ITC - Amsterdam, Netherlands     

Tiny little room and I bumped my head on the TV everytime I stood up in the first day. The city was quite full and hard to find a room so I booked two nites at the ITC. I thought it was very expensive for what it is so if you're really desperate stay here if not then steer clear.

I booked this hotel via their website – having previously visited it twelve years ago. It was listed as a Gay Hotel and on my last visit had been well run, clean with a pleasant atmosphere. The establishment has different owners now – How things had changed! On arrival this time I was shocked to see that standards had slipped, the welcome was cold, the reception area shabby. I was then shown to a room not in the main building –but in another house across the street above hairdressers. To say the room was dirty would be an understatement! The bed was unmade and had a huge bloodstain on the sheets. It looked and felt lie a room that is rented by the hour, not what I had been led to believe on the hotel website where I had requested their most expensive double. I returned to reception to complain, but had already decided to go to another hotel…any hotel! The manager/owner made no apology – instead he said that he would charge me for three nights as he had my credit card details. He made no concession as to what I had booked or for the poor state of his establishment. The receptionist agreed that the place is not up to its two star rating out of earshot of the manager. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am - I have very happy memories of my previous two visits and had booked the place for my partner and myself on the strength of previous experience. It certainly is no longer a gay hotel – they are still trading on its past reputation and to charge 135 Euros a night for the dirty room we were shown and then insist that we pay anyway (the hotel wasn’t full) is verging on extortion! It was a very miserable start to our weekend in Amsterdam.