HadesNL

Introduction Admist the Covid19-pandemic, international travel to non-EU countries became tricky with the everchanging restrictions. Choosing a safe bet, we decided to do some staycations in our own town, to experience for ourselves the restart of the hotel business and how it effected the overall guest experience. We had booked a last minute stay at W Amsterdam choosing the "Marvelous Exhange 1Bedroom Bi-Level Suite" and paying the member rate of €831,- It was advertised as having an atrium view so we thought let's take the chance and be surprised. We stayed from a saturday to sunday for 1 night only. Location The W Amsterdam is located behind the Royal Palace and can be reached by foot from Central Station in 15 minutes or take the tram to the stop "Dam". The hotel is split in two buildings, the "Bank" (has the Duchess restaurant and Spa&Pool) and the "Exchange" where the W-Lounge, Mr.Porter Strakhouse and rooftop pool are located. Our room was located in the Exchange building which shares premises with a big Albert Heijn grocery store, handy for all last minute needs and to self cater. Valet parking is available. Hotel W Amsterdam: Exchange building Valet parking Check In We arrived around 14.00 hoping to check-in early so we could have an early drink on the terrace of the W-Lounge. Checkin formalities happen on the 6th floor, so from the entrance there are 3 elevators servicing all floors and a service elevator for guests to use when it get busy with outside visitors. You do need to use your keycard to reach the guestfloors. Some of the bubbly guests had problems understanding this concept Warmly welcomed by reception, we were offered a glass of cava or water. At the desk there were handsanitizers and wipes ready for use. The gentleman acknowledged the Bonvoy gold elite status attached to the reservation and gave us a drink voucher for 2 for any drink at the W-Lounge and we were delighted to hear our room was ready. We read reports online about the messy guest floor corridors cluttered with housekeeping carts coupled with the dim lighting and we weren't dissapointed.First impression was "that's some mood lighting!" Service carts next to 2nd elevator bank (levels A) Rollaway beds stored randomly in the corridors Yes it is quite dark, bit spooky Room Upon entry, it didn't come as a shock that we had a true atriumview. It was directly clear people can peer into your room aswell as you can peer into theirs. We chose to close the blinds and am happy to say the room lighting made it all cozy...... but.... it seems so un-intelligent with the duplex layout that you get the choice of all lights on or all off but not split seperate between floors. It is all or nothing when it came to adjusting the lights in this room. Maybe we were dimwitted about the controls or their target guests don't have use for sleeping upstairs in the dark, whilest downstairs the lights need to be on to use the computer and to read.The online room description was spot on! Here are our photos of the room, let's go from the entry on the 4th floor via the stairs to the bedroom on the 5th floor:Entry on level 4 directly bumping into the desk area, the cupboard to the right holds a collection of records First view when entering the room, the sink / desk combo. To the left the seperate toilet stall, on the right hand side of the desk, the minibar drawer. The seperate toilet Looking from the seating area towards the entry and staircase up. The middle benches are the perfect seating for watching the shows displayed on the screen projector. Looking upward to the bedroom, notice the projector embedded in the wall Looking from the desk area into the seating area, we had closed the blinds due to atrium view Coffee machine is Nespresso, there is another one on the upperfloor The seating area with atrium view Stairwell going up to the bedroom Contents minibar downstairs Contents minibar downstairsMinibar pricing Stairs have a turnReaching upstairs you see the bed 2nd coffee machine and the W Amsterdam Souvenir Trinkets: baseball cap and bicycle bell View from the upperlanding downwards View from the bed The hotel provides earplugs and eyeshades Upstairs 2nd minibar drawer contents Bathroom has a very low sink, not that many hooks to hang up clothes. The toilet doesn't contain a hygiene stick. Dual showers are rainforest and handheld. The brand of amenities is Momo. Iron& Ironboard are providedSafe is in a drawer with the right size to hold an ipad or laptopCloset space in the bedroomarea Laundry list pricing View from bed to bathroomdoor and stairs going