WOW !!! What is up with Amsterdam hotels??

[3Shelaghs]

Attempting to book a hotel room in August. Most coming up with "sold out". I emailed one and asked, they explained a EU Cardiology Convention... there sure must be a ton of people  coming! 

I also thought maybe next years booking engines are turned off this far out, but doesn't seem to be a consistent reason for these hotels to blocked off huge blocks.

Cruise line charges for hotels booked with them is ridiculous. And they charged your credit card immediately upon booking (it's not a hold). One room is triple the cost and it's charged per pax. I know in the past it was always nuts to book a room with the cruise line but really????? 

Can't book air until I've got somewhere decent to lay my head before embarkation.

Thoughts....................

[carlmm]

Yes, this is strange.

But for what it is worth, this August and maybe all the Summer, it was sometimes hard to find a room, too. Prices were exorbitant when ever I checked or had to go.

 

Edited October 4, 2022 by carlmm

[CruiserBruce]

August of 2023? It may be too soon. Many non-US oriented hotels in Europe DON'T  open reservations until close to the first of the year. Definitely not 365 days in advance. 

[ISLABONITA]

I think you sre too early to book, some hotels only open up up to 6 mos. Search earlier to prove my point.

[Dutch_Travelgirl]

It’s most definitely too soon to book a hotel room for August 2023. The one hotel you contacted (which one?) may be booked because of a conference, but the majority of hotels haven’t yet released their dates for next year’s summer yet. 

[Globaliser]

15 hours ago, 3Shelaghs said:

Can't book air until I've got somewhere decent to lay my head before embarkation.

 

I don't understand the logic of this. Presumably you have to go to Amsterdam to embark, regardless of whichever hotel you end up in, or even exactly where the hotel is. There will be hotel rooms at some stage, and presumably you're not going to cancel the cruise simply because your eventual pre-embarkation hotel is not well located. So if you see a decent air fare, it makes no sense to refuse to book it just because there's still some uncertainty about what hotel you might end up in.

 

In addition, the best approach to hotels is often to make flexible bookings, and repeatedly make and cancel them as better offers or locations turn up. That's something that's much harder to do affordably with air travel, but it also indicates why you shouldn't let the hotel tail wag the air fare dog.

 

Having said that, it's also worth saying that it may also be far too early to book air tickets now, for much the same reasons. If you book too early, you can often end up paying much more, or getting something much worse, than if you book later.

[CruiserBruce]

Totally agree with @Globaliser. We almost always book airfares first, unless we have absolutely no flexibility in which days we need to fly. For example, for our cruise out of Copenhagen this last July, we were very flexible with when we could arrive in Copenhagen, eventually finding the best air fare and routes having us arrive Wednesday for a Saturday sailing. THEN we booked our hotel for 3 nights.

 

Same thing for our land trip in Europe next June. The length of the trip was flexible...about 12 to 16 nights, depending on the air fares. We are going for 13 nights. Once I got the air fares, I started looking for hotels and cities. By the way, didn't get the preferred hotel in one city until early September,  as they hadn't released schedules for June yet.

[3Shelaghs]

We’re very flexible with dates/times, but unfortunately direct flights from Canada aren’t plentiful. We don’t need a deal in airfare, just a schedule where everything slides into a slot….hotel precruise, post cruise, car rental, and direct flights.😊 I always book flights first, but the pandemic has limited our options. Our flights to Florida next month have been changed by airline 4x thus far…”operational necessities”. …..frustrating and a huge consumption of time scrambling to make changes……I miss the good old days of travel ease.

[Globaliser]

4 minutes ago, 3Shelaghs said:

We’re very flexible with dates/times, but unfortunately direct flights from Canada aren’t plentiful. We don’t need a deal in airfare, just a schedule where everything slides into a slot….hotel precruise, post cruise, car rental, and direct flights.

 

These all seem to be additional reasons for prioritising the booking of your air travel. Then fit in your hotel bookings around that.

