Night Number 1: Crowne Plaza Amsterdam:
arriving in schipol the train ride (about 20 mins) is easy and cheap. come out of the station, cross the canal and you will find the CP amsterdam. Checkin fine, as RA had been upgraded to a club room UNrefurbished. When we got to the room it was large musty and SO dingy. I felt immediately depressed, so I sent my husband to the club lounge and went to reception to fix it. (FYI reception resembles a public swimming bath?!). Guys at reception couldn't do enough. they offered us a teeny refurbished room, which i checked out. Beautifully finished to a high crowne plaza standard, nice new carpet smell, tiny (but we dont mind that) and overlooking the road where the trams screach along from 6am to 1am every day!!!! After further conflab we were moved to another room with broken air con, and then finally a club refurbed room which was lovely and we were very happy with, with only minimal tram screetching!
The lounge had "snacks" (nuts and crisps) and drinks (beer wine & soft) in the evening, not extensive food, just basic nibbles. In the morning the full american was hard boiled eggs, cheese ham ad cereal- i would say basic continental.
Overall view: club lounge is always a gift if it is free, however it is pretty basic in terms of food offering. the hotel staff are lovely but the unrefurbished rooms are seriously depressing.
Day 2 & 3: AMSTEL on BOGOF weekend stay. We dragged our case to the IC Amstel, this "walk" was longer than expected (25 mins?) along cobbled pavements shared with kamikazi cyclists. Later we found their tube line stops right outside the amstel and is a far better option (leaves from central station go 2/3 stops and you are at the amstel). This hotel is FABULOUS. entrance hall is like a white fairy cake, the corridors are wide and luxurious and the room.. well we got a RA upgrade to a jhr suite and its probably the best hotel room we have stayed in. We sat in our lounge, flung open the windows (it was unseasonably warm) and drank our way through the 2 grolshes, 1/2 bottle of chablis (v nice vintage) 1/4 champers, and then felt a wee bit queezy and had to have a lay down
Absolute luxury! The room was traditional in decor but finished just beautifully, the bathroom was large and amenities were l'ocitane, lemony and in plentiful supply. I forgot my swim togs (damn) but the pool was canal level with large windows opening onto the canal, so when you swim it feel like you were on a similar level to the canal. The bar was small, dark wood, traditional and cosy and again being on canal level, you feel like you are on the titanic, enjoying a drink whilst crossing an ocean! The restaurant was 1 michellin star, but we didnt think much of amsterdam cuisine (mainly meatballs and bread) so didnt try it.
So would i return? To the Amstel for the hotel, yes in a heartbeat. To amsterdam? well we found the lack of greenery and numerous bicycles abit wearing, so we would head to paris/milan/london/zurich/geneva/cote d'azur etc over amsterdam anyday. Having said that, we also found the dutch to be the most friendly and delightfully kind and helpful race we have come across. Amsterdam is a place that is completely unique and should be seen, but its slightly seedy red light side and stag night crowd left us alittle cold.
The amstel is a true 5* lux ic up there with london, paris and cannes (although cannes needed a refurb when we stayed!) The CP is bearly a 3* in the unrefurbed rooms but a good 4* in the club refurbed rooms.
I hope this helps someone in making crucial stay decisions!