GONE : Hotel Pulitzer Amsterdam, Netherlands, Left SPG 1 Apr 2015 [Master Thread]
 

I stayed in this hotel this week. It was the 4th stay in as many years.

Overall comments

1. The staff seemed to be genuinely helpful. The typical "it is not possible" reply was non existent. Clearly someone has been upgrading the staff and their attitude. Every staff member I passed said hello and smiled. What a pleasant change.

2. On check in the lady said "I'm sorry your room is not ready, it will be an hour, please can you wait...oh you are a frequent traveller - I'll see what I can do"

I moved towards the bell hop and in less than 60 seconds she had run back and got the OK from her manager to move me to a junior suite which was open right away.

Another excellent experience and a great inner room - Personally I hate the canal view rooms due too the noise.

The room was large, bed very comfortable and the bathroom with dual vanities great. Probably not worth the $1300 rack rate but great as a free upgrade from the executive room.

3. The breakfast was unfortunately not as good as I recall. There used to be oranges to freshly squeeze...now replaced with sub par OJ. The food on the buffet was good...but the frequency of replenishment meant that on each of 4 visits (4 days!) not all food was available. Too many open plates or containers were left for too long. Also 27E = $40 was steep for breakfast, although they had a reduction if you chose to dine off peak times (before 9am). I imagine the high price is driven by the fact many rates include breakfast.

4. No paper was delivered any day - but not a problem as many were in the lobby but could have been irritating if I'd ordered room service breakfast.

5. The housekeeping and turndown was better and more reliable than I recall. The cookies, water and chocolates were as good as always (although I don't recall water before)

6. I asked the concierge to book a restaurant and 2 hours later he called back and said it was closed. I happened to walk by it later that evening and it was open and thankfully had room. Not sure why he was not up to speed with their opening hours when a phone call could have confirmed their open times. He booked a cab and there was no problem.

Overall the staff's change in attitude has dramatically improved my perception of this property. I'd recommend it.

/mod

Earlier reports can be found at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...er-thread.html

mod/

This attittude speaks volume... As a luxury hotel, this should not matter should it?

Just returned from a four night SPG award stay at the hotel and I wanted to say the staff was excellent. We were in Room 288 (a junior suite) with a nice sitting room, small but comfortable bedroom and 1.5 baths.

While the room could use an upgrade, the hotel is lovely and the view of the canal from 288 was perfect. The concierge was able to get any reservation we needed and all aspects of the service were first level.

We will definitely be back :D^

i stayed there on a reward stay in july...a few quick comments
1) asked for a canal view when i checked in (im spg gold)...they said everyone wants one so theyre almost all booked but if i could wait until 5pm-ish they could have one available for me. at 5pm when it was ready, a bottle of wine was waiting in the room saying "sorry for making you wait", basically. thought it was a nice touch.
2) id imagine all the rooms are all different sizes and shapes, but my room was very small...and the canal view was alright but imho, id much rather ask for a bigger room next time without a canal view....
3) beds are twins....this is fairly standard around europe, but i hate it....i always feel like im gonna fall off...but i assume thats all they have there...as a side note, in case anyone else hates twin beds...this was what i found during a recent trip around europe: hilton park lane in london: twin beds. sheraton brussels: full size beds. marriott regents park london: full size beds
4) location was excellent. walked many miles (i mean kilometers) everyday. as im sure others have said, the anne frank house is literally a block or two away...staff very nice. concierge very helpful....one thing to note: they have the movie times posted in the lobby for the theaters (just cut out from the newspaper)...i saw a movie playing i wanted to see listed (it was a friday, so i assumed it was opening that day) so i walked down to the theater and it turns out it wasnt opening until the next friday...for some reason they have showtimes for movies that dont open for a week along with all the movies opening that day....perhaps it said in dutch "opening next week!" but i wouldnt have understood...
5) didnt eat at the restaurant, was pretty expensive from what i remember (30-ish euros for an entree).
5) on a side note, i thought amsterdam was by far the most beautiful/greatest city i visited in europe...actually i think my favorite city in the whole word, that ive visited so far. so lovely.

