Budget Travel - Looking for cheap hotel in AMS for three nights...

Hey guys, I recently got a wicked price to visit AMS for three days in april of next year (YYC-AMS for $850 CAD) and am now looking to book a place to stay.

Anyone have any decent cheap places to stay (preferably near the airport) ??

Thanks !!

Anyone have any decent cheap places to stay (preferably near the airport) ??

WOW, that's more than I paid for my last trip to Shanghai :eek:

But to subject at hand. Please give us your definition of cheap, as everyone's is different :rolleyes:

In Shanghai I paid about $20 a night, but did not consider it cheap. OTOH not sure if I could get a hostel with shared rooom for that in AMS ;)

EmailKid

People's definitions of "cheap" are different.

At zero, there is "couch-surfing". Around 30 Euro will net you a bed in one of AMS's excellent youth hostels. Hotwire has a 4* at $88 for one date next April. You could bid on Priceline at the different star levels. And I've heard people describe under $200 as "cheap".

A little more specifics?

Romelle

Ahh, just over 5 cents a mile it worked out for me with the routing so It's all good!!

I was looking at maybe $50-80 (canadian) an night in a hotel...

Just a good location is my main concern as I will be walking to most things.

Do you have to be under a certain age to get into the youth hostels?? I just hit 30 unfortunately.....

I've always had good luck looking at tripadvisor and selecting hotels with great traveler reccs from a lot of reviewers-have found some real gems.

You might try easyHotel. Looks like it is 49 -59 euro. It is likely to be basic but very clean and modern but with extra charges for everything.

Ahh, just over 5 cents a mile it worked out for me with the routing so It's all good!!

I was looking at maybe $50-80 (canadian) an night in a hotel...

Just a good location is my main concern as I will be walking to most things.

Do you have to be under a certain age to get into the youth hostels?? I just hit 30 unfortunately.....

OK, now we have something to work with - thanks for geting back to us ^

5 cpm is pretty darn good for CDN, but AMS isn't cheap, so you will have to look pretty hard for a hotel in your price range.

It's my understanding that you can Priceline hotels near the airport for a decent price. There's rail into city, so it shouldn't be too painful.

And they're not really Youth hostels anymore, just hostels, so they take those of us who would like to be near 30 (with a few exceptions).

I've seen folks who could easily pass for 60+ in hostels, and in Panama I tagged along with 20 somethings that went to a disco with soap bubble machines that I only saw on TV before :D

But I slept with ear protection and eye mask :eek:

OTOH, the price was right (about $15 IIRC). That was for a shared room (hence the eye/ear protection), but I'm sure it will be more in AMS.

And you can get single rooms even in hostels, but they do cost more (got one in PRG just last year).

EmailKid

The couple of times I have been in Amsterdam, I have always had really good luck bidding on priceline. I suggest you go over to the Tripadvisor.com forum on Amsterdam. They have a thread that's been going on literally for years detailing all the bids for 4 star hotels. It's a great source of information and they are very helpful in that forum in how to use Priceline to get a good price for your stay. The thread you would be looking for is labeled:

"Bidding on a 4 star in the center"

hiusa.org will link you Hosteling International. Then click on "International". No age max. I stayed in one when I was close to 60. (There is a max in Bavaria, but that is the only place of which I know.)

Easyhotel is simply www.easyhotel.com .

And you could search on "couch surfing". Free. I've never done it, but have talked to people that have. Reports are that is is great fun and works well.

Romelle

As you have time, I would seriously consider finding some way of getting enough points to pay for a hotel, through credit cards or other promotions.

Hotels in central Amsterdam tend to be rather expensive.
It's not so bad at the airport, but then you may need a shuttle bus and train to get into the city, which eats up your short amount of time there.

easyhotel.com would probably work, and laterooms.com also have some smaller hotels.
Personally, after travelling that distance, I would want something better.

Unless you are going at a particularly high-demand time, Priceline would probably work. See betterbidding.com . However, it's probably too early to put in a bid.

