Good service at the Hyatt Regency Amsterdam
We had a 3-night stay beginning 29. December. Amsterdam was extremely busy due to the New Year holiday. I could not get a suite here, either paid or on points, much less an upgrade at check-in. (I'm a Globalist.)
Unlike some of the other reviewers here, who undoubtedly had a poor experience, ours was top-notch. And that includes a huge shout out to front desk staff. Background: Our flight was due into Schipol at 08:30. I asked WoH if it could note on my record that I would like an early check-in and rang the hotel itself the day prior to arrival to confirm that they had seen this request. I did not get a promise of Yes, but things sounded at least positive. Unfortunately, the airline put us on an earlier flight -- still not sure how that happened -- and we arrived not at 08:30 but at 05:10. So after a couple of taxi difficulties we found ourselves at the HR at 07:00.
The young man at the front desk managed to find us a room for early check-in at that hour. Coming off a TATL flight this was much, much appreciated. We had originally booked just one room but decided to go for a second as well. Ultimately we opted to change rooms on the second day of our stay and this was done without a grumble by any staff. One of the rooms was on the street with trams and the other on the "back" side. Yes it overlooks a canal but there is also some traffic there. I slept in both rooms but was not bothered by any noise. Our rooms were on the 3rd and 4th floors.
I took photos of the rooms but in design and furniture they do not differ much from those posted above, so I won't post those. Our rooms were clean and the room on the canal was well-lit. We had no carpet stains, fortunately.
We went into the Regency lounge on our first day there, promptly when it opened at 08:00. (Our early check-in did not come with breakfast that day but we could use the lounge.) The lounge was empty of customers and, frankly, almost everything else. There were a couple of pastries on the counter. I mean, really, that was it. We weren't particularly put out as all we really needed to do was get a little rest, but it was truly a sad-looking spread: coffee machine, bottled water, and a plate of seven or eight pastries. I don't know if it was going to improve but we left after just a few minutes. I can't say if this was a one-off experience as we did not go into the lounge again for breakfast or for evening drinks. Make of it what you will.
We enjoyed the breakfast spread in the main restaurant. Breakfast runs until 11:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I was told it extended to 14:00 on New Year's Day, though we had departed by then. There were a few seasonal specialties put out, which we appreciated. Breakfast staff were extremely friendly and with only minor exceptions, competent.
I found bar food prices to be a bit on the high side, but in these days of spiralling prices I guess that should no longer surprise me.
All in all, we enjoyed our stay here and would choose the HR Amsterdam again. I used a combination of points and free night certificates and, given paid rates and high occupancy at the HR and elsewhere, found this a good use of both.