Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht - REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
 

Greetings FlyerTalkers!

We are very excited to announce that the Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht has officially opened its doors! The hotel marks the ninth hotel in the Andaz brand, and the very first Hyatt hotel in the Netherlands.

The 122 room hotel is set on the site of the city’s former Public Library on the Prinsengracht, which is part of the iconic ring of canals added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2010. The hotel is centrally located in the spirited Jordaan district, surrounded by art galleries, unique specialty shops, trendy fashion boutiques, and stylish restaurants.

Safe travels!

Dana M.

Keep adding locations
 

The wife and I love the Andaz brand. We are looking forward to Maui and any others in the pipeline.

Now taking reservation from Nov 3rd.

Great news. I had a room booked for opening day in Dec, glad its earlier, not sure I can make it in Nov though.

Boy is it expensive... 250€ plus rates in the weekend. 300+ weekdays...

I am excited to be visiting 23-25 November - anyone else?

which cat. is it ?

What did you expect?

Hyatt on international soil tends to be more expensive anyway, brands like Park Hyatt or Andaz are actually increasing this premium even further and after all, it is (Dam)n Amsterdam and a truly upscale neighborhood.

Pricing is a little stupid even for Amsterdam... let's see what they actually offer, prices will likely come down a little during non-peak times when they see the actual bookings.

I agree....pretty much 300/night after the taxes with AP...in winter.

They'll need to bring the rates down, especially since the competition in AMS is increasing (finally). Hilton/Marriott and the lot used to be a bit overpriced, but have been getting cheaper and cheaper lately.

I'll see if I can get there in Feb 2013, which means we probably won't overlap! :)

I could live with E300 a night, it's a bargain compared to Paris!

had my room booked for 1M+ for an April trip to Europe... should be fun.

I shall be writing a review so will try and pass on tips and tricks - if there are any of course!

I emailed Hyatt yesterday and got a timely response.

This is a category 5 hotel. They said 18k points for free night in a room, 22k points for club room and 27k points for suite (3 night stay minimum).

Thought everyone might like to know.

I will probably be staying there next week.... I'm looking forward to it.

Club Room?
 

When I bring up a description of the rooms, there is absolutely nothing about a Club Room. They have regular rooms, garden views, canal views and suites. But nothing about a Club Room. Are you sure they said "club room"?

A bit of a disappointment already... one that was not completely unexpected but the price now is a little steep.

Until yesterday the website showed "limited free valet parking available" but today it has been changed to "We operate a valet parking service daily 24 hours. This service is priced at €65, - per 24 hours".
I had sent them an e-mail yesterday questioning the free offer, no reply yet but at least they changed the text. Free parking would have been nice, but maybe a bit too good to be true.

Right on spot.

As pointed out before, the biggest competitive advantage was the free parking. It was surprising and definitely unexpected, but a nice perk.

But somehow Hyatt has to pay for the United miles... :o

I was also quite surprised when I saw the free parking offer on the website.... but with the current rates it's not that big of a leap to think that it could be free.
But I now also received a reply by mail that their website was wrong and has now been changed, €65 / $90 is a bit steep even for Amsterdam. I'll just leave the car at the office and take the train/tram, that will probably be quicker as well :-).

*48 euros for Q-Park in Amsterdam/24 hours - you can even see on their web site which parking has free place.
*Their competition will be Conservatorium Hotel which has its own indoor swimming pool and is very well managed
300 euros for a room, I am sure that will help Hyatt buying all those United miles for US customers who will come back with free Visa Card awards to fill the suites of Andaz Prinzengracht.
*In a market where Andaz is unknown, where Hyatt is hardly known, they should have given a bonus of 50K miles to the people who are checking in this property before the end of 2012. Not on United but on KLM/Air France. Hyatt failed twice in Brussels (Rue Royale and Avenue Louise), once in Antwerpen. Let's see what happens with this new attempt to enter a new market.

The Conservatorium is indeed a very nice hotel, prices are about the same. And although they are quite close I like the location a little better.

There is KL/FB promo running for the Andaz Amsterdam (the only promo I have found), but it's not a very good one. Double FB miles but the rates go up by about €20-30 when using the promo code.

I also wonder what the motivation has been for the hotel to use the Hyatt/Andaz brand. It's not like it's well known and the hotel seems to be an independent one, jointly owned by Aedes Real Estate and Marcel Wanders. I wonder if they are prepared for all those free credit card nights they undoubtedly will need to provide in the future.

Another thing to be aware of (no info about this on the website).... the Gym/Spa is not operational yet and won't be for a few weeks.
Only found out about this after reading a review.

What about those Club rooms? Is this an Andaz with a Club lounge? If so, do Diamonds automatically get access?

No club lounge.... but supposedly free drinks (non alcoholic) in the lounge/library in the main lobby for all. And free use of the mini-bar.
We'll see how they do breakfast for Diamonds.

Review
 

I completed my first stay here today, just a quick review because I was rushing to/from work.... an already nice hotel that can only get better.

Location: Good, although not great. In between "Spui" and "Leidseplein".
Room: I booked a standard Andaz King and got upgraded to an Andaz King with a Canal view. Quite nice.
Breakfast: A very nice and extensive breakfast buffet in the restaurant. Ordered from the menu as well. Charges taken of the bill (Diamond benefit) but the tip remained.
Prices: Around €300 for a King/Queen room at this time, not quite a deal. After check-in I saw they had lowered the rates for this week by about €30. So it pays to keep checking, something I forgot to do in time...

