BLazarus22

+1

Its close but not a simple walk. You have to navigate around tram tracks, plenty of bicycle traffic, and uneven footpaths. It is extremely close but not as simple as it looks by a map. Even a small fee of 5 euro would be worth avoiding any unfortunate mishap.

guiseppe

One could be think if a senior is able to take the train ( steps) , he would be able for the short walk to the hotel. If not: what about a taxi from schiphol to the hotel ??

Lomapaseo

All the quotes for four pass are 45 euros to Central station and 65 euros + to the hotel.

They start off lowballing the estimate and by the time you get an official quote it has significantly increased

fb175091

From the east exit of Centraal, it's exactly 300m according to google maps. The taxi rank is next to the west exit. Depending on where on the platform you arrive at Centraal, the walk from the platform to the taxi rank can be almost as far as the walk from the platform to the Doubletree.

Yes, this is what I heard from other people visiting Amsterdam who tried to take a cab from Centraal: some taxi drivers at the taxi rank refuse to take customers for short distances. This is certainly a distance where a taxi driver might say no.

kdoughboy

This is an odd question, but does anybody happen to recall the brand of yogurt they serve at breakfast? It was my favorite part of the breakfast and would like to see if I can get some locally, but I can't recall the name and my googling has not yielded any results. Thanks very much!

fb175091

Are you talking about the yogurt in the small fridge underneath the serving table? I think it's Activia (http://www.activia.us.com), but I am not 100% sure. They also have Yakult (http://www.yakultusa.com/) in the same fridge.

If no one else checks until next weekend, I can have a look when I am back in Amsterdam.

kdoughboy

I am indeed talking about the ones in the fridge underneath the breakfast buffet, however it wasn't either of those. It was in a small glass jar with a foil lid, in blueberry and apricot flavors, and I think it was a European brand. Definitely not a fancy probiotic product or anything, just good yogurt.

Thanks for your help!

Sisosig

Did they have a green cap? It could be the PurNatur. Many W-European Hiltons have them.

http://www.purnatur.eu/index_EN.htm

Indeed nothing fancy, just plain organic ingredients , from Flanders. If you liked it that much, it becomes you. (Or isn't that correct in English?)

kdoughboy

That's it! It was in a glass jar with a green foil cap. And no, it wasn't anything fancy, but I liked that it was all natural and not super sweet like the yogurt you get here in the states. Just good, high quality stuff. Now to find it in Los Angeles...

Thank you!

fb175091

Fourth suite upgrade in a row. I noticed that during the greeting, the check-in agent used the phrase "regular guest" at least four times (instead of "Diamond member"), including a little joke ("you have probably been to that room before"). I can only suspect that my suite upgrades have to do with this property-related status rather than my HHD.

Lomapaseo

Just finished a stay at this hotel.

The front desk staff were extremely friendly and helpful.

The new lounge was much better than what I had expected from reading this thread.

It was never very difficult morning nor evening for four of us to sit together although I was disappointed that twosomes would monopolize seatings for four.

They use a coded key entry system and did permit guests. The lounge is on the main floor and tied into their Café. The good of this is that it permits constant service by two or more Café workers to keep it well stocked for morning and evening service. Of course the beer is pretty much limited to that horrible green can Heinikin But after having put up with that on my Air France flights I was hoping for something better.

I especially liked their scrambled eggs since unlike the USA they were not overcooked!

see my u-tube listing for a video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbFy6Dl8vzE

This is now my favorite hotel for Amsterdam

elCheapoDeluxe

I am going to be in Amsterdam 9/21-9/23. I can get the Doubletree with points for one night only (the latter) at the standard 50k rate. I can get the Hilton for both nights (only by switching room types though) for 140k points. Or I can use a premium reward and pay ~220k points instead of 100k for the two nights at the Doubletree.

So, do one night at the Hilton and one at the Doubletree for 120k, both at the Hilton but different rooms for 140k, or both at the Doubletree for 220k?

I also have enough loose PC points for a night at the Crowne Plaza. Could do one there and one at the Doubletree.

Sigh. I miss the Diamond force on reward stays. I remember the lengths the Diamond desk went through to get me 7 consecutive nights at the Cavalieri with 5 Q3FN certs and two reward nights....

mattp1987

Does anyone know what time breakfast starts here? I'm booked here for a 23 hour layover at AMS, but our flight back to the US departs at 07:55, so I'm planning to catch the 05:44 train to the airport. I'm debating canceling the reservation and booking near the airport if we won't be able to really enjoy the whole experience.

ETA: According to the hotel website, the earliest any of their restaurant is open is 6:30 (yes, even Starbucks), so it looks like Crown Room Lounge will have to do it for breakfast. I'm still interested in whether those on this board who have stayed here think it's worthwhile for such a short trip. As we'll be landing at AMS around 8:30am, would we have a good chance to check in around 10am?

Koby

What is the experience that you are looking for? The hotel? Or Amsterdam?

You will not enjoy the city in the same way if you stay at the airport. And the travel time from the Doubletree to the airport is probably as short as most airport hotels (except Hilton and Sheraton).

mattp1987

Mostly Amsterdam, but I was also interested in whether the hotel experience in the city was worth paying a premium over the airport hotels. After doing more research into these cheaper options, I discovered that they aren't really convenient to the airport as you pointed out. The 15 minute train ride seems just as short as a shuttle to any of the cheaper airport hotels. That eliminates the issue with only one train an hour back to the airport station after midnight if we decide to stay out late. I'm sticking with the DT at 104 Euro AAA rate. Thanks for the help.