[FreestyleNovice]

There's enough lodging to fit most, if not all, of the conventions going on in Amsterdam. And most of them won't cause a sell out.

 

National holidays, the Pride, SAIL (2025, once every five years), those are the ones you have to keep an eye on. 

[3Shelaghs]

3 hours ago, FreestyleNovice said:

National holidays, the Pride, SAIL (2025, once every five years), those are the ones you have to keep an eye on. 

Yes, Toronto's Pride wknd is huge too. The only thing close to SAIL, is our Tall Ships arrival, but SAIL looks outstanding!

Just received an email from a hotel, and rates haven't been set yet. Possibly end of October!! 

I can't imagine the EU cardiologists all coming for a convention. Snorefest supremo, but maybe they hone up on educational news?????

Thanks all for tips/comments

[muffyn]

try VRBO  we rented a houseboat on our trip. was the very best place we did!

[rsverdier]

Booking.com gives me plenty of possibilities during the cardiologists convention dates.

 

[tyson]

On 10/7/2022 at 1:03 AM, muffyn said:

try VRBO  we rented a houseboat on our trip. was the very best place we did!

Muffyn, I would love to hear more about your houseboat rental!  We are going to Amsterdam for a couple of days before our cruise near the end of June and a houseboat seems like a fun idea!  What area of the city were you in?  How many days were you there?  Thanks for any information you can provide.

[Ashland]

For our stay pre-cruise this past July we had booked the Banks Mansion as soon as the bookings opened ( I believe it was a little less than a year out) and had what we considered a great rate....especially when I saw how much the rates jumped up a few months before our arrival. Loved this hotel and location.

[cunn9004]

It is not too early to be booking a hotel for August.  We just did.  Doubletree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station.  Pricey but not as bad as a luxury hotel.  They have a great cancellation policy also.

[kazu]

On 10/26/2022 at 3:29 AM, Ashland said:

For our stay pre-cruise this past July we had booked the Banks Mansion as soon as the bookings opened ( I believe it was a little less than a year out) and had what we considered a great rate....especially when I saw how much the rates jumped up a few months before our arrival. Loved this hotel and location.

 

I’ll second that.  Stayed there B.C. (Before Covid) and loved it.  Booked it for my upcoming cruise next year.  It’s considered pricey by some but when you look at everything included and the fabulous service and location, I think it is well worth it.

[Ashland]

13 hours ago, kazu said:

 

I’ll second that.  Stayed there B.C. (Before Covid) and loved it.  Booked it for my upcoming cruise next year.  It’s considered pricey by some but when you look at everything included and the fabulous service and location, I think it is well worth it.

Yes....very true...We'll be booking again when the schedule opens for our July 2024 cruise.

[CanuckCruizer]

On 11/26/2022 at 6:10 PM, Ashland said:

Yes....very true...We'll be booking again when the schedule opens for our July 2024 cruise.

Hi Kazu & Ashland -

If I can ask you for more info about Banks Mansion.  Have read several reviews on various sites that say that they have no bellmen, so you have to deal with your luggage yourself.  The hotel confirmed this in a couple of responses to reviewers - they did say that it is a small hotel and "if" anyone was free/available at the front desk, then they would help you.  A reviewer said that he got no help at all, while the staff at the front desk watched him struggle through the small revolving entrance door with the luggage. Others were given the room key and told to get in the elevator - again, no help getting in with the luggage and no offer of luggage delivered to their room.  We are doing a B3B so will have 4 large cases. What was your experience?

I have read many glowing reviews, but there are also several reviews that said that the hotel was not clean (pictures of black mold in shower) and people saying definitely not even a 4 star - so just a bit concerned.  Love the location, but just want to make sure we are booking the right place for us, as our rate would be well over $800CDN per night.

