Discussion about IC Amstel & Crowne Plaza Amsterdam
 

Night Number 1: Crowne Plaza Amsterdam:
arriving in schipol the train ride (about 20 mins) is easy and cheap. come out of the station, cross the canal and you will find the CP amsterdam. Checkin fine, as RA had been upgraded to a club room UNrefurbished. When we got to the room it was large musty and SO dingy. I felt immediately depressed, so I sent my husband to the club lounge and went to reception to fix it. (FYI reception resembles a public swimming bath?!). Guys at reception couldn't do enough. they offered us a teeny refurbished room, which i checked out. Beautifully finished to a high crowne plaza standard, nice new carpet smell, tiny (but we dont mind that) and overlooking the road where the trams screach along from 6am to 1am every day!!!! After further conflab we were moved to another room with broken air con, and then finally a club refurbed room which was lovely and we were very happy with, with only minimal tram screetching!
The lounge had "snacks" (nuts and crisps) and drinks (beer wine & soft) in the evening, not extensive food, just basic nibbles. In the morning the full american was hard boiled eggs, cheese ham ad cereal- i would say basic continental.
Overall view: club lounge is always a gift if it is free, however it is pretty basic in terms of food offering. the hotel staff are lovely but the unrefurbished rooms are seriously depressing.

Day 2 & 3: AMSTEL on BOGOF weekend stay. We dragged our case to the IC Amstel, this "walk" was longer than expected (25 mins?) along cobbled pavements shared with kamikazi cyclists. Later we found their tube line stops right outside the amstel and is a far better option (leaves from central station go 2/3 stops and you are at the amstel). This hotel is FABULOUS. entrance hall is like a white fairy cake, the corridors are wide and luxurious and the room.. well we got a RA upgrade to a jhr suite and its probably the best hotel room we have stayed in. We sat in our lounge, flung open the windows (it was unseasonably warm) and drank our way through the 2 grolshes, 1/2 bottle of chablis (v nice vintage) 1/4 champers, and then felt a wee bit queezy and had to have a lay down :D

Absolute luxury! The room was traditional in decor but finished just beautifully, the bathroom was large and amenities were l'ocitane, lemony and in plentiful supply. I forgot my swim togs (damn) but the pool was canal level with large windows opening onto the canal, so when you swim it feel like you were on a similar level to the canal. The bar was small, dark wood, traditional and cosy and again being on canal level, you feel like you are on the titanic, enjoying a drink whilst crossing an ocean! The restaurant was 1 michellin star, but we didnt think much of amsterdam cuisine (mainly meatballs and bread) so didnt try it.

So would i return? To the Amstel for the hotel, yes in a heartbeat. To amsterdam? well we found the lack of greenery and numerous bicycles abit wearing, so we would head to paris/milan/london/zurich/geneva/cote d'azur etc over amsterdam anyday. Having said that, we also found the dutch to be the most friendly and delightfully kind and helpful race we have come across. Amsterdam is a place that is completely unique and should be seen, but its slightly seedy red light side and stag night crowd left us alittle cold.

The amstel is a true 5* lux ic up there with london, paris and cannes (although cannes needed a refurb when we stayed!) The CP is bearly a 3* in the unrefurbed rooms but a good 4* in the club refurbed rooms.

I hope this helps someone in making crucial stay decisions!

Good report. I really like the Amstel- it is an oasis of tranquility from the buzz of Amsterdam. I agree the center lacks a bit of the charm of other European cities although the whole canal thing is pretty cool. Also I have had trouble finding good restaurants there (other than Indonesian.)

I'm staying at the CP City Centre in Amsterdam now and I agree the new rooms are finished to a high standard. As a PC Plat, I was upgraded to a very nice refurbished room with a king bed and large flat panel wall-mounted TV.

However, for anyone planning to be here anytime soon (especially on business), beware that in most cases the refurbished rooms do not have wi-fi or any other in-room internet access.

You can connect your laptop to wi-fi in the club, which is how I'm communicating now. That's some consolation, I guess. They offered to move me to an unrefurbed room, but after being in one of the new ones I decided to workaround as I'm only here two nights.