Likes:
- The style of the hotel.
- The staff.
- The clean uncluttered room, no need to clear the bed of "junk" before using.
- The big walk-in closet.
- The big shower.
- The number of tv-channels.
- Almost everything from the mini bar is free.
- Extensive choice of newspapers, to be delivered to your room

Dislikes (temporarily or minor):
- The Gym/Spa are not operational yet. Not mentioned anywhere on the website, only in the welcome letter in the room.
- A faint airco noise in the room that started repeatedly. Even when the airco was fully turned off there was a switching and a buzzing noise that kept going for a few minutes at intervals. Not loud enough to be really a bother but still a bit unpleasant when sleeping.
- Guests (or others) who set the alarm at 00:00 and leave it on :td:. Again a reminder to unplug any alarm clocks when entering the room....
- Not a perfect layout for shaving with the mirror next to the wash basin.
- Took 15 minutes to get the internet connection to work on my company laptop and had a very slow VPN connection. Only after getting the sign-in page link from my iPad was I able to get a connection. I don't really like how this is implemented by Swisscom.
- Sound system with the old iPhone dock, that's going to be a regular problem from now on I guess.

Some pictures:

Exterior
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...99-outside.jpg

Room
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...782-room-1.jpg

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...re4788-bed.jpg

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...e4787-desk.jpg

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...wash-basin.jpg

Walk-in closet
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...alk-closet.jpg

Some refreshments
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...coffee-tea.jpg

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...95-minibar.jpg

And the funky toilet
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...796-toilet.jpg

Nice pictures and report, RTW1. You gave a good sense of the hotel. The fish above the bed is really quirky and fun.

The public spaces are also quite nice and .... although I didn't really get a chance to use them much. I'll save that for next time over a weekend.

Thanks for the report, RTW.

It is really shocking to read that Swisscom is still around..

I fear Hyatt Int. actually resigned with Swisscom, the original contract should have reached its end by now...

BTW, is the big lamp an original FLOS or just a fake?

Looks like a fake.

It's not a FLOS, and in reality only bears a small resemblance. More like inspired by :-). The furniture to me looked quite nice, but a few more real design icons would have been nice. The desk chair wasn't the most comfertable, the big yellow chair in the back was...

I'm sure, but I'll go back and double check the email. Now, I just have to find it :)

Swisscom is back in Paris CDG as well

Stayed in a large canal view room (diamond upgrade). Here some pictures:

Room:
http://youhavebeenupgraded.boardinga...daz-amsterdam/

Hotel:
http://youhavebeenupgraded.boardinga...z-amsterdam-2/

Am I the only one who wouldn't want to sleep underneath an image of a dead fish?

On a dif note & a heads up. The IBC trade show occurs every September in Amsterdam, it's considered a "citywide event" (close to 50,000 attendees), and ALL the hotels in AMS jack up their rates (think rates like 450-500E). It doesn't matter if you're there for leisure or bizness unrelated to IBC; during that week you will be paying the IBC rate. Dates for IBC 2013 are 09/13-17 (rates will go up on the 12th & go back to normal on the 18th).

Cheers. Sharon

The smell wasn't bad, I slept fine ;)

For the IBC I wouldn't stay here, the location will take you quite some time to get to the RAI. Rates only seem to rise by about 40% though :td:

:D :D

My guess is those who want Hyatt points & whose expense accounts can handle the increased rate for IBC will stay there, although it will take a while to get to the RAI.

I normally stay at the Marriott @ Leidesplein during IBC. I've started booking through the IBC hotel service (still get points) as the rate, while more than the normal non-IBC rate, is not the inflated rate booked directly through the chain's website (that's true for the Hilton & Starwood properties too).

Since the Andez has just opened, there's the possibility they might get added to the IBC hotel service list in which case I'd recommend someone book through that. My other recommendation is, unless someone is there for IBC, to avoid AMS that week in general!

PS - I still think the dead fish is creepy looking :p :D

Cheers. Sharon

Greetings from Andaz Amsterdam
 

Hi All,
I am here just for the opening month.Everything is new,clean and beuatiful
It's the hotels 3rd week and the team here is absolutely remarkable!
The pics can not do this property justice
As I stated previously Hyatt has brought on board some of their best talent to get the hotel off to a fantastic start and they are well on their way.
It is the most beautiful Andaz I have seen to date and unlike any Andaz I have ever been in.
The design is out of this world and a bit over the top However that's what makes it fun!
For those that like the cool wow factor you wil be in love,
I wouldn't want to live in it but its fun to visit and stay.

We had dinner last night in the restaurant which for my tastes is a work in progress to be polite despite some nice presentation and friendly hospitable folks
I have pages of notes already on day 1
The room has so many interesting design aspects I don't know where to begin.
The dead fish picture on the wall is art its part fish and part spoon all at the same time.
I don't even notice it or think about it with all the cool elements of the hotel
It's certainly different and it gets your attention from the drab interior of your typical bland hotel.
It's there to provoke conversation and entertain all at the same time
Warning:Long extensive review to follow!

I was there also this weekend - I shall be interested in your views.

Art is in the eyes of the beholder
I like my creepy fish in a spoon and I haven't been lonely since we met ;)
They have giant replica copies to purchase in the lobby so I will be sending you one for the holidays :D
It grows on you :)

The hallways to the rooms are the one feature they didn't spend much time on it seems, apart from some screens nothing different than other (bland) hotels. That was a bit of a letdown for me....