Looking for Amsterdam Hotel Recommendations

Hi everyone! For those of you who don't know us, we are Jill & Kevin, die-hard X cruisers who will be travelling to Amsterdam this June for my brother's wedding. :)

We would love to get some recommendations for hotels in Amsterdam from our Cruise Critic friends. Here's what we're looking for: 3-star accommodations in a clean, friendly hotel with some Dutch charm. We're hoping to find a hotel that is centrally located, perhaps in the museum district.

We plan to visit the Anne Frank house as well as several museums; for those of you who have called in Amsterdam or who have visited there, we'd love to hear about anything else that's especially unusual that you think we shouldn't miss.

Thank you in advance for any and all responses!!! :)

Jill & Kevin

Hi Jill and Kevin,

We had a fantastic stay in Amsterdam at the Hotel Brouwer.

I think it meets your requirements well, except I'd probably say it is a 2-star property. It is too small and too quaint to be any more!

We had a very comfortable double room, with bath en suite, overlooking the Singel canal. An excellent breakfast each morning, and best of all, a very good location - quite close to the Anne Frank house.

If you require all the "creature comforts" of a 3-star hotel, you might be disappointed, but we loved the charm, the atmosphere, and the location of this hotel. We felt like true Amsterdammers!

http://www.hotelbrouwer.nl/

Kendal

Thanks for the quick reply and the link! We'll definitely look into it! 2-star might be just fine. We're not really into "creature comforts" (except when we're cruising) - we love friendly staff, charm and a clean hotel! :)

Jill

Hi Jill,

To start with, check this link:http://www.vvvamsterdam.nl/

It gives you all the info you can think about.

I donot know the rates for certain hotels, I live too close to the city.

But you can check: Hotel Jan Luyken, close to the musea,

http://www.janluyken.nl/uk/janluyken/

Bank Mansion, more city-center, http://banksmansion.carlton.nl/default.asp?tc=UK&action=page&paginaID=5401

Hotel Le coin, also citycenter: http://www.lecoin.nl/indexEN.html

If you need more help or info, let me know. (But as you see within 4 weeks I am sailing!)

Hi Jill and Kevin,

I would like to send you some information but I lost your e-mail address.

Gitte

Gitte, ook hollands?

Check out the Hotel Ambassade. They have a website, we had a great stay there. Walking distance to almost everything, a 10 minute cab ride to the pier.

http://www.ambassade-hotel.nl/

Miami: I was wondering if you go to the Ports of Call board under Europe maybe you will find hotel recommendations at that site. Just a thought. Also do a search there. Something might come up.

Marilyn

...to Ine, greeneg & Marilyn! I'm going to check into all of your suggestions!

Gitte! Where are you? We've missed you!!

Jill & Kevin

I'm here to second the opinion on the Hotel Brouwer.

It is very quiant, and OLD. Built in 1642 ( I think)

We had the 'loft' room at the top with a vaulted ceiling. The shower and twin beds pushed together were 'interesting' for our first night in Europe on our Honeymoon. That being said, we were on a budget, so maybe for more money there was a double room to be had.

In the end, part of what I LOVED about Amsterdam was our hotel and how the location and history made it special.

Have a great time!!

...Thanks for your response!

One of the reasons I'm asking for personal recommendations is due to a terrible experience we had with a post-cruise hotel stay booked through American Express! It was our very first cruise (1998) - a 12-night Mediterranean that I WON at a charity function. A fabulous, RCCL, first cruise experience which included first class air-fare to Spain, but did not include the pre- and post-cruise hotels. We flew Miami to Madrid to Barcelona and stayed at the Melia Confort in Barcelona pre-cruise. Very good hotel, well priced, clean and friendly. Post cruise we flew to Madrid and stayed overnight at the Presidente, a 3-star hotel, suggested by American Express, before flying home to Miami. Amex had never steered us wrong before and we'd never had any problems. This hotel, however, was so bad that we tried to check out but couldn't find other last minute accommodations. We discovered some very nasty stuff - rodent droppings in the room, cracked, crumbling paint and plaster, other unmentionables in the bathroom, no hot water and no assistance from the staff - actually no staff materialized - to assist with problems! I sat in a chair all night and didn't sleep. Kevin slept fully clothed on top of the bed on an extra sheet. We left at 4 am the next day.