Speaking of the club, it was closed the last time I was here (it was closed for nearly two months, if I remember the reports here). I hardly see why it took so long -- it appears all they did was put in new wallpaper (shabby job - I can see bubbles from where I sit), and maybe some new artwork.

My last few HI and CP experiences have not been that pleasant. On the other hand, I've had great luck with upgrades and general service at Hiltons, at least in the UK (I have Gold Hhonours status). Hilton may get more of my business if this trend continues. We'll see...

bananacake, that's exactly what I wished for ... thanks for your most useful report!^
Planning a stay in late October I was left a little clueless where to book finally.

I stayed at Crowne Plaza Amsterdam this weekend. I stayed at a 2 rooms suite and it was a friends and family rate. We had club-lounge included.

The suite was very nice and big with a terrasse (you can see pictures and read a review in my blog).

What I found very disappointing was the lounge. It was very small and felt cramped and there were hardly no food except of breakfast. What I liked most was how nice, caring, warm, smiling the peop0le working there were.

xxx.

Updates?
 

deciding between both properties
any thoughts all?
The newly renovated rooms and tvs with a great center city location
and club access sounds highly appealing.IC is nice enough certainly

Well I hope this thread has made it clear that these properties are in completely different leagues. And prices. The Amstel is high luxury and the CP is a decent business class hotel.

Have decided to do last night at the IC as they have availability and the CPlaza is sold out
I also have decided to try the Rennasiance for a few nights as it has had a spectacular renovation and it too was sold out on the Saturday night in question.Not a big fan of the IC with their antiquated tvs,overpriced offerings and now reduction in benefits to RAs.The rooms are certainly nice enough if you are fan of the old world

What reduction to RA's? I haven't seen any reduction. I get the same nice suite upgrade each time, whether paid or free night. I saw that someone said they didn't get the 750ml bottles of alcohol for free on an award night, but really...

Good to hear
I haven't been back since the rant on reduced RA treatment I look forward to testing the waters and see if the high quality upgrade recognition remains
If that is the case I will be very happy for my needs
The beds are comfy and the bathroom excellent.The property totally needs some updating IMHO in both rooms and public areas.Granted thought they take care very good care of the property for its age.

If you're not a fan of the old world then it may not be to your tastes - but the IC Amstel is a classic hotel with wonderful history, and our suite (322 IIRC) was the possibly most beautifully decorated room I think I've ever stayed in, certainly amongst the chain hotels.

The TVs were almost brand new so they must be changing them, and I'm afraid the offerings are what they are - the restaurant is the best in the city, and priced accordingly. A poster in the stay thread tried the set price lunch in the brasserie and found it good value, but it's not as if tourists need much in the way of in-hotel services anyway, and accordingly those who do must cover the cost of providing them + margin for the hotel. The Amstel is not an especially big hotel by modern standards, but it's certainly a jewel in IC's crown. I've stayed in a fair few ICs but none have come close to the Amstel. YMMV, of course.

Actually they're mere 375ml bottles if I recall, and they were still on offer late December when we stayed (I think the rules changed 1st Jan.)

Quite right that they don't offer those if they don't want to, but complimentary minibar is a stated benefit, and with that I'd expect at least that they offer miniatures instead, which I understand they don't. That's cheeky and is a way of circumventing that requirement I would say.

It should also be mentioned that the health club at the Amstel is, unless my memory is failing me, the best of any western Europe IC.

As for the mini-bar changes, I will believe it when I see it. If on a paid stay, I would expect the Amstel will be happy to allow me full use of the mini-bar like always. But my most recent stay was in December.

Thanks for the update I look forward to my stay

CP Amsterdam
 

Stayed there last week and fully agree on the comments of the OP.
I got a refurbished room, but no club access. The concierge gave a a voucher for complimentary breakfast for ambassadors. But than i had a room rate which included breakfast................
A second voucher was given for a welcome drink. Went down to the restaurant and asked for a large beer and handed my voucher. Comment was : Sorry this is only for a small beer, a large beer consist of 2 small beer where you have to pay for the second small one............

Next time i will give the Amstel a try for sure.

never mind I see another thread...