Amsterdam Hotel Puzzle

[NotQuiteCockney]

I'm planning a weekend break (alone!) to Amsterdam, next weekend (not the coming one). I'm a bit boggled by the hotel options I'm getting - I seem to be getting dormitories (no thanks) or £300/night (!!).

Any suggestions? I'm looking for safe, clean, not that bothered about luxury, central, or near a central park. I need the nights of the 7th and 8th.

Think we stayed in one that had initials inb the name. Will look now and try to find it.

I think this was it.

It was fine, slightly out of the city centre but easy walking distance, close to canal tourist service thing and near to Van Gogh museum. Room was small but clean and hotel nicely furnished.

Dp and I have fond memories of it...

It looks very nice, but has no availability - none of the hotels in that chain do.

I've found a website with some possible hotels, but have to dig more ... more suggestions very welcome ...

Message withdrawn

Hotel Estherea is brilliant. Safe, clean, close to centre, very helpful staff. Excellent restaurants nearby.

No room at either of those. And the Hotel Estherea's website leads me to more £300/night places.

I think I'm going for the Heemskerk. Trip advisor reviews are very positive, the location is ideal (near the park I wanted, reasonably near town), etc etc.

there is another one near Hotel Estherea on the same road, called www.singelhotel.nl. It's a 3*, don't know prices or availability though. (thought Estherea might have cheaper single rooms, sorry!)

Estherea might have had cheaper rooms, dunno, but it didn't have space. Other hotels in the same group were £300/night. Nothing wrong with £300/night, but I don't expect to spend much time in the hotel, and worry a £300/night place would expect me to be posh or something.

I think I ran into Singel already, and it didn't have space. And the website I found with lots of hotels that had space, only had space because I'd put in the right days, but August, so it thought i meant Aug 2008. When I got the dates right, the rooms disappeared.

Never mind, I'm going with somewhere I found that seems ok. Tripadvisor has a mix of reviews, rather than just negative ones, which I saw on another one I was considering (well, it had negative ones mixed with a scattering of weirdly fake-sounding glowing ones ).

We stayed at the Golden Tulip in central A'dam (there are others around/outside the city). I thought it was great - clean, large room (although we did have a 'superior' one). Bed was soooooo comfy. It really was very lovely actually

Only 'drawback' is that it is one of a chain (albeit a small local one), which I suppose detracts from the feeling of staying at a quirky independently run hotel. However we've stayed at several extremely manky independently run hotels in A'dam, so this one beat it hands down.

Have a great time!

YG - the Frommer is the spawn of Satan's hotel! Admittedly you wouldn't know that from a casual stay but trust me. It is the font of all that is evil in Amsterdam.

I would go for one of the Ibises (not the one by Centraal Station, which is grimsville) or the Great Western behind Rembrandtsplein. Otherwise Nadia/Diann, where you should not take a cat in order to swing it around, but otherwise clean and okay.

Message withdrawn

Okay, I stayed in the Frommer for about 8 weeks when I first started working in Amsterdam. In that time, the staff were almost universally rude, ignorant and useless. My most memorable encounter was one Monday morning. Obviously we left bags there over the weekend, of stuff we didn't need to take back to the UK - hairdriers and whatever.

Me: I left a bag here over the weekend.
Reception dude: So?
Me: Errr - what do you mean, so?
Reception dude: What am I meant do to about that?
Me: Just effing well give it to me?
Reception dude: A bike?
Me: A bag.
Reception dude: Oh, I thought you said a bike!
Me : So 'so' would have been an appropriate response if I had said a bike, you asswipe?

That kind of stuff - constantly. I would burn down the Frommer if I could (a) get away with it and (b) guarantee not to harm anybody!

Nadia was one I tried, no room. Ended up with Borgmann, as Heemskerk spaces were illusory (my fault). Pity, it looked very good.

If someone says Borgmann is really nasty, I'll cancel and go for an Ibis, I guess ... I'm not fond of chains, but I do want peace and safety.

Just checked the Di-ann, and it's full, too.

check if there are any conferences on, if not just turn up go to tourist information (VVV in Dutch ) and have your pick, we have done it many times and only ended up in Heemskerk as a last solution (not AMsterdam ,place near A'dam though) never paid more then £40 a night

It looks like there's a conference on. And the place I thought I had reserved has fallen through. Next time I am doing this much more in advance!

I guess I can try to go stay somewhere near amsterdam and have a countryside break, I guess ... gah.

Ok, I'm here. Maybe. The booking process was horrible, hotel rooms kept appearing and disappearing everywhere.

Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal is quite noisy so hope you can get a room at the back!

If you look at Expedia, there's a golf hotel outside Amsterdam that always has cheap rooms on the go, but I think I read guests' reviews saying it was a bit of a pain to get into Amsterdam from there.

I want to be central. Thanks for the warning about noise, I'll bring a noise machine, maybe.

There really didn't seem to be much available that wasn't either a bunk in a dorm room, or £300/night. This one is at the cheaper end of what I'm willing to pay, and not next to the Vondelpark (unfortunately), but it is central.

I'm tempted by the Hotel de Filosoff or whatever it was, very nicely located and apparently very nice. But of course totally full.

We have been twice this year and we have stayed in Hotel Hestia (overlooking the Vondelpark) and Hotel Piet Hein which is also close to the Vondelpark. Very impressed with both I must say.

Hi,
I'll add my tuppenyworth and vote for the Piet Hein - very pleasant, good design without being totally up itself. The rooms in the new wing were worth it. Can't remember how much but reasonable. Vondelpark is nice.