Although I definitely favour doing things cheaply, Amsterdam hotels that are low-budget tend to be quite awful, and not "cheap and cheerful".

But still, take a look at kayak.com and hotelscombined.com for your dates.

Also, you can consider staying in outlying towns like Haarlem, Utrecht, or Leiden. All are highly attractive places in their own right, and convenient to Amsterdam.

I stayed in the Mövenpick Hotel, which is a 10 min walk from the main train station. It is a very nice hotel with a wonderful view and we paid less than € 100 per night.

Just a good location is my main concern as I will be walking to most things.

In your first mssage you prefer the airport and now this? Thse two are not combinable. Stay in central Amsterdam and you can walk everywhere. Stay at the airport and you need to spend the 20 minutes in train/direction + short waiting time + 4€/direction + time to get from hotel to AMS. Not a god idea IMO.

I´s use Priceline or Hotwire. Most likely to get a good room within your budget.

well hotwire has a 4*$90 CAD room a night, I think I am going to keep checking howtire every few days and see what they've got. Props for mentioning the betterbidding site, its fantastic.

Thanks guys I think I am going to be set.

I appreciate all the advice!!

When I overnight at AMS, I have always successfully booked via "name your own price" the NH Schipol for around $75 US per night + tax and fees. Negatives about this is that there is little in the way of food nearby. Perhaps the most expensive McDonalds in Europe across the street will please you. Plus the last time, they started charging 5 Euro for the return trip to the airport.

You might also check www.lastminutetravel.com which sometimes, but not always has astonishing rates in various cities. This is an opaque site, but with a little effort, you can determine with high probability where you will end up. Using a combination of of Expedia and LMT maps and amenity symbols will sometimes yield enough information to pin down the hotel. In the case of AMS, looking at the photos and matching them to Trip Advisor's will tell you for sure where you will be staying. Some photos actually give you a big hint such as the photo of an airport shuttle parked in front of the hotel. On the side of one van is a very large sign stating "Radisson SAS". The van is also parked under a sign reading "Radisson" Obviously this is not the Hilton van parked in front of the Hilton. A picture of the restaurant sign coupled with a quick Google search will often tell one the name.

I'm pushing 40 and have had only one issue with booking a hostel. One hostel insisted that I stay in a shared room rather than a dorm; fair enough.

And I recommend you look at Airbnb. It is a great site, has some hotels listed (usually), and you can pay via paypal.

Alex

...Anyone have any decent cheap places to stay (preferably near the airport) ??

Thanks !!

Amsterdam is fabulous!

Do NOT stay by the airport.

One of my favs is Hotel Van Onna www.hotelvanonna.nl/index.html at about €50 per night.

However, NO smoking, NO TV's, NO phones in the rooms. But I keep going back there because I like it that much.

Note that there are many overpriced, smokey, moldy rooms in Amsterdam.

But the Van Onna is a winner for me when alone.

Amsterdam is fabulous!

Do NOT stay by the airport.

One of my favs is Hotel Van Onna www.hotelvanonna.nl/index.html at about 50 Euros per night.

However, NO smoking, NO TV's, NO credit cards, NO phones in the rooms. But I keep going back there because I like it that much.

Note that there are many overpriced, smoky, moldy rooms in Amsterdam.

But the Van Onna is a winner for me when alone.

I agree - don't stay by the airport, particularly if you plan on walking (which you will in AMS!)

Hostels are great, just do your research (one of my favorites gets low overall ratings, but only because it is a quietly non-denominational hostel that doesn't allow pot/alcohol consumption on the premises - it gets low ratings in the 'fun' category, high ratings in all the others and is in a very convenient location).

If you are going to spring for a private room, I agree that the Van Onna is a winner. Lovely location, walkable from the main train station (although if you have large luggage, you probably want to look into some other form of transport), walkable everywhere, really. (I'm just a bit too thrifty to stay there unless the hostel is booked up!)