Kacee

For me the downside of the Marriott vs. Renaissance is I find Leidseplein too touristy. Spuistraat near the Renaissance has a much more local feel. But that's entirely a personal preference. And I agree the Marriott properties handle points stays very well - don't treat you like a second class citizen as some properties will.

RoundAbout

I stayed with the Renaissance just before Easter. There was some outside neighborhood construction that had started. Does anyone know the latest? Thanks!

CJKatl

Same here. I've been at the AMS FS four times, seen many crew members with suitcases in the lobby congregating, but have never seen a crew member in the CL. But now that I'm thinking about it, how would I know if someone was a crew member unless he/she is in uniform?

SkiAdcock

True, but the airline crews I've seen are from Asia so might notice them & if they had legit access to the lounge who cares. They're as welcome as anyone else who has legit access. However, I doubt on the airlines negotiated rate that the airlines are springing for exec lounge access.

Cheers.

edgewood49

The lounge at the Marriott HAS airline crews using it at least every trip I have had there they have been there breakfast and dinner ! I have not really had an issue with over crowding when there. I have seen people standing around outside the door trying to sneak in! Once I gave one a really dirty look and they turned away!

SkiAdcock

If they're in the lounge then they've been given legit access & have the right to be there. I've never seen airline crews in the lounge when I've been staying at the property, but then again I have a tendency not to bother w/ brekkie & am normally only there in the evenings. But I don't want to sidetrack the thread, which has more to do w/ the properties themselves than airline crews.

Having said that & relating to the lounge, the lounge attendants have said the lounges are always busy in the summer with families on holiday, which is probably true of a lot of popular destination cities/properties. The AMS Marriott lounge (thank goodness it's larger now) is very busy during IBC week in September when the hotel is at 100% capacity, but not before or after it. My understanding is the lounge in the Marriott is larger than the lounge at the Ren, so it wouldn't surprise me if the Ren lounge is SRO during summer or IBC.

Cheers.

CJKatl

Sorry, but I cannot help myself... One of my favorite travel stories happened in that crowded lounge...

I was eating breakfast with my nieces last summer, who were 15 and 17 at the time. The younger niece said, "I think I know that girl at the next table from back home." Her older sister condescendingly said, "No you don't. What would be the chances...." I said, "Actually, you do know her. They are having the exact same conversation at that table." The girl's brother was telling her she didn't know my niece. It turned out they played in the same Atlanta area soccer league the year before and the family was also from Decatur. We run into them pretty often now around town.

edgewood49

I don't think anyone was saying they didn't have access mostly likely I tend to "notice" more is my background. I have seen it busy in November and Feb.

RoundAbout

I should have added - the streets and sidewalks out front and in the area were being dug up. Does anyone know if this has been finished? Thanks!

eastnortheast

Planning a trip to Europe (and Amsterdam) next June (2015). Based on this thread (which is great by the way - thanks to all the contributors (SkiAdcock, etc.)), probably will stay at the Marriott. Will have six people (2 adults and 4 kids - (kids are tweens and teens)) traveling, so a couple of questions:

We will obviously need at least 2 rooms, and will be using points. When looking at the Marriott web site, the only rooms that appear to allow 3 guests require points plus a 70 Euro upcharge to an executive room. Since I am Platinum, I assume I would be getting this room anyway, so will the upcharge be waived? A few pages back (cant find the post now), someone was in a similar situation but I did not see if the fee was waived. Any experiences in this area?

Lounge access for kids - are there restricted hours for kids? I stay alot at the Marriott in BKK, and they limit kids entry to the lounge to between 0900 - 1700. I have no problem with this (and actually prefer it), but just want to check to see if the Amsterdam Marriott has a similar policy. If they do have such a policy, will they comp you breakfast in the regular restaurant instead?

Is there a limit on the number of people per room that can use the lounge? I have heard some Marriotts limit it to 2 people per room, regardless of the occupancy of the room. Is the Amsterdam Marriott like this?

Thanks for any feedback.

SkiAdcock

I found this from a prior trip report:

"A coded room key is required to enter the lounge, and there is a sign outside the lounge that says the lounge is for Marriott Gold & Platinum members, as well as guests staying on the executive level. It also says children under 15 need to be accompanied by an adult.

In the past, they were quite lenient on an elite guest or exec room level guest bringing multiple people into the lounge, but are now cracking down on that a bit. Now they limit free entry to the lounge based on # of room occupants. If you bring in more than what is listed in your booking, there is an additional charge for the extra people. I'm not sure how they track that, though, as I didn't see someone manning the door checking room #/counting people this trip."

Having said that, there is a report in this thread from last August that kids were running all over the exec lounge so not sure they track how many are in the room or monitor the under 15 rule.

Elites, per Marriott T&Cs, get a next room type upgrade, which is to an exec level room at this property. Some rooms on each floor of the AMS Marriott are designated exec level (since the actual exec level is on the ground floor) with presumably the robes, slippers, etc.

The exec lounge room size is supposedly the same size as the larger family room. I'd probably just book the regular 2 rooms, with the kids room being a double.

Cheers.

CJKatl

Although my stay was a year ago, both rooms were given access to the CL, based in my status. My nieces were in "family" rooms both times (we had two different stays) and the rooms were not larger than other rooms; they just had the extra bed. Ironically, my rooms both times only had a single bed but were bigger than their rooms. One was a long room with a slanted wall with a larger dressing and bath area. If you look at the exterior picture of the hotel on the Marriott site, it's one of the rooms in the first columns of windows visible on the right. The other was a corner room with a view of Burger King.

ohmark

This limitation to the upgrade benefit was eliminated several years ago. There is no current language in the upgrade T&C limiting upgrades to one category.

SkiAdcock

You're right. I cut/pasted from an earlier post that was a few years old.

This is the current wording:

Upgrades may include rooms with desirable views, rooms on high floors, corner rooms, rooms with special amenities, rooms on Executive Floors, or suites. All upgrades are granted on a space-available basis, as determined at the time of check-in. Upgrades are subject to availability and identified by each hotel. Not available at Marriott Vacation Club.

Cheers.

JamesEaston

Since getting platinum I'm always upgraded to a very large room with a Leidseplein view, but if you're going to NEED a large room, and going there at the height of high season, it's best to confirm it in advance even if you have to pay extra. If there are twenty other platinums staying during the same period as you, you may not get an upgrade at all.

I've seen kids there many nights, and also seen large family groups at all hours of the day. In addition they rarely have the lounge staffed, other than wait type staff. There's no concierge desk and no one asking your room number etc. The lounge staff there are excellent BTW.

On an unrelated note regarding comments in this thread, the Ren in Amsterdam is really a horrible choice over the MC. I stayed at the Ren way back in the early 90s before it was even a MC, then stayed a lot at L'Europe at Rembrandtsplein, but in the last years have stayed at the MC every time in AMS (about a dozen times) with the exception of last summer when there was some promo and went back to the Ren after a long absence.

It (the Renaissance) was absolutely awful from start to finish. The front desk staff ranged from indifferent to rude. The lounge by any definition is terrible food wise, but especially when compared to the MC just a km away. (Sharon is right that the MC AMS lounge is much better now that it's on the ground floor than the small lounge on the 7th or 8th floor they used to have, but it's also infinitely better than the Renaissance lounge). This Ren lounge offers almost a non-selection for breakfast whereas the MC has a huge buffet and they'll do cook to order anything you want. The evening at the Ren lounge is the same, virtually nothing, and what they do have is crap . Also the breakfast buffet downstairs at the Ren was one drab choice after another. I wish they hadn't had that promo so I didn't have that experience!

Some say they like the area of the Renaissance. As a boy 20 years ago I did also, but for me personally now, I don't want to be in the noisiest and most congested part of the city steps from Centraal station, Damrak, drugs and "red lights". On the other hand, a hundred meters or so past the crowds of Leidseplein, almost next to a large park and right on a huge canal, but still only a five minute tram ride to/from anywhere in the city, the MC Leidseplein is in a perfect location.

If you are considering staying at these two properties in Amsterdam, there is nothing to consider, the MC at Leidseplein is the only real choice. Better in every possible way.