 

Thanks,

Canuck

[Ashland]

7 hours ago, CanuckCruizer said:

Hi Kazu & Ashland -

If I can ask you for more info about Banks Mansion.  Have read several reviews on various sites that say that they have no bellmen, so you have to deal with your luggage yourself.  The hotel confirmed this in a couple of responses to reviewers - they did say that it is a small hotel and "if" anyone was free/available at the front desk, then they would help you.  A reviewer said that he got no help at all, while the staff at the front desk watched him struggle through the small revolving entrance door with the luggage. Others were given the room key and told to get in the elevator - again, no help getting in with the luggage and no offer of luggage delivered to their room.  We are doing a B3B so will have 4 large cases. What was your experience?

I have read many glowing reviews, but there are also several reviews that said that the hotel was not clean (pictures of black mold in shower) and people saying definitely not even a 4 star - so just a bit concerned.  Love the location, but just want to make sure we are booking the right place for us, as our rate would be well over $800CDN per night.

 

Thanks,

Canuck

We personally had no problems dealing with our luggage. DH carried them up the couple of stairs to the lobby. I'm sure that if we asked for help they would have done so. Once we checked in we wheeled them around the corner to the elevator. We certainly didn't need a bellman. Our front corner suite was just wonderful and couldn't have been cleaner. This small type boutique style hotel is what we have always had throughout our International travels. It's what makes them special.

 

I'll just add that we're both in our early 70's and also had two large bags (32"), 2 backpacks and my travel bag. 

Edited December 5, 2022 by Ashland

[LHT28]

16 hours ago, CanuckCruizer said:

.  We are doing a B3B so will have 4 large cases. What was your experience?
 

We have done  a month on board  & still only  take 1  26" case each

we have had  temps of  30C to -0 C  so have winter jackets & as well as summer clothes to pack

Laundry  is  the key

 

Yes I know you are on vacation & some people do not want to do laundry

I my case I would rather do laundry than have multiple bags to drag around

YMMV

[CanuckCruizer]

10 hours ago, Ashland said:

We personally had no problems dealing with our luggage. DH carried them up the couple of stairs to the lobby. I'm sure that if we asked for help they would have done so. Once we checked in we wheeled them around the corner to the elevator. We certainly didn't need a bellman. Our front corner suite was just wonderful and couldn't have been cleaner. This small type boutique style hotel is what we have always had throughout our International travels. It's what makes them special.

 

I'll just add that we're both in our early 70's and also had two large bags (32"), 2 backpacks and my travel bag. 

Ashland,

Thanks very much for your reply.  It really helps our decision as we certainly need a full service hotel.

Canuck

[CanuckCruizer]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

We have done  a month on board  & still only  take 1  26" case each

we have had  temps of  30C to -0 C  so have winter jackets & as well as summer clothes to pack

Laundry  is  the key

 

Yes I know you are on vacation & some people do not want to do laundry

I my case I would rather do laundry than have multiple bags to drag around

YMMV

LHT28,

Thanks for your reply.  We are actually away for a much longer time than a month.  We also like to shop and leave room to bring home all of our finds.  Travel is different for everyone and we have never had any problems travelling with our cases, as we hire drivers and stay in hotels with bellmen.

Cheers,

Canuck

[Ashland]

58 minutes ago, CanuckCruizer said:

Ashland,

Thanks very much for your reply.  It really helps our decision as we certainly need a full service hotel.

Canuck

Best of luck to you. I know you'll find a hotel that will provide the service you need. Try checking the Movenpick Hotel some on our rollcall stayed there which is right next door to the cruise terminal.

 

Enjoy Amsterdam and all your travels.

[LHT28]

58 minutes ago, CanuckCruizer said:

LHT28,

Thanks for your reply.  We are actually away for a much longer time than a month.  We also like to shop and leave room to bring home all of our finds.  Travel is different for everyone and we have never had any problems travelling with our cases, as we hire drivers and stay in hotels with bellmen.

Cheers,

Canuck

Be careful booking some places in Amsterdam  as they do not have elevators  & some are just big enough for 2 PPL & 2 cases

Movenpick  by the port  or Barbizon Palace  might work for you  if they have availability

not 5*  but convenient locations