Crowne Plaza Amsterdam City Centre
The Crowne Plaza Amsterdam City Centre is located close to the main station (walkable distance) in the heart of Amsterdam. Many places of interest could be reached walking and also restaurants are close. If you arrive by car, you will have problems to find a space for your car, but the hotel offers valet parking, which is like in every city hotel quite expensive.
The hotel has seven floor and close to 270 rooms. The hotel itself consists of many building which are connected. There are a few stairs between the floors as not every house has the same level than the other houses. Also not all rooms face the street but the courtyard or pedestrian zone. As much as this leads to no views, from my impression the rooms facing the courtyard are more quite than those facing the pedestrian zone or the street as Amsterdam is a very vibrant city.
The lobby and the check in desk are set back from the main entrance. Three check-in desks are located in addition to a separate desk for Priority Club Members holding elite status in the guest program. Adjacent to the check in area is the so called "living room" with a fireplace, arm chairs and bookshelves. This area is also doubling as bar or place to drink something in the evening if you did not want to go into the restaurant, as there is no bar in the hotel.
The restaurant is called "New Dorius" and could be reached by passing the “living room”. The restaurant appears in the same neo-modern styling like the rest of the hotel. “New Dorius” is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The club lounge is also located on the ground floor and could be reached from the living room as well. Restaurant as well as lounge offer view to the pedestrian zone, which is not that nice, as everybody seems to be looking on your plate if you are sitting at the window.
The gym is in the basement, quite small but the equipment is okay. There is a small sauna for each gender with showers and locker rooms but no room for relaxing. Not that nice, but at least there is one. The business center is also in the basement.
Stays: November 19, 2010
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Crowne Plaza AMSTERDAM CITY CENTRE
Sauna
Arrival Date: November 19, 2010
Departure Date: November 21, 2010
Room type booked: Standard
Rate Plan: Advanced Purchase Rate including breakfast
Room Number: 506
Room Rate: 97.75 GBP (excluding taxes)
Status of Guest Program: Platinum
We arrived around 12:00 in the hotel after we walked to the hotel from Amsterdam main station.
All check in desk including the dedicated desk for Gold and Platinum Members were busy. But one member of staff took care of my ID and my Priority Club Platinum Card and filled out all missing information on the prepared receipt, so his colleague at the desk has not so much work and saved some time for them and us.
We were addressed by name and the bed preference was again confirmed. Since I was sharing the room with a friend, I had requested a room with two single beds. They searched for an yet available room and found one. This was of course a nice surprise and much welcomed. We also got a voucher for a free beverage and one for a free breakfast. The later one was exchanged for another beverage voucher, which I think was a bit lame, as breakfast was by far a higher value than the value of the beverage voucher which was
around 7,50 EUR.
Guests with Platinum status get some additional benefits, like a Voucher for one breakfast in the restaurant „new Dorrius “, a 50% discount on breakfast during the stay, a beverage voucher, 20% Discount of telephone calls from the room, the use of the Internet and the use of Valet Parking. However, if breakfast is already included in the rate, only one further voucher is given.
The location of gym and breakfast restaurant was explained and soon we were on our way to our room.
The layout of the rooms is that of the average hotel room, but the size is quite small. A central power switch is located at the entrance, but as far as I notice, is does not affect the power outlets.
The bathroom features a sink, toilet and bath tub. The shower head with rainshower and massage function was like the shower curtain in good condition. The wash basin offered enough space to place toiletries. A hair dryer and a vanity mirror were also available. Bathroom amenities (lotion, showering gel and shampoo) were a Crowne Plaza brand and restocked daily. Towels were available for two persons. One day, only one bath towel was changed, although both were lying in the bath. This was quickly solved after calling
housekeeping. The big bathroom mirror was heated and therefore did not become foggy after taking a hot shower.
The bathroom was dark with dark granite-styled tiles; a part with smaller green tiles at the toilet set a nice contrast.
A small corridor leads into the room. The closet was located in the hallway. The number of hangers were okay, but the place to store clothes and other personal belongings was a bit limited and you would run into problems with more clothes than for just two or three days. Iron and Ironing board were placed in the closet. Also placed in the closet was the safe, which had laptop seize, but no power outlet.
Next to the closet was the electronically operated mini bar and tea and coffee facilities. The prices for the minibar was rather low for European hotel standards (Tonic 3.50 EUR; Beer 4.50 EUR, peanuts 2.50 EUR).
The room had two single beds with a bedside table between them. Two small reading lamps were available in addition to the regular lamps on the bedside table. The wall behind the bed was covered with a wooden frame in a rather dark color. Two armchairs with a small table were standing in front of the window. On the side opposite to the bed were the desk and the sideboard with the TV. Despite the fact, that the desk was not the biggest one, working was possible without problems if you have not too much things in
addition to your laptop. International power outlets (Europe, UK and US) were available in addition to the LAN adapter.
The flat TV had plugs for video, PC, HDMI and the usual channels (CNN, BCC, Bloomberg, Al Jazzira, etc.).
The contemporary interior design of the room was using warm colors. The carpet was beige with grey-brown, the wall and furniture were mostly using dark wood. At the walls two black-and-white photos with motives of Amsterdam provided a nice local accent. The furniture was in a good condition, barely any scratches and stains. The only downside aside from the small seize was the use of darker colors, as this gave the room an even smaller impression.
The mattresses of the beds were good.
A turn down service was not offered.
The requested late check out for 15:00 was given without problem; an extended check out at 14:00 was already confirmed during check in.
We had breakfast included in our rate and therefore had breakfast on both days in the restaurant. The Buffet offers different juices and Prosecco. Coffee and tea were brought by staff members. Scrambled egg, Bacon and Sausages, Beans, sauted mushrooms and Röstitaler were available as hot dished, cold dishes were cheese, sausages as well as salmon. Jam and “hagelslag” were offered, but I found this selection quite small compared to the other offerings. Bread and rolls are available like toast and croissant. Cereals
and cornflakes were also offered, but only in small packages one also finds quite often in hotels in the US. Fruit salad, a selection of yoghurt and cream cheese were also available.
The quality was okay, the scrambled eggs need some spices as their taste was rather fade.
The service was attentive.
Check out was okay, but the folio was not correct. Platinum members get 20% off the use of internet, which was not taken of the bill for the second day. Since my credit card was already charged, before I received the folio, it could not be corrected easily. The amount was around 2,00 EUR and although I dislike this way of first charging the card and then showing the folio, I made not fuzz about it.
The use of Internet (powered by iBahn) was not free of charge. 24 h were 19,95 EUR and one hour were 6,95 EUR.
Overall, it was a pleasant stay. The advantage of the hotel is its location in the heart of Amsterdam. All important points of interest could be reached by food.
After the refurbishment of the hotel, the rooms have in a nice design, though the use of lighter colors especially in smaller rooms might have been an advantage. One has to also to accept that the rooms are quite small, but this is Amsterdam and this hotel not really an exception. The gym in the basement is okay but the sauna not the nicest one and there is no place to relax. It is nice to have one, but should not be a main criterion to choose this hotel.
Staff is friendly and despite the fact there were a few minor service related issue, I would stay there again, as this hotel offers a good value for money.