Personal experience from other means the world to us!!!! :)

We stayed at the Hotel Pulitzer but that was about 11 years ago. Don't know if it is still there. Anne Frank House and Museums were very close. It was a great hotel where multiple houses were made into one bit hotel.

Check out the Hotel Ambassade. They have a website, we had a great stay there. Walking distance to almost everything, a 10 minute cab ride to the pier.

 

http://www.ambassade-hotel.nl/

I've stayed here before and I really liked it. Our room was a room in an unmarked canal house -- so when we'd come home at night we'd put our key into the front door, it was like going into our own home!! Also, they have room service, it was nice ordering up a snack late at night.

One last thing -- we booked by emailing them through their web site rather than on one of the big travel web sites, and got a much lower price than what Travelocity or Hotels.com had.

The people who run it are really nice, and can sell you stamps, tram tickets, give you good advice, and so on. I would definitely stay there again!

Yes Hotel Pulitzer is still there and still a very fine hotel too.

If I'm correct, that's where George Clooney and his gang holed up in 'Ocean's Twelve.' Most of the movie was shot in Amsterdam and there were many interior and exterior shots of this hotel. It does look like a wonderful place to stay, but the pricing, unfortunately, is very high...

I remember the making of the movie, as many streets were closed to the public.

Donot know what hotel they stayed in, might also have been Amstel Hotel or The Grand, both also very expensive.

I've stayed at the intrigueingly-named 'Jolly Hotel Carlton'. (Actually, Jolly is the name of an Italian hotel chain, and this hotel used to be simply the 'Hotel Carlton'.) It's about a couple of kilometers from Amsterdam Central station, very close to the Flower Market and within a few minutes walk of Rembrandtplein.

It's a three-start hotel, perfectly good. Probably a bit expensive if you just walked in off the street and booked, but there are generally deals available through Expedia and all the usual outlets. There are better and more modern hotels in Amsterdam, but they're all further out from the centre. This on seems a good compromise of position, facilties and price. Oh, and it's pretty quiet - there are no clubs/pubs in the street outside.

There's a tram line right past the front so getting around is easy.

I've also stayed in the Victoria, which is right across from the train station. Right by all the trams, and walking distance to lots of things. It's not as nice as the Ambassade, but it was clean and neat and the bathrooms were sparkling. The staff is fast and responsive. We called housekeeping for something and they came within 10 minutes -- and when they got there they apologized for taking so long. You can get good prices at this hotel from the various online places.

The D-l'Europe is a fantastic hotel, reasonably priced give 5 star European hotels. Great locations and rooms full of luxury and charm

The IBIS hotel chain is 2 or 3 star, clean and comfortable, Free full breakfast and easy to get around. If you want a different type of hotel, try the boattel. Now that was really, really nice and different. You can wals the two blocks from the train station to the right and you are there. This is right in the heart of the city.. Good luck in your quest.. By the way, we have stayed the city 6 times and would go back in a heart beat..:)

Just a thought-- we've stayed at a few of the "Canal" hotels, including the Ambassade (wonderful, but expensive), and they are very charming, however, be warned that it will be a real challenge to move all that cruise luggage up into your room. Their stairways are very narrow and very steep. Remember, ground floor, first floor, second floor..., numbering system. We even stayed in one of the canal hotels that used a pulley system to get luggage up to the rooms.

Ibis might be a good option for just a night or two. Fair prices and easy to taxi to the ship.

Enjoy!

Kel

... to everyone! Gitte sent me a really great website which turned out to be a goldmine - great for checking out photos and reviews for all of your suggested hotels and so many more! I've been researching for hours! There are hundreds of hotels in Amsterdam! I think I have it narrowed down to 6 - which includes some suggested above.

Kel - thanks for the insight about luggage - we are actually not cruising on this trip - but we will still be bringing luggage (not as much, of course, as we bring on our X cruises!!!

Thanks, again, to all of you!! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and Presidents' Day, too, if you have the day off!! :)

Hi Jill,

Lauren and I once spent 52 days wondering around Europe with two very small backpack type bags. It was sooo much fun!:)

If you want a really "funky", clean and cheap Canal house check out this hotel. We stayed here for three nights. Great location!

http://www.hotelprinsenhof.com/hotel/info.html

A real Rick Steves kind of place.

Good Luck!

Kel