As many have read or have been subjected personally to the onslaught of queues at Amsterdam Schiphol,
we thought to have to take the pre-emptive set of measures of staying at the Sheraton Airport hotel the night before our flight departure.
It was an expensive gamble at €410 per room but what makes it worth:
- direct terminal access
- comfy lounge
- renovated rooms
! Increased % Chance to reach the terminal building and checkin counters inside and catch our 11.15 morning flight
This will be a photo intensive post to give other travellers an idea what to expect.
Arrival at 15.30 afternoon
We were dropped of by our chauffeur at the parking level "iceskater" which is on the same level as reception.
Loading all our suitcases on a cart we easily walked indoors to the Sheraton.
We were checked in by friendly Mr. Isuru in excellent English,
who informed us our room was ready and that the Sheraton club lounge will be having only the evening F&B presentation,
and that the full breakfast buffet will be available to us in the Stripes restaurant on level A.
He was very helpful in placing our luggage cart + suitcases in the hotel's storage room so that the following day we could easily wheel out our stuff to the terminal upon checkout. He went even beyond the call of duty when my driver's license dropped at the reception desk in a crevasse and maintenance crew had to disassemble everything, he kept me updated on progress and personally delivered it safely back to me in the lounge.
Sheraton Reception - warm welcome by Mr Isuru
Hotel has its own supply of luggage carts and a secure storage room for your stuff
There is an ATM at the hotel but beware as it is owned by Travelex and might charge % commision by DCC https://loyaltylobby.com/2020/02/12/...cy-conversion/
Hotel caters to last minute needs, Just left of reception you'll find its market place
Items for last minute needs
Minibars in the room are empty
Ice machine - bucket to be found in your room
More items for last minute needs
Just think healthy granny smith
On the opposite site of reception you'll find the hotel's coffee shop
Lobby seating, behind the concourse between parking and the terminal building
More lobby seating
Elevator panel
Exiting the elevators when you walk to the room, you will find on every floor the refreshment centre
Vending machine
Club Twin larger room + extra bed #525
Here are our impressions of this room type,
this room was on the fifth floor , facing north / west
there was some view of the apron towards the M/H-gates so you could do some plane spotting
Upon entry, the room was clean, airconditioning seemed to keep everything cool
Storage space with empty minibar, iron+board, extra pillow
Basic selection in teas as more can be had in the outer hall at the refreshment centre
Nespresso capsule machine
Extra bed, TV has youtube and a very wide assortment of channels
Complimentary water for Club guests or Marriott Gold members
Cleaning explaination
Floorplan
Bathroom was spacious, we missed bathrobes
Toilet without bidet hose
Big bulk bottles of gilchrist & soames
Amenities
Comfy beds - room had good blackout curtains
Powerplug at bedside
Amenities found in the drawer
Airconditioning control
Part or Roomservice menu
Powerplugs + USB A + HDMI outlets at the TV
Smart TV
Roomservice menu
View from our room
Word of warning: the hotel is built like an H or open A so some rooms will have an atrium view only
Conclusion: good clean spacious room + bathroom with strong shower pressure
Major niggle is
internet is really unusable in the room as it crawls and crawls......
You need to go to the lounge if you even want to attempt to read a page on flyertalk or download emails.
Facilities
The gym is open 24/7 and is located next to reception and the marketplace. A direct elevator from guest floors only is available.
Entry
Water + clean wipes
Lockers, changing room and showers
All the usuals
Free weights
Machinery
At least with views and not some dark pokey hole
Sheraton Studios meeting space
For more privacy, these meeting spaces can be used
Meeting space 1
Meeting space 2
Bar
The hotel bar is next to restaurant Stripes on level A
Bar is on level A visible from atrium, there is some noise echoing in the evening
Bar adult drinks .... none of those which are available in the lounge ....
The lounge has wines/bubbly/beer but for the heavy stuff you need to hit the bar.
Sheraton Club Lounge
A nice bright space to do some work or to relax as the internet is here the fastest out of the whole building.
We saw many people using their tablets and laptops here and there was common understanding the internet in the room sucked big time.
First of all, any lounge can be a standard lounge but what sets this lounge as excellent is the service by lounge attendant Marica from Malta.
Friendly and cheery, she provided details about the food on offer, was helping to bring beverages to guests, kept the buffet tidy and let everyone in the lounge know if there were any last wishes before the buffet would close and food was to be removed. She makes an excellent lounge hostess and did her job full of enthusiasm and hospitality
Get reception to code your keycard for access
You need your keycard to open the door
Ample seating
Comfy seating
High top seating with powerplugs
Bright decorated
Outlets for USB A and USB C
Electric outlets
Reading materials
These are the things always available at the lounge:
Filtered Britta still / sparkling water
Selection of teas : same as Kimpton Ansterdam
Fridge with Pepsi Co. Products ..... this hotel is owned by Marriott corp afterall 
https://loyaltylobby.com/2018/09/02/...arwood-hotels/
Coffeemachine
The evening presentation is from 17 untill 19 hours.
Food at buffet was kept stocked by Marika and her colleague helped cleared empty plates and glasses promptly. A very efficient team as i observed, as that kept the lounge from looking messy and unkempt,
These were the items available:
Fresh baguettes with chicken
There were also baguettes with beef pastrami and vegetarian friendly "broodje gezond" alternative
Small bowls of couscous and shrimp cold noodles
White wine, Rosé, Bubly
Hot samosas
Red wine
Hot BBQ chicken drumlets / wings
Assortment of cakes : the yellow stripes are banana spekkoek and the green stripes are pandan spekkoek
First time i came to NL ever, i ate myself silly on those,
and OMG the flavours are amazing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spekkoek
Conclusion: worth the add on surcharge and good for an airport hotel lounge
Niggle: you must have spotted no adult beverages like liquors and such being presented on the buffet......
That's because they rather want you to get sloshed at the hotel's bar
Breakfast
Was served for all guests at Stripes restaurant on level A starting from 06.00 mornings.
Full buffet was available + a chef cooking egg orders à la minute
Everything is self service, food tasted fresh
We woke up to this ...... a calm Schiphol Amsterdam Airport ..... wondering if the queues were going to be bad
We went on to breakfast
Restaurant stripes seating
Restaurant stripes seating
Below pictures of the buffet and what's on offer.
Upon checkout, we saw this at reception being offered,
excellent that takeaway coffee is provided for good start
Verdict:
Can recommend for clean room + good beds for sleeping,
Bathroom was clean and in good shape, we appreciate the strong shower pressure.
Lounge and breakfast excellent for your food & beverage needs.
We were lucky to have experienced excellent personalised service from Mr. Isuru and Mrs. Marica
Negative:
Internet in rooms cannot cope with a simple website like
https://www.mediacourant.nl
So if you need to be online you need to do this in the lobby or in the lounge.
The price per room can be astronomical!
Result:
worthwhile:
a stress-free start of the holiday and will take away any fears of travellers of not being able to reach the airport in time and miss their flights.