Now that I'm staying here the comment about the penis-shaped chocolates make so much sense!! :D :D

Not very enamoured by this property actually - feels very threadbare. Wooden floors, plain furnishings. Upgraded to an executive room but it just feels like a B&B instead of a 5 star hotel. I got one of those 2 level rooms with a canal view, which was a novelty but it soon got tiresome climbing the stairs to get to my bed; an especially difficult task at 6am in the morning after a rave!! Great service and very comfy bed though. And I appreciate the comp water and yummy stropwaffle.

And Amsterdam rocks! ^

Currently here....canal view King room. Becomes 100% non smoking in Feb.
Looking pretty worn - Elevators are trashed and dirty. Bed is comfy.

UPDATE: 1.31.08
Noisy, scruffy common areas, I hoped the Hotel would have improved rather than declined since my last stay.
Expectations in check so no surprises. Stay on points. Zero Gold recognition.
Staff very friendly and helpful, but that doesn't substitute for overall property shortcomings.
AMS was great of course...wonderful art and ambiance.

My detailed review of the hotel has been posted here, with pics:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...5&postcount=50

Hope that assists. :)

Thanks for a well-written (and clever) review Q--

As I was reading it I was trying to decide why the older furniture and quaint layout of the rooms didn't bother us when we stayed at the Pulitzer. After all, we stay in a lot of true luxury hotels and have very high standards.

I think the most important factors were 1) we knew what to expect -- we had viewed photos online and knew that the hotel was furnished more like a flat or apt 2) it was very comfortable and 3) it seemed to fit the atmosphere of the charming Jordaan

I think my biggest disappointments when we travel are when our expectations are not met. After reading all of the wonderful reviews of the Goldener Hirsch, for instance, I was surprised when it was furnished like the Pulitzer-- with older, apt type furniture. I wasn't expecting it and so I was initially disappointed (especially since we had just come from the modern, upgraded Schloss Fuschl and the elegant Imperial)

And I'm sure that at the Pulitzer, as at many hotels in Europe, the furnishings vary in quality from room to room (I know that's true at the Danieli and the Imperial for instance)


We really loved the Pulitzer-- and can't wait to return again. It probably was our most relaxed and comfortable stay we've ever had in Europe.

After reading the reviews on FT I kinda knew what to expect decor-wise. So no I wasn't disappointed - just that decor wise my rather low expectations were met. :p Don't get me wrong, I had a comfy stay. But I've also had comfy stays in B+Bs. I might be more a W or LM Art/Tech person than a St Regis or LC fan, but I was still left wondering what's so luxurious about the Pulitzer given the LC tag - when I've stayed at some LC properties, whose decors I might not be a big fan of but are truly luxurious in every sense of that word.

I know what you mean-- here in the states we are W afficianadoes and veer toward the modern and upscale. In Europe too, we sometimes choose a more modern option (Hotel Arts Barcelona, Hotel de Russie Rome )


But we have great fondness for the Starwood luxury properties in Europe. Most are in exceptional locations with spectacular views and attentive staffs.
What they lack in modern decor they make up with service and atmosphere.

I'm thinking of the Excelsior in Florence, the Prince de Galles in Paris and the Danieli in Venice-- all places I can't wait to return.

Parking?
 

The website says valet parking is available; does anyone have experience of this, both cost and whether it works well?

I haven't tried it there, but personally I would park in a nearby garage myself rather than waiting for one of their staff to get the car.

Hotel Pulitzer Amsterdam
 

Dont' stay at the hotel pullitzer! Found this out while spending 500 dollars a night and was "upgraded" to an executive room, which I found out later was about 30% smaller than the room I had originally reserved with lower ceilings.

room service was ordered but never delivered...different departments never minded to answer the telephones.

in general there was nothing luxurious about it.

Stay at the Dylan or Hotel Europe if you go to Amsterdam

I love the Pulitzer. Love Amsterdam. Love the hotel bar and the gym with free bottled water. The key at the Pulitzer is to always upgrade to specialty select rooms. The basic rooms suck.

I've just moved SQPPS's thread into the master thread, and deleted the posts asking that I do so. First, though, I split the master thread. It had to be one of the longest we have in the Starwood forum. When a thread gets so long, the amount of information becomes overwhelming.

I decided to split it beginning with 2006 posts, though debated with doing so at the start of 2007. ACfly and others had posted very informatively in 2006, and I didn't want that information to get lost in the older thread. Also, the GM for the Starwood area posted in 2006. If you think I should have split it at the start of 2007 instead, please PM me.

