boifromtroy

OK this is a rumor, but at April's I was told that the owner of Amstel Taveerne died recently, was enterred in France on Saturday, and that under new ownership it will no longer be gay--which would be sad.

I only made it as far as Montmartre on my one night mileage run, but can anyone confirm if there is anything to this?

Sjoerd

Yes, the owner of Amstel Taveerne, Mr. Frans Meulenberg, died from lung cancer on 23 December at the age of 60. The Amstel Taveerne has recently been renovated and is now called Amstel 54. Frans' partner Valy Pintiuc will continue to run the bar. I haven't heard about any plans to turn it into a non-gay place, last time I was there (two weeks ago, after the renovation) it was definitely still a gay bar.

meFIRST

For those doing the bathouse scene -

Thermos Day - the best time to go there is Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon (after 2PM, the peak hours is up to 6PM). Your key serves as a charge card in some sense, order drinks from the bar and you pay when you exit. You'll be asked to pay a deposit - last time I was there about 10 EUR. There's also a restaurant on the second floor, (which I haven't tried). Just show them your key and they will add it to your tab. The only place that takes cash is the hairdresser, at the back of the bar. THe bar is actually a lot of fun.


Thermos Night - after 12 on the weekends is the best time to go. Dies down at 4AM - closes around 6PM. At which point they will serve coffee downstairs (such hospitaility).

Personally I like Thermos Day, one of the best bathouses in Europe. The crowd (depending on the time of the year is : Dutch, Belgian, French, Some token visitors) and yes Americans !.

The hot tub is where the actions is - there is also a non smoking area at the back which is cool to lounge.

Stockycub1973

A good hotel is the Quentin. Clean and basic.
http://www.quentinhotels.com/

youngORDboi

Are they mostly tourist or locals?

joene

Reguliersdwarsstraat is visited by both locals and tourists... my friends usually hang out there, and tourists know how to find it as it's one of the main gay streets.

meFIRST

I disagree with the latin/black congregation, neither really !

The bar on "Regular-divorce-streeet" that everyone goes to is ARC, if you go on a Friday afternoon, it's the after work crowd of all colors, shapes and sizes.
(mostly lawyers, from my observation)

In the summer, ARC has tables set up outiside, its a lot of eye candy though in AMS, ARC is known as the 'attitude bar'. I prefer to go to Prik, which IMHO is one of the more frinedlier gay places in AMS.

Prik is one of the few places in europe that I know that makes mixed drinks , including a cosmo, around 6 EUR.

BCH

Aside from Quentin Hotel (recommended above), are there any others that are hip, convenient, and under 200 Euros per night (in December)? I'd appreciate all recommendations.

Hotel Pulitzer, anyone?


Thanks,

BCH

R

You might want to check the 'Black Tulip' :
http://www.blacktulip.nl/

Morland

Look at Banks Mansion - slightly over your price range but free bar, breakfast included and very handy for the gay street.

Pulitzer is expensive (Starwood Luxury Collection) - I would say overpriced - not very handy for the gay street, but given the centre of AMS is so small nothing is too far away. Atmospheric, but I wouldn't stay there again unless I got a great deal.

peteropny

A lot of Int'l SPG properties have very good SPG50 rates - basically 50% off full rack rates. I believe you get one of these "coupons" a year if you have the SPG AMEX or you can redeem 1000 SPG points for one "coupon".

parise

As an American resident in/near Amsterdam for longer than you need to know, some of the above posts dwell on bars now no longer open (IT, April, Amstel Taveerne), etc. and/or the leather, leather-and-lace bars, ones with dark rooms, etc. This objective of this post is to mention the other end of the spectrum.

The nicest one of all is the Rouge (ex Monopole), on the Amstel, near the Rembrandtplein. A really quality bar, with spectacular flowers, great bartenders, DJ, etc. Beautiful guys mainly 30's +. Good around 9:00 p.m. onwards. Packed Sunday nights.

Nearby is the Krokodil, the main older/younger bar. Biggest time is Sunday afternoon from 5:00 p.m. Gezellig. (means "cozy"). Also good Thursday nights.

Down on the Zeedijk (not far from Centraal Station), there are several great bars, foremost among which is the Barderij. Old-Dutch atmosphere, candles, good bartenders. A few meters/yards down the street is the Queen's Head, with a fabulous decor, overlooking the canals.

Enjoy.........

KenJohn

The Pulitzer is nice but rather out of the way to most places in AMS. It is at least quiet.

itsaboutthejourney

Thanks for that info! ^ Timely for an upcoming trip.

LCboys

Up for ARC