Main reason for this stay was because the silly Accor program suddenly wiped out all my points due to inactivity - in my opinion ridiculous in current situation.  They offered to restore my points if I stay at an ALL participating property before end of Sept.  An opportunity arised since I had to do some travelling from the south of the country to another appointment the next day in the north of the country to break this at this property.

I was quite surprised to find a really good flexible rate including breakfast at this property, so decided to book this property and at the same time getting my points restored. 

Location

The property is located outside of the centre of Amsterdam located in more of an industrial/business area with some new suburb housing ongoing.  There are also quite a few new F&B establishment around the hotel.  Since it is close to the Amsterdam Sloterdijk transport hub (Train, Metro, Bus and I believe Tram) - there's within the station itself, different convenience store and snack outlets.

From here, it is really just a 10 mins ride away to the centre of Amsterdam - by train or metro (slightly longer) and also easy connection to Schiphol by train.  Despite this being in more of an industrial/business area, the area seems to be safe and not totally dead especially with the different F&B establishment being open.  

The hotel shares the same building with Citedines Apart Hotel (most probably because it's managed under the same company).  

Check In

As usual one better aspect of the Accor group hotels is the ability for online check in which makes it much easier - and especially the possibility via the internet (no App is needed).  I did an online check in the morning of my stay and all went well.  

Under normal situation, it would mean just dropping by the front desk and getting your key after identification.  However in current situation, there were some additional health forms that needed to be completed.  

With all this and a run down of the hotel facilities, dining options and getting to my room (due to the same common area with Citadines), I was off within 5 mins after arriving at the hotel.  

Room

From what I saw, the Mercure hotel was decorated more in a modern stylish way compared to the Citadines part.  They went for a dark elegant interior - along the corridors which was strechted into the room.  To me this was actually the first time seeing such a "boutique" feel at an Mercure (which from my other limited stays at Mercure, very standard concept) which I liked as it did set it apart from the cookie cutter concept.  It may not be taste for all, but I liked how it was decorated.

The room size was surprisingly much larger than I expected with quite a large and even though with the dark walls and furnishing in the room,  with the large windows, there were lots of naural light made the room still welcoming and in the evening, quite a cosy room.

The entree to the room was wide enough with a large mirror and the entrance to the bathroom.  There was a nice wall art with a sufficient working table with sufficient electrical outlets.  

At the corner of the room was a single person chair with a small side table.  The TV was installed on the wall.  As usual the channel selection was a mix of local and international channels.  Tea/coffee making facility and an empty minibar was available inside the cupboard together with the safe.

The bathroom size was sufficiently large with a walk in open shower.  There was an option of hand shower and rainshower - water pressure and temperature control was sufficient.  The usual Mercure toiletries were available.  

Lighting in the room was more than sufficient - especially needed when the theme is a dark them.  All in all the room was decorated with style. Sleep quality was also very good - I did not hear anything from exterior nor interior.  Only minor complain here was that one side of the bed did already show some need for replacement (slightly collapsed).   

Wifi was complimentary with good speed and stable.  Climate control in the room good - only minor complain here would be the fan noise, it was quite audible even at the lowest speed, but other than that, it did work efficiently in both cooling down the room.  There were no curtains in the room, but using the roll type of shades.  View of the room was towards another wing of the building and part open space.

Dining

This hotel has a enclosed Skybar/Restaurant (it is not outdoors) which had view towards different parts of Amsterdam  mainly towards Haarlem/Schiphol direction.  Although not the best for city skylines view, the view during sunset was beautiful on a clear day.  I had a evening drink here and it was a nice place to spend the time (during my visit it was very quiet).  For me it would be a potential place to also have dinner - the menu was quite extensive with good reasonable prices for the location.  Service was friendly.

One good nice feature was that as a guest (independent of status), you can get some nice discount on drinks and other items. 

Breakfast

Breakfast was at the Sky Restaurant area.  I went in with actually quite low expectation (from previous experience), but was really surprised that the spread on offer was of high standard and certainly worth the extra paid to include breakfast in the room rate.  I was actually quite surprised to see the place quite packed - but this does take into account that this place is also for those guests booked into the Citadines.  

There were a good selection of both cold/Continental and hot items on offer.  You can also order a limited number of made to order eggs (fried or omelet).

They replenished the items also very well and things were kept clean and presentable (some hotels in such situation would have lost it).  

All in all totally impressed with the breakfast service.  (just wish that more Mercure and other Accor group properties would be like this).

Overall

All in all, I went in with a low expectation of this stay, but came out with a very impressed stay.  I used basically the online check-out service (basically you get your overview of spend and if you're happy with it, just drop your key on the way out - which in my case was welcomed as when I left, I saw the front desk area quite busy for unknown reasons).

I would certainly recommend this property for both stays and dining options.  I am not sure how this property prices are during normal times, but at the rate I booked, it was certainly a great value for money.  A big thumbs up to the mangement of the hotel I would say for such a positive stay and property.