Otherwise, I return you to the discussion of the Pulitzer, which from my reading of posts from the past two years, appears to have very mixed reactions from FTers.

SanDiego1K
Starwood mod

Area Manager email?
 

Hi
I'm staying in the Pulitzer a few times in the coming month, all on award points. I note that far back in this thread (2006) the Area Manager of the Netherlands posted a comment and invited another poster to contact him regarding questions and room requests. Does anybody know the current Area Manager and his/her email? Anybody recently email a Pulitzer contact for requests and care to share the experience and contact infor?
Thanks

I believe Mr. Renold is still the area manager (for both the Sheraton Schiphol and the Pulitzer), or at least he was a couple months ago.

The Pulitzer is exactly as described by this thread IME - including all of the criticisms, and the faint applause. I stay once a year, and invariably find it overpriced and in need of a complete renovation. But there's a modicum of charm in there somewhere...

I completely agree ^

Thank you for the reply. While it certainly appears that there is a difference of opinion on the quality of the Pulitzer, one thing remains clear - I can use my SPG points for free rooms!!! That is not true of the Grand Sofitel, where I stayed my last two times in AMS (on somebody else's dime) and which was a very nice hotel in all respects. Hopefully, my stays at the Pulitzer this month will be sufficiently satisfactory that I will switch my paying stays there.
Thanks again

I do not understand your point.. You're using your Starwood points to stay (it's still not free - you have paid for the points from your previous stays). It's a Category 5 hotel - 12,000 points per night. Wether or not you pay 300 EURO per night or 12,000 points per night, are you get the value for money or points?

In-room safe
 

Are the in-room safes at the pulitzer large enough to fit a small laptop (12.1 inch screen)?
thanks

IIRC, yes. My laptop was larger than 12.1", and I think it fit into the safe without a problem.

My Thoughts
 

I just finished two stays at the Pulitzer, one for 5 days (paid) and then a 1 day (award) stay. I was in AMS for work and decided to take a long weekend in EU after work was finished so I went to MUC for two days then back to AMS for 1 night, thus the two separate stays.

My overall impression of this hotel is^^^, I really liked it, the service was great and the location is excellent! I also think the whole concept of the hotel where each room is different is kind of neat, just walking though the hallways and checking out some of the small spiral staircases is cool. No worries on bringing the luggage to the room as the bell staff did that (I would NOT want to work as a bellman here!)

Armed with some of the posts in this thread I had a list of rooms to request at checkin, it seemed 423 had good reviews and I had a couple others but alas all were taken, I figured scoring one of those super rooms for 5 days would be a tough go, I ended up in 422 which was an executive room. It was decent size, had 2 desks, TV, closet etc. The marble floors in the bath are heated but the bed was GREAT! I notice we prattle on here about just about every part of a hotel except the bed, well their beds are one of the best hotel beds I've been in, big ^^^ on the bed. I also didn't hear any street noise in the room, which I had read (and later experienced) some room do have.

My second stay I got 303, which was a nice room as well though it did have some street noise, I'd not suggest this room for that reason, its also pretty much directly above the entrance.

I got my Plat amenities for both stays w/o asking, took the 500 points on one and a bottle of red wine on the other, the wine was delivered minutes after I got to my room.

I used their laundry "express" service which had my cloths back in under 2 hours, it was super expensive and usually I go find a laundry but the weather outside was too nice to sit in a laundry and I wanted to take the bottle of wine out to Vondelpark and relax:p

I will defiantly stay here again when in AMS.

Can you give me an idea of how much the "super expensive" laundry actually cost at the Pulitzer? My trip is very similar to yours (day in AMS, couple in MUC, and a couple more in AMS) and I'm thinking of packing light and doing laundry.
Thanks

If I remember correctly:
Jeans: 7 Euro
Polo Shirt: 6 Euro
Socks: 4 Euro
Boxers: 4 Euro
Undershirt: 6 Euro

Express Fee: 25%

Ended up being ~$55USD for a days cloths. I suppose not "super" expensive by normal hotel laundry but the USD/Euro adds some extra pain, especially when I can usually get a whole washer load done from a laundry for 13-15 euros.

Thanks - that is seriously pricey.

I stayed there last night and was as usual very pleased with my experience. Nice upgrade as a Platinum and great service. Amsterdam was beautiful under the soon to be summer sun. The entire city is orange for the Euro !

