which cost €7.95. They only poured us two glasses of water, but they charged us twice for this "water arrangement." So, we had to complain about that too, and eventually, they took it off the bill.

The toilets were very high-tech, clean, and funky, which was a plus. And the views from the restaurant were absolutely spectacular! The interior design was also spot on.

But the service really let the place down. The staff should pay more attention to their customers. Mistakes like waiting an hour for cocktails are unacceptable, and the manager only offering a 50% discount wasn't good enough. The double charge on the water was also frustrating.

I also think they could be a bit more creative with the food and cocktail menu. The cocktail selection was very basic and didn't seem to have any connection to the skyline or sky-high theme of the place.

This place definitely has potential, but it's missing something. It lacks a certain vibe or energy. It feels a little cold, impersonal, and empty. I don't know exactly what it is, but they need to improve the atmosphere and...

Our experience at Celeste was extremely disappointing and frustrating from start to finish. We had made a reservation and paid €15 per person in advance, expecting a seamless and enjoyable evening. However, what we encountered was complete disorganization and a lack of basic hospitality.

Upon arrival, we were told to order drinks at the bar and then "go on the right"—which was already unclear. There were no assigned tables, making the reservation process feel entirely pointless. It felt as if we were treated like walk-ins despite paying extra in advance.

Ordering drinks was another chaotic experience. I placed my order at the bar with a waitress, then returned to a table we found ourselves. Shortly after, another staff member approached with the receipt, demanding immediate payment before we even received our drinks. Then, yet another staff member told me to go back to the bar and wait for my drink. Once at the bar, it was unclear where to stand or which staff member to talk to. I eventually found the waitress I had originally ordered from—who, ironically, was about to bring the drinks to our table anyway. The entire ordering process was inefficient, confusing, and completely unnecessary.

As for the drinks, they were a disaster. The Cosmopolitan tasted like lemonade, and the Vieux Carré was just overpriced syrup. Given the extra €15 per person just to be there, one would expect the cocktails themselves to be high quality. Instead, they were undrinkable, and we left them unfinished.

The only positive note? Celeste is conveniently close to La Soirée, a place that actually understands what a cocktail bar should be—both in service and in drink quality. Just because you make cocktails, it doesn't automatically make you a "Cocktail Bar".

I truly hope management takes this review to heart and makes serious improvements. Until then, I would not recommend Celeste to anyone looking for a proper...