mikejos

I was upgraded to one of their two suites on my stay last month and was so, so impressed with the entire hotel and experience. Be careful though with local phone calls. They are 0.50 euros per MINUTE, not per call. This property makes my top five Starwood properties. Outstanding customer service, amenities, platinum touch, location and had a very nice European presence.

Mike

[This message has been edited by mikejos (edited Mar 02, 2004).]

cruising

I absolutely agree with Mike! Great hotel.

[This message has been edited by cruising (edited Mar 02, 2004).]

AA_SPG_Fan

Hello - I am just returning from a week in Amsterdam and spent my time at the Pulitzer. Thanks to FT, I requested and got the "fabled" room 105. It was nice, but maybe I'm abit spoiled - didnt think it was an outstanding room really - it seemed a little worn for me. I know this is AMS, and the size of the room was enormous for this location so that was wonderful and had a nice character. Im just not so sure what the fuss is about that room other than that tho. I didnt like that there was no clock/radio/tv in the bedroom also.

I also got a good rate thanks to the Best Rate Guarantee. I really have no complaints, and actually wrote a letter to tell them thanks for the nice stay and upgrade.

The staff there were great and the breakfast was good. I agree about the telephone charges - very expensive.

I put some pics up at:
http://www.shrimpo.com/personal/ftalk/ams04/ There are a few pics of the Melia London hotel too there (sorry SPG!)




[This message has been edited by AA_SPG_Fan (edited Mar 19, 2004).]

iahphx

What is the classification of Room 105?

I've got an Executive Duplex reserved next month, which I presume will be at least a little roomy.

I'll also have a car with me. Any options to avoid exorbitant parking charges?

PremEx

105 is classified as an Executive Room.

AA_SPG_Fan

Ive never driven anywhere in AMS (nor would I want to!), but I remember being told by some Dutch guys I had dinner with that ANYWHERE you park your car you should expect to pay a fee -- even parking a car on the street 24 hours a day.

SteveinA2

Has anyone stayed in the Royal Suite. Is it worth 