We're going to AMS next week. Does anyone have the email address for the Concierge? An email sent through the link on website went unanswered after 4 days.

My experience is that they are much better answering the phone than emails. If it's important, call them. If not, don't hold your breath for a reply ;)

Upgrade to Canal View
 

We're staying here this weekend and just got this email:

"We are delighted you have selected Hotel Pulitzer, A Luxury Collection Hotel, for your upcoming stay and look forward to welcoming you.

Treat yourself to the full experience of staying at Hotel Pulitzer and upgrade to a unique canal view room for the reduced rate of €50 by clicking the link to the right."

Is it worth it? I heard mixed reviews even on the Canal view rooms. I am an SPG Gold and am using cash + points on these 2 night stay.

IMO it's not worth it. I have always found it to be very noisy. I much prefer the inside courtyard /garden view rooms which can tend to be better.

I'd say it is worth it :). You can get a view of a courtyard/garden anywhere, canals are much harder to see usually ;). We had two canal view rooms recently, one low and one high - I didn't think either were unduly noisy.

This is Amsterdam. You won't be out of sight of water for your whole trip :D
Hey, if you want the canal view, then the canal view it shall be....it's your stay.
I'll be there later this year for the Art, but not the Pulitzer this time. Overpriced and inconsistent. There is a definite lack of Starwood choices in AMS, its time to try something different. Have fun...

We spent this past weekend in Paris and Amsterdam. While we had a marvelous stay at Park Hyatt in Paris, our stay at Pulitzer in Amsterdam was not quite so fabulous.

I had kept my expectations very low - so when I checked in, I was surprised the receptionist said "Let me find a really nice room for you". I am only a Gold SPG member and had thought maybe they'd upgrade me 1 category up.

The "really nice room" turned out to be a super small regular room with a courtyard view. There is no decor to speak of, but I do have to commend them for spending the most money on the most important thing: THE BED. It was supremely comfortable and the sheets were nice. I guess the Euros stop there, because there was not even a bedskirt to speak of. The box spring was bare.

The bathroom was tiny, but water pressure was good. The 'Made In Italy' toiletries bearing 'The Luxury Collection' brand was nothing special. Thankfully we brought some Blaise Mautin from PHPV to use.

I am convinced that there is nothing luxurious about 'The Luxury Collection'. As someone mentioned before, they ought to be called 'The Charming Collection' instead -- as they are simply a portfolio of old buildings with character in semi-historic locations. Hotel Schloss Fuschl near Salzburg might have been a perfect property for a 'Luxury Collection'. But maybe since they really fit the luxury category and not the charming one, they left Starwood.

Does anyone know if they have adjoining rooms?

Any recent info on the merits of this offer? Do you just get a canal view room or is it likely to be a better room as well?

Also, is there any way to get cheaper internet for a 5-6 day stay? E.g., is the service provided by a company that offers monthly etc plans?

Many thanks.

Another question if anyone knows, do the TVs in the rooms have line in connectors to plug a DVD etc player in?

In January when we were staying, there was free internet in the business center (with 2 computers - so you might have to wait)

Why spend $ for a canal view room which is noisy so you get woken up at night? You see the canals perfectly well as you leave the hotel and walk around AMS. Realistically how many hours/minutes/seconds will you spend looking out the hotel room's window?

Better value (paid or on free points) is a deluxe room - (only 1500 points) more a night that includes free breakfast - although sadly this is significantly worse than in 2007 or 2006. No more fresh OJ and way worse food quality.

Have fun in AMS - If you don't have fun in AMS the problem is not AMS:D

To answer my own question, the flat panel tv in our room did have line in connectors but they did appeared to have been deactivated. None of the controls on the tv would change the input. I didn't spend a lot of time investigating this as we were out enjoying AMS.

Also, I did not take the email offer but did request and get a complimentary upgrade to a canal room. The service was decent, not up to luxury standards, but I wasn't expecting as much. The location is absolutely excellent and sells the hotel for me. We spent a lot of time around the nine streets and Jordaan area. Much preferred it to Dam Square or the higher traffic areas.

Room Renovations at the Pulitzer?
 

Hi all,

Does anyone know whether the room renovations at this property have been completed this year? There is some suggestion (on other sites) that the rooms were in the process of being renovated...

Thanks!

Joe