Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel - Amsterdam, Netherlands 

"Perfect for us"
Posted: Mon, Nov 23 2009
Not much to say... the hotel was perfect! I stayed last year with my boyfriend The room was perfect with mini bar, big comfy bed, dressing gowns, slippers... they put you name on the tv... the bathroom floor was heated. They have a one touch room service which was efficent and the food was excellent. The location is also perfect its right on the corner of Dam Square so only a few mins walk from the red light district, shopping area etc. we also went on the ben and jerry ice cream and dominos pizza cruise and to a comedy show and resturant which i would definetly recommend! There are some really good clothes shops and i would recommend the green house effect cafe, the Weed museum is also worth seeing, we also went to the sex museum which was good... again i got lots of advice and photos been about 5 times now (different hotels)...

Very nice hotel, but not great deal
Posted: Mon, Aug 17 2009
Hotel is very nice -- clean, spacious rooms, comfortable bed, friendly service. Location is great, right downtown. Very nice plus is that the fitness room is much better than most hotels, not just a couple of sad pieces of low-quality equipment. Internet service is irritatingly expensive at 20 euro/day and McDonalds is the only place we found in the area with Wi-Fi available (and even there it isn't free, unlike most others). We use Marriott points so the stay was free, but for the rest of the trip we stayed at the Park Hotel -- at least as nice if not better, better location, and a lot less money.

Ruben.
Posted: Fri, Jul 24 2009
Excellent location, few blocks from central station with many restaurant and amenities nearby. Facilities are great. Internet and restaurant are very expensive.

nightmare at check in
Posted: Tue, Jul 14 2009
We paid top rate to stay at this beautiful hotel, booking through Holland America after a cruise with them. While reservations had to be made well in advance of our arrival and the hotel had more than sufficient time to prepare, they were totally unprepared and woefully understaffed for our check-in. Passengers (a number of whom were elderly or handicapped) who asked about porters to help bring luggage from the bus were told to bring it inside themselves and help would be available in the lobby. It was not. After standing in line in the very crowded lobby (lovely but not functional for a crowd), moving our luggage along with us, we were all told to see the concierge for help--which meant another wait to try to get that poor, very busy man's attention. Of course, because the concierge was drowning in luggage, there was no one available to help with info about tours, etc. As a result we lost out on opportunities for most of the longer tours we might have liked to book (that other cruisers we ran into who had booked themselves into lower priced lodging nearby were able to get assistance from their hotels in arranging). Hotel restaurants were closed on Sunday. After finding a place for lunch, then being able to check in to a room and waiting an hour, I wound up bringing up our luggage myself because things were still somewhat of a mess downstairs. The hotel itself was beautiful, if pricey, and the location was wonderful. The assistance that was to be provided by Holland America was neither evident to us during check in nor were the hotel staff we talked to aware of its availability. I am a frequent Marriott customer and am used to getting much better service, even in less lofty surroundings. It seemed to me this place emphasized profit over service.

nightmare at check in
Posted: Wed, Jul 08 2009
We paid top rate to stay at this beautiful hotel, booking through Holland America after a cruise with them. While reservations had to be made well in advance of our arrival and the hotel had more than sufficient time to prepare, they were totally unprepared and woefully understaffed for our check-in. Passengers (a number of whom were elderly or handicapped) who asked about porters to help bring luggage from the bus were told to bring it inside themselves and help would be available in the lobby. It was not. After standing in line in the very crowded lobby (lovely but not functional for a crowd), moving our luggage along with us, we were all told to see the concierge for help--which meant another wait to try to get that poor, very busy man's attention. Of course, because the concierge was drowning in luggage, there was no one available to help with info about tours, etc. As a result we lost out on opportunities for most of the longer tours we might have liked to book (that other cruisers we ran into who had booked themselves into lower priced lodging nearby were able to get assistance from their hotels in arranging). Hotel restaurants were closed on Sunday. After finding a place for lunch, then being able to check in to a room and waiting an hour, I wound up bringing up our luggage myself because things were still somewhat of a mess downstairs. The hotel itself was beautiful, if pricey, and the location was wonderful. The assistance that was to be provided by Holland America was neither evident to us during check in nor were the hotel staff we talked to aware of its availability. I am a frequent Marriott customer and am used to getting much better service, even in less lofty surroundings. It seemed to me this place emphasized profit over service.