It’s been a while that I was so deeply disappointed in a Starwood stay that I have to ask if anyone at Starwood/SPG is even working with this hotel to make sure it’s living up to the standards that many of us SPG fans are used to. While lots of money is being spent on the remodel, it doesn’t appear to be coordinated or well planned.

It started with a shuttle mix-up: we followed the instructions that were helpfully emailed from the front desk prior to arrival (my Ambassador had connected us with the hotel to confirm the shuttle time and instructions as they differed from what was on the website).

We got on a shuttle that had logos for 2 Apollo hotels, including this property and the Harbor Club. I asked the driver if he was going to the Apollo Amsterdam and he said yes. When he handed me a clipboard to fill out that showed a Ramada logo I again asked if he was going to the ‘other Apollo' and he said yes. 10-12 mins later, we arrive at the Ramada Apollo and the driver is agitated we are not getting off. I point to the logo of the hotel on his jacket and say we are going there. He storms off. A very apologetic agent from the Ramada hotel comes onboard to verify what I told the driver. My family vouched for everything that was said. She asked us to stay on and go back to the airport to get another shuttle. I said it was the last shutle of the day so that would not be a solution. She then asked us get off and that she would work with their ‘sister property’ to get us to the right hotel. Outside the shuttle was a heated argument among passengers needing to get to the airport ASAP. Apparently there were more people than could fit and our family staying on to go to the airport would have denied even more people a ride.

About 20 mins later, an identical shuttle arrives to the Ramada and an unfriendly driver takes us to the Apollo Amsterdam. He pointed to an letter size sheet of paper in the window that says 'Apollo Amsterdam’ - yet the entire shuttle has a wrap that contains each hotel logo plus the Harbor club. My advice for FT'ers: verify 5x that you are going to the right Apollo hotel, the difference seems to be a sheet of paper in the window.

Check-in was mildly apologetic for the shuttle, but didn’t seem to understand our adventure.

We were upgraded to a design suite facing the canal with a connecting room.

The room seemed to be a complete refurbishment: everything seemed new, including doors, fixtures, paneling, lighting and decor.

Design:
While the look was interesting and unique, I would not call it functional: tables had curved edges, causing items (phones) placed near the edge to slide off. The suite was so compact that there was neither a full desk nor couch. A thin glass table had a phone and chair, but was oddly placed. An armchair blocked the door to the adjoining room. Another glass coffee table took up a lot of the small living space, we considered tipping it on it’s side, but ended up rearranging things so we could all sit together in the suite and open the door to the connecting room. There was no divider or door to the bed area, and the bathroom had colorful panels of glass, but limited privacy. All this added up to a poorly designed suite that makes me wonder of the designer really stays at hotels? At the least, the room description is misleading using the word ‘separate’ to describe the bed and work areas. A sliding screen or door to the bed area would have made a hug difference, as would a more practical coffee table. We had to take the shade off the ‘desk’ lamp to try to make living room bright. The highly directional recessed lighting above was too far of an angle to to see inside the dark shelves/safe. They spent money on a total refurbishment, why didn’t they put lights inside the shelves let alone made them so dark?

Other design: the same approach to great looking, but not very functional design is found all around the property: dark and dangerous stairs had the same pattern on the steps, landing and dark walls with little lights. I fell once, saw other guests fall as well.

Service:
The Director of rooms sent a note asking me to reach out if I needed anything; but no way to contact her; no extension, no email, no phone

My father was told different breakfast hours than what was true when he inquired before going out for a run. When we showed up at a time before what we were told, but after breakfast closed they offered us some pastries and asked us to sit in the coffee bar area. The 2nd day we were also asked to sit in the coffee area but told we could use the breakfast buffet as they wanted to be ready for lunch. The 3rd day we went down earlier and were seated in the (French) restaurant. Great views and very good selection, I’d advise SPG platinum members to take the breakfast Amenity.

To make-up for the shuttle mishap they waived the fee for the return shuttle, a nice gesture.

Internet connectivity was painful every day of our stay. It was unacceptable and each time I told the front desk, they said they would address it, but apparently never did. I finally went to the lobby to send an important document and barely got 5 MBPS speed there.

We liked the location. The canal view was beautiful. It was an easy walk to the tram and a little further walk to the museumplein.

Overall friendly but helpless staff. Service failures, combined with borderline unsafe design that misses the mark in terms of practical features, SPG members may wish to stay elsewhere. I just wonder where have Starwood people been as the hotel became a Tribute property? The Apollo people clearly need some help.