Hilton HHonors - Hilton Amsterdam...A Good Tourist Hotel?

I am planning to travel to Amsterdam next month with my significant other for vacation. I was originally planning to spend 10 days in AMS exploring the city and the countryside. I booked a 10-day award stay at the Amsterdam Hilton. Today I realized how far the hotel was from the major tourist attraction areas (not sure how I didn't realize that before).

I'm wondering if anyone has stayed here and, if so, is the hotel as inconvenient for tourists as it looks on the map? I'm worried about the cost of bailing on this and booking a room closer in (over $3,000+ for the stay for a four-star hotel).

Another option is to split the trip, fly over to Prague for 5 days and book a Hilton award stay there and then burn AMEX award points on a hotel closer to tourist sites in Amsterdam for 5 days, only worried I will not have enough time to enjoy either city fully.

Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks

Question addressed in some detail in post #21.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=560092&highlight=amsterdam&page=2

I think it just depends on how your going to split your time between the city and the surrounding area.

Personally I think the hotel is well suited for visiting Amersterdam and the countryside. You can easily park on the street not far from the hotel each night and your very close to the city center if you desire to spend some days walking around the city.

The hotel itself is very good.

Now I also like Prague and you can't go wrong spending 5 days in each city - but it goes back to what/where you want to see things.....

Get a bike and tool around town! It's what the locals do.

I was at the Hilton Amsterdam last year. The location is a bit off the main areas. You can walk to most places, but it is not as close as the Marriott. You can take the trams and that makes getting around a bit easier, but I am not sure how late they run. I still would not cancel the stay because of the location. The executive lounge is great. It is on the roof and is surrounded with windows and you can see the whole city from there.

The Hilton Prague is also nice. It is not exactly in the center of the city either, but a short walk can get you there. I may take about 20-30 min walk to get the old city. Their lounge is great.

I spent New Years at the Hilton in Amsterdam. The location is not a problem. Plus the concierge lounge on the roof has an amazing view, good food and drink too!

Rent a bike or use the public trolley, 2 block walk. Live like a native. I do not recommend using the private cars with driver that the hotel arranges. Though the drivers are knowledgeable they are quite pricey.

Will definately stay there again!

I had a short stay at Hilton Amsterdam last year. The location is not a problem for me, I can easily walk to the museum area (concert hall, Van Gogh, Rijks museum) and there is a huge part near by which is very peaceful.

The tram station is near by (go out hotel, make a right turn, go across the bridge, station is at the cross road on the left) which takes you wherever you want to go. You can buy tram ticket at the gift shop in the hotel.

Some one suggested bike, I recall the hotel has bikes for their guest free of charge. It is a biker friendly city if weather permits.

I appreciate everyone's input. I also reviewed the earlier mentioned linked post. Seems everyone likes this hotel, save one person who struggled with an upgrade as a Diamond member (we'll hope that doesn't happen to me).

Another question the crowd might be able to answer...If I choose to spend all 10 days on holiday in the Netherlands, with Amsterdam as my kicking off point for trips, will I find enough to do to fill my time (assuming I travel out of Amsterdam to places like Rotterdam, The Hague and so forth)?

Also, for any of you who enjoy the Amsterdam nightlife into the wee hours (as I plan to), how hard is it to get back to the hotel? What are the options?

On distance:
Yes from almost all "premium" hotels available HILTON is not exactly in the center. However, it is still a short walk (for European standards). You can take a multiday tram-pass (public transport) that will make things even easier.
I have never heard anyone complaining about locations of hotels in London and or New York. Hilton Amsterdam is less distance from Amsterdam center than appr. 5-6 NY blocks and on top of that most attractions are much closer.

On clubbing:
Plenty of taxis available throughout the night. Please be sure meter is turned and familiarize yourself with "route" on map beforehand so you can notice when you receive a "complimentary" (?!) detour

On other cities:
Depending on you interest you could visit cities of Rotterdam (harbour), The Hague (governement seat), Leiden (old university town), utrecht and Gouda as well as smaller villages of more traditional Dutch character like Volendam. All in all I would say take a 6/4 or 7/3 split between AMS and other locations.

On distance:
Yes from almost all "premium" hotels available HILTON is not exactly in the center. However, it is still a short walk (for European standards). You can take a multiday tram-pass (public transport) that will make things even easier.
I have never heard anyone complaining about locations of hotels in London and or New York. Hilton Amsterdam is less distance from Amsterdam center than appr. 5-6 NY blocks and on top of that most attractions are much closer.

On clubbing:
Plenty of taxis available throughout the night. Please be sure meter is turned and familiarize yourself with "route" on map beforehand so you can notice when you receive a "complimentary" (?!) detour

On other cities:
Depending on you interest you could visit cities of Rotterdam (harbour), The Hague (governement seat), Leiden (old university town), utrecht and Gouda as well as smaller villages of more traditional Dutch character like Volendam. All in all I would say take a 6/4 or 7/3 split between AMS and other locations.

Have to agree w/ the above. I actually laugh when I hear that the Hilton is 'far away' - you'd think it was on the German border for goodness sake, the way some folk go on. Geesh. I've stayed there before. Not quite as convenient as Marriott (where I'm at right now) or *Wood property, but it's not out in the boonies by any stretch of the imagination & isn't that far a walk to either a tram or a nice walk to museum area etc. And once you're on the tram, the 'sights' (which are also in dif parts of AMS) are easily reachable by tram.

Re: nightlife back to hotel. If you're going to be out past 12:30am you'll need to walk or take a cab, as I think the trams stop around then. Make sure you get a cab that is on the 'meter' vs a indie cab that charges a 'set' rate that is usually a ripoff.

10 days for AMS itself is obviously too long, but some days there w/ day trips to either other Holland cities or nearby neighboring countries would be doable. I've also heard that Maastricht is a lovely city; 'bout 2.5hours from AMS.

Cheers.