Saturday, October 20th

Part 2.

Before leaving the lobby of the Amsterdam Airport Sheraton I needed some information on how I could most easily get to the Amsterdam Hilton.

I asked the front desk lady and she directed me towards a man standing in the lobby. I had thought all along that this was simply a bellhop but it turned out that he was in fact the hotel concierge.

The concierge quickly moved back behind the desk when I directed my question towards him. He solved the problem pretty well. He called the Hilton up and let me take directions from their concierge - an easy solution for him, I thought. Then he printed a city map for me. His problem seemed to be lack of work, now, when finally he had someone he could help he seemed unable to accept the fact that eventually he would have to let me go. So, I said thanks and went towards the terminal.

Once again inside the airport I first tried buying a train ticket to Amsterdam from the machines. The credit card did not work - I think those machines only work with Dutch debit cards. Instead, I approached a ticket counter and purchased a one-way ticket for Amsterdam Central. At the counter they did accept credit cards and I was set back NLG 6,50 (EUR 2,95).

I headed for the lower level where the trains depart and had an uneventful and fast 15-minute ride to Amsterdam C.

The Amsterdam Central station brought back fond memories (or just memories I would say) from my last and first visit, which was in the summer of 98. Back than I arrived with a girl friend from Denmark - we had travelled by train all the way and it was around 10pm. The Central station as well as the Red Light District (where our hostel turned out to be located) did present a bit of a crime-infested image at the time.

Now, however, I feared nought and headed for the ticket counter to buy a ticket for the tram, which with line 5 would bring me to Apollolaan where the Hilton is located. The ticket cost a mere NLG 3,00 (EUR 1,36) but alas they took no credit cards and I was forced to use the ATM. I got my hands on NLG 100,00 (EUR 45,38) and was a little annoyed by the fact that this would cost me an advance fee of DKK 50,00 (EUR 6,72).

The tram ride took quite a while, maybe 25 minutes but I eventually got there. The neighbourhood looked really elegant and quiet: rich, in other words. And so it is.

The Hilton greeted me with two red-dressed doormen each opening one of the doors - I guess it must have been one of the finest entrances I have ever made at a hotel but it kind of got ruined since I could not help laughing.

I had been upgraded on this award stay (as the Hilton HHonors rules state) and I was given what the hotel called a Junior Executive Suite. In was actually just an overgrown clubroom but still pretty nice (aside from the fact that it was a smoking room but for a one night stay I did not bother complaining).

As far as I can tell the Amsterdam Hilton has no executive floor per se. They have executive rooms and suites scattered out throughout the hotel. Part of the reason must be the fact that there are balconies on each of the sides of the hotel but not in the middle - and the balconies are executive rooms, so these must therefore be on several different floors.

The suite itself had one of these nice balconies, which faced towards Schiphol - on the other side the balconies faced towards a canal and I think I would have preferred that. The suite had a sofa group, a pretty standard bathroom and a queen bed. There was some free mineral water.

At 4.55pm I headed for the executive lounge, which is the only thing on the 10th floor. The elevator denied my attempts. It simply would not allow one to go to the 10th floor no matter how many times I pushed "10". I headed out to the lobby and it was explained to me by one of the bellhops that the elevator only goes to the 10th floor when the executive lounge is open. It was now 5.01pm and the executive lounge opens at 5pm. I went into the elevator again and gave "10" another try. It worked like a charm.

Once up there I was greeted by a very well dressed host (not a hostess, a nice change) who confirmed my room number and took my order of coke (as usual). No self-serve bar here which was kind of disappointing.

The only thing I had eaten since I woke up was what had been left of my Toblerone. Therefore the hors doers in the lounge were a sight for sore eyes. They turned out not inedible but not good either so I only had a little. The view from the lounge made up for some of the things I found lacking. I watched towards Schiphol and saw a Northwest jet flying towards the hotel and then make a sharp right. It was really a nice view.

ScottC had called me on my cell before I checked out from the Sheraton and we had agreed to meet in the lobby of the Hilton at 6pm and then head out to have dinner. It was now 5.30pm so I had just 30 minutes to relax in the suite. Not to be. The dreaded turndown service arrived and totally against my prior experiences with this "service" I let the maid in. She brought a new bottle of Evian but that's probably the only positive thing I have to say about turndown service - the whole concept is a waste of time in my opinion.

I headed down to the lobby and waited 1-2 minutes before a smiling and jovial man arrived. ScottC turned out to be very nice and interesting and it was nice to meet another European FlyerTalker.

We took a cab towards city and then had dinner at a quite marvellous Indoneesian restaurant that Scott had found. We both agreed the food was quite wonderful and we had a pleasant conversation over dinner. Topics were FlyerTalk affairs, world affairs and travelling. What a pleasure.

After we were both completely full we went for a nice walk in the city centre and then had a cab take us back to the Hilton. We visited the executive lounge, 2 of us this time and the host brought us a coke each.

Only a few months ago a famous Dutch artist (and drug addict) had killed himself jumping from the roof of the Hilton and as a result (so we gathered) all roof access was now prohibited.

I had to change my view on the "no self-serve bar" statement since indeed there were 4 non-descript carafes with different kinds of alcohol. We established that one was whiskey and another vodka - the 2 others will for now remain whatever they were.

After having spend quite a few hours in the pleasing company of ScottC I bid him farewell. I undressed in the room and feel asleep on top of the bed.

Woke up and thought: wonderful, it is morning: I have actually managed to sleep at night. My happiness was quickly put to an end when I discovered that it was 1.30am. During the rest of the night I managed to read quite a bid of law since I was unable to sleep.

Sunday, October 21st


At 7.00am I headed for the executive lounge and discovered that their "deluxe continental breakfast" was indeed not so. The only things there were some pastries, tea and coffee and orange juice. That is not "deluxe" in my book - hell, it almost is not "continental breakfast."

Back in the suite I finally fell a sleep at around 8am. Woke up at 11am. Called down and asked when the next bus for the airport would leave, the answer: 11.08am. I got checked out over the telephone and managed to pack in 5 minutes.

Down in the lobby I got the news that the schedule of the bus had changed due to the fact that there was a marathon going on in the city. The bus would leave 11.15am. It arrived later that that and drove all the way to the Central station before going to the airport. The ride took a completely unacceptable time of 45 minutes. It set me back NLG 17,50 (EUR 7,94).

I found the SAS check-in area at 12.05pm. There were two economy desks and one business class desk open. I think there must have been around 40 people in line at economy check-in. At the business counter there were only a couple with a small kid in front of me. I was checked-in in 1 minute. One has got to love Star Gold. I left quite a few people staring ("why does he get to check-in at business").

I gave up finding a Star Alliance lounge and spent some time in the Diners Club lounge before heading for the gate. In the lounge I managed to write some post cards (5 stamps cost NLG 6,00 (EUR 2,72) which I bought before entering the secured area). I had the hostess in the Diners lounge post the cards.

The gate was close to the lounge. Boarding began on time at 12.45 and the flight took off about 10 minutes late. No lacto-ovo meal this time either - kind of disappointing. I did manage to order two vodka & coke and the two small vodka bottles went into my pocket (making my total catch for this trip 3 vodka bottles).

Upon arrival at CPH I spent around an hour at the Scandinavian Lounge there before picking up my bag (they do allow you to use it for non-trans-Atlantic arrivals also it seems). Headed home the same way as I had headed out (another DKK 13 (EUR 1,75) for the train).

Good to be home.



[This message has been edited by Goldlust (edited 10-25-2001).]