Swissotel Amsterdam - Amsterdam, Netherlands 

So, we arrived in Amsterdam via the train from the airport. Took us about 10-15 minutes Walking from the station to the hotel, But we didn’t mind because it was an exciting walk. The front desk staff was friendly and recommended a few spots around town. The actual room was definitely small (But small is what you get in Europe). We were facing an alley on the side of the hotel. It got very noisy in the alley at night with people walking through the alley early in the morning, etc. Also, there was a street sweeper that went through the alley very early in the morning, so it was very hard to get a decent sleep each night. Also, the air flow in the room was non-existent so it got hot in the room. We are used to sleeping with a fan in our room back home, so it was either extremely quiet with the window closed, or very noisy with it open. Other than that though, the hotel was fine. If you don’t like a lot of late night noise I wouldn’t recommend staying in or around Dam Square. It’s literally ALWAYS busy with large crowds at all hours. Some recommendations for food: There is a pancake house a few blocks away in Jordan called “Sara’s Pancake House”. Awesome Waffles. We ate there twice. For Mexican, good drinks: Rose’s Cantina. Amazing dinner experience. We also found a Indonesian restaurant with a beautiful outside terrace on the same street as Rose’s Cantina. Highly recommended. Would stay at Swissotel again, but only if it was located in a quieter part of town!

Located within walking distance of everthing, I was very surprised by the Swissotel. Being my first time to Europe, people had told me that the rooms were small and pokey. I found the room big even to Australian standards. The service was excellent, the staff very friendly and helpful. I would recommend this hotel to anyone!