down, there is limited space between the bed end and the TV ROOM VERDICT: Clean, slightly disfunctional concerning lights, lots of anti-bacterial wetwipes provided, atrium view could be bothersome USP Unique Selling Point of Room #419 The unique selling point of this room has got to be the cool projector. You can screen the TV or other media on it and it gave the closed blinds (againt prying eyes because of the atrium view) actually a good function. Sound was clear too.Equipment is easy controlled by the inroom IpadCardi B in crisp colour, should i be glad? TVlist with an eclectic choice of music channels, smoking is kinda cheap for the InCrowd don't you think? Another nice feature was the Marshall soundbox and the connected recordplayer. They have an extensive amount of records provided in room. Some local favorites, some golden oldies and some modern renditions. Everything is operable from the Ipad.Memory lane....you know your old if you know how a recordplayer works AND you've seen some of these artists LIVE.... Night-Time The hotel did offer turndown service, this meant the darkening night time screen overlapped the blinds, the bed was made up with slippers set aside and a Tony's Choconelly good night chocolate and a carton of Marie Stella Maris water were put on the bed's headboard.Darkening blinds are downGoodnight chocolate and a carton of water Was there any noise in the evening from the nightly DJ? We can answer out of own experience with a confimative YES Although we heard mostly the bass, i have to inform you dear reader that the W-Lounge and Mr.Porter restaurant are on floor 6 while the bedroom of this duplex suite is on floor 5. This means noise does travel and i would not recommend this room type for the traveller that is a light sleeper. We were lucky though that with the then applicable covid19-restrictions the music ended promptly at midnight. You would be advised in the near future to choose a room in the "Bank" building which doesn't have the clubby music during the night. W-Lounge & Rooftop Pool This place is popular and gets busy quite fast, we exchanged our welcome drinks voucher for a double espresso and it was nice to see the diverse crowd of differents birds of a feather.Different styles of seats Courtesy of the free drinks voucher The exchange building has an extra aft elevator bringing you from guestfloors directly to the backdoor of the outdoor pool area. Or you can show it off by proudly parading through the W-lounge to get to the outdoor pool as we had observed. Towels for use at the pool, it is next to the bar area Pool area, bit narrow Immortalized on the socials, the pool looks not as wide as presented and the social area a bit cramped. You would be wise to come early so you can enjoy the athmosphere before the mad rush. You can however order drinks directly from the bar and without the crowds and with good weather, it is a nice space to strech out. If you do wish to sit outside, besides the pool area, there are 3 additional outdoor terraces at the W-Lounge / near Reception, ellevators / at Mr.Porter restaurant.Additional outdoor seating areas Breakfast at Mr.Porter Delighted to see that the selfservice buffet (Ã. €30 p.p. with unlimited prosecco) made its return. I'll let the pictures do the talking. Buffet area Buffet items Mr.Porter seating area Self service drinks Mr.Porter seating area with view of the buffet area Mr.Porter Bar seating area There is also an Ã. la carte offering.Bellow a picture of the sampled "Acai Bowl" (€11,50) Service All employees encountered where friendly and cheery. English is the first language used here, no need to speak Dutch but that is more or less getting more common in Amsterdam Binnenstad in general. Overall Verdict To keep yourself sane with a good night's rest in mind, i urge you to book a room in the "Bank" building. An atrium view can be bothersome for some, so think and decide carefully when you choose to book this roomtype. Choose the "Exchange" building if you like to be in the action, feeling clubwards and have a mindset to just enjoy and go with the flow...... we liked it.... 1 night only was enough though.... or better save it for a future party weekend gone wild.... but have your expectations managed and with a open mind and you'll do fine here! (i can chalk this one off as to trying out new experiences admist a pandemic Bonus for the dear reader who struggled through this lenthy review, thank you so much for your attention The floorplans of level 3 and 4, for an informative decision if you wish to avoid the atrium-facing rooms.Level 3 Level 4