Festivus for the rest of us. Who's doing the feats of strength?

The family will be gathering to watch my brother pin the "old man" tomorrow night....ah the season really is wonderful, in fact ITS A FESTIVUS MIRACLE!

I've stayed at both the Mercure and Sheraton.

For the Mercure, picture a walk in closet with a bathroom attached - single bed (they have doubles also) against the wall, tiny desk, 13 inch TV (free movies), small bathroom with stand up shower stall. For an 8 hour overnight it was clean and functional for 85 euro.

The Sheraton is much nicer, but also probably double the price. Best thing was the stroopwafels as a welcome snack.

Stroopwafels.......mmmmmmmmmmm........Stroopwafels ;)

>>>>>Re: Courtyard AMS, I have about 30 nights there this year and I was just there last night actually . I can tell you that if you do not mind the ride (about 15-20 mins by the shuttle) it is an excellent hotel for the money.

I've Pricelined the Courtyard a few times too (it's great if you'd rather spend a bit of time in Haarlem rather than Amsterdam, since Haarlem is much more relaxed, and still very pretty, and the #300 bus continues on to there from near the hotel).

The problem for the OP, however, is that the Courtyard van stops running before midnight. One poster at www.biddingfortravel.com said he paid 34 Euro for a cab after getting in after the van stopped running. (You also need to reserve the return van trip for the next morning--with the possibility that the van you need may already be fully booked). The #300 Zuidtangent bus does run till about 1am, which MIGHT work; it stops about 300 meters from the hotel, but it is a walk on a path through woods and across fields that could be tricky in the dark.

After dark walks
 

My 40-year-old burly runner son was mugged at knife-point in Amsterdam while taking a shortcut through an alley at night. He managed to get away with only the loss of a couple dollars, but Amsterdam is NOT someplace for late-night walks (not picking on Amsterdam here - most major cities aren't safe).

Take the cab or find a more accessible hotel. Or sleep on the floor in the airport. No tricky strolls on paths through woods and across fields in the dark!

Romelle

Right, I consider myself a bit of an old pro at AMS overnighters; due to the vagaries of scheduling and my distaste for getting up at 04.30 for flights, I often will fly the first leg of a trip, stay at AMS, and then continue in the morning.

So, regarding on-site airport hotels, here are my opinions, having stayed at all three more than once.

My top choice: Mercure, especially if I'm doing int'l transfers. The hotel is spartan, the rooms have no view and they aren't exactly beautifully appointed. But there's something nifty about being like Tom Hanks in The Terminal... it's very convenient and certainly adequate. There's also free porn on the telly, if that's your thing. It's been a year since I stayed there, and the rate was 90€; I'd be surprised if it's gone up to 125€. That said, it is ALWAYS full. I have stayed there twice and I've tried to book it ten or fifteen times, often months in advance, only to find out it's full. I don't know if they hold a lot of rooms back for walk-ins, or maybe they are just that full. And I wouldn't say its well-advertised. So, maybe they've wised up and realised they can charge 125€ and still sell out? Another tip: IME, don't use the mercure website to book the hotel, call them directly, as both times I did get a room there, I had to call them (+31 20 653 04 38) -- I don't remember if the website didn't work or showed zero availability.

Tied for first place is the Sheraton. It's pretty close to the terminal, and, as someone already pointed out, if you're connecting to or from a non-Schengen country, you're going to have to clear security and passport control anyway. I have stayed here three or four times and always found it to be of a very high standard, with generously-sized clean and modern rooms, friendly staff, and decent (if overpriced) food. And of course, it's very close to all the eateries in Schiphol Plaza. It's significantly more expensive than the Mercure, I've even paid 200€ in a pinch.

I find the Hilton to be pretty dire. First, it's a longish walk from the terminal -- which I don't mind, but it is a haul especially if you have luggage to cart around. I found the service to be friendly enough but the rooms are pathetically tiny, the décor seemed out of date, and ... I don't know, the place is just depressing. Obviously some people have weighed in with differing opinions on this one.

Sorry to hear what happened to your son, but it is a bit of a jump to conclude that "Amsterdam is NOT someplace for late-night walks" from an incident that happened to someone who apparently isn't used to big cities (or else he wouldn't have taken "a shortcut through an alley at night"). With a bit of common sense Amsterdam is perfectly safe, even in the middle of the night.

I have spent many a late night walking around Amsterdam and I find it quite safe. Hell, the bands at The Bourbon Street Blues Club do not even start till 11:00 so I am walking to the cab line at 3-4 am....:) Like anywhere else you just need to have a little common sense. There tend to be some rowdy people who have had a bit to much to drink roaming around, but I am usually one of them. Amsterdam is a great city.

I have stayed in the Etap hotel near the airport. Nothing fancy, but economical and has a free shuttle.

€85 single, €95 double.

I stay at the Mercure 3-5 time a year, and I've always been able to get a booking. Generally reserve a couple of months out.

The Mercure provides what I need: a bed and a clean bathroom, no more than ten minutes from my departure gate, usually less than five.

By the way, Yotel is supposed to open an airside hotel at AMS in Q1 2008, which will apparently be located on the Schengen side.

Johan

I've lived in NYC/Boston for the last 10 years so my standard of safety maybe a little different. Of the half a dozen times I've been to Amsterdam, I never thought it as unsafe. The first time I was there, me and my friend ate the wrong muffin and couldn't find our hotel (10 min walk away from central) at 1AM. Some old couple was kindly enough to help us get back. If you just follow your common sense and only go to places with lots of lights/crowd, I can't imagine anything bad would happen. Besides the guys who try to sell you coke and estascy in the redlight district, I don't remember seeing too many sketchy characters in Amsterdam in general.

Let's move this to the Europe forum with a redirect left here in the Northwest WorldPerks forum. I'll also place a link to this thread in our community's Wiki.

Thanks.

For my upcoming trip I did not price out the Mercure.

Sheraton was 159 Euro prepaid
Hilton was 125 Euro prepaid
CitizenM a hotel that one can walk to was 69 Euro prepaid
http://www.citizenm.com/

Having stayed at both the Hilton & Sheraton, I'm interested to see how the CitizenM experience is. I'll report back in a few weeks once back home.

There is also the Yotel inside of the airport that has sleeping pods and small rooms by the hour or overnight. Great place for a few hours and a shower.