The Bridge Hotel - Amsterdam, Netherlands     

This hotel was recommended to me for its rooms offering charming views of the Amstel river. I stayed for one week at the Bridge Hotel and had a room with a view for 2 nights, but this did not make up for the overall experience. The hotel reminds me of the dorm in which I spent my junior year abroad in Europe. The decor is very worn, the floors are dirty and the bathroom utilitarian at best. But, mostly, the staff acts as though they are "housesitting," or filling in for someone else. Once, I rang the front bell to be let in (it was below freezing outside) and waited more than 10 minutes while the person who managed the front desk was fixing a plumbing problem. There are simply no staff around. On another day when I returned in the evening to my room and realized that the cleaning staff had not provided any soap, the front desk could not offer any solutions. When I asked for "hotel services," I was told that the office equipment like copy machine was "broken." I had to walk to a copy place. Finally, when asked to switch my "room with a view" to another one, I was told to check out all my things at 11 a.m., put my suitcases behind the front desk, and wait until 3 p.m. before I could have my new room (I wasn't leaving the hotel, merely switching rooms). I was insulted since my stay was a week long, and I protested; it took over an hour to convince the only staff member that this procedure was unacceptable. There is simply no professional person working there, much like my college dorm experience. This is a bare-bones place. The view is nice. The location is fine. I am ranking one notch above terrible because the location was close to metro and trolleys.

The location is pretty good; central to a lot of different things that are walking distance, close to a lot of tram spots and quiet. The rooms were really clean and beds comfy. I appreciated the large bathrooms. Breakfast was great and convenient to start the day. For more of a "scene" i would tell people to stay somwhere in the Jordaan, but for the $$, value and cleanliness, I would stay here again.