So this my turn to review this great hotel. When I arrived, I really had the impression that it was the exact location of the former Sofitel and this was confirmed by the hotel guest relations manager who welcomed us very nicely. What a change compared to the crappy old Sofitel ! I truly enjoyed staying there. 

Check In

We had 2 rooms booked (same name but one Platinum and one Silver account) When arriving at front desk for check-in, the guest relations manager was immediately called and he took great care of us. We were clearly expected and we really felt welcome as per Accor “signature”. He was speaking fluently French which was of course very nice. He explained us all the building and hotel history and services/amenities. He bring is to our rooms. Both room were upgraded (he said kindly that mixing Platinum and Silver, this makes Gold so both rooms are upgraded :)) from Classic/Queen to Superior/King. Welcome drink voucher and letters were given. He explained us all room equipments and amenities (including the free minibar content). He even bring additional free bottle of wine and Prosecco in rooms. Overall super great welcome and true VIP treatment. I need to precise that both rooms were upgraded despite the hotel was showing as fully booked on Accor App. 

Pictures of the lobby:

Room

The room was similar as the one already reviewed by BotB previously. It was facing the Main Street but no noise from outside or from the corridor. Plenty of water + Belgian waffles/chocolates and in-house honey vial, Nespresso machine, slippers and bathrobe amenities. 

Among the few criticism I could make:

• zero privacy in the bathroom. All open on room (neither any door nor curtain)
• The room floor is a basic linoleum witch get stained with time
• The 2nd day, I literally flooded the entire bathroom and half of the bedroom because of shower drainage blockage + water leakage under shower door. Very unpleasant but it was quickly addressed by housekeeping staff

Dining

The hotel restaurant is very good. We had dinner there once and we enjoyed the very modern atmosphere and food food. 

There is a separate room which you can privatize if you need. On the evening we had dinner at the hotel restaurant, there was a kind of Bachelorette party having privatized this room. 

The breakfast buffet was excellent too.

The bar

There is no lounge in this hotel. 

Overall

Checkout formalities were promptly expedited. Unfortunately, no late checkout was granted because of fully booked hotel (max they could grant was 12:30 which was useless for us). I believe they could have gone the extra mile on this, but that was it. 

Overall, a very good stay in a great hotel offering excellent status recognition. I would return without hesitation, but keep in mind it is an expensive hotel, as all hotels in AMS. 

Location

Stayed for a few nights in February half term.

Hotel is in a great localtion, 10 minuite walk from Amsterdam Centraal and with the Nieuwezijds Kolk tram / bus stop right out front which has a number of services means you can get to anywhere in the city really easily.

You can buy GVB day / multi day tickets from the tram stop.

Check In

Check in was a very odd, there's a large desk at reception and a smaller desk (looks like a victorian school desk) for 'Priority Welcome', when we arrived there was a group of 4 people checking in and 2 other couples.

There isn't much seating and when someone at the main desk was free I gave my name then was told to take a seat again as someone else would check us in.  She then started to serve someone else.

It wasn't a long wait until this other 'special' person came over to check us in but that was a strange experience, presumably it was done because of ALL status, but the check in experience didn't seem any different to what we would have recieved from anyone else.

Then (you can probably guess), we were asked to take a seat again as another person would take us up to the room.

I can be appreciative of such a service but in this situation it really wasn't efficient or warranted.

Room

Booked a Deluxe room on a 3 for 2 breakfast included rate, also used 4000 reward points.  No upgrade as ALL Gold status but got some nice amenities, stroopwaffles always go down well. 

We were given Room 418 which as you can see is quite a different shape to the other rooms with a bit of an entrace hall. 

I'm not sure what the other rooms were like, but having this entrance hall allowed for multiple cupboards so there was plenty of storage for clothing.

Some photos of the room in general.



The room was very spacious, great sized desk and a comfy sofa.

Now then the bathroom area, I call it an 'area' as there is no door that cuts it off from the rest of the room.  It's clean and simple, plenty of storage and surface area.

I have never understood these weird glass bathroom setups that make it part of the bedroom / living space.  It's similar to what I've experienced at The Level in Barcelona, but at least in the room I stayed in there the toilet was seperated by an actual wall so couldn't be seen from the bedroom area.

It's not a very large space, so my partner usually has a shower first then does her makeup etc, so everytime I had a shower I had to ask her to watch out as I was opening the shower door, because it opens out, so I don't hit her with it while she's sitting on the stool at the mirror.

The frosted glass doors which have gaps and don't actually properly close, WHY?!?!  We've been together a long time so you know, but still everyone likes some privacy.  Enough of this please.
 

Dining

Breakfast was included in the rate, located in the Pressroom restaurant it's an okay buffet affair with the usual eggs on request service.  

It wasn't the largest of buffets but you won't go hungry. 

Service was really good, alawys got seated prompty and very attentive to asking for drink refils, asking if we had any requests and if we were satisfactory with everything.  It's an open kitchen so you can see everything being prepared and how the staff handle things which is nice.

We didn't eat in the restaurant itself, but made use of the free drinks voucher at the bar which included their signature 'INKredible', that went down well for my partner.

Overall

If you want someone comfy and in a great location you can't go wrong here.  Apart from the strange check in experience everyone was very friendly and the service was good.


I'd definitely reccomend Palmyra restaurant which is a couple of doors down - https://g.page/palmyra-syrian-restaurant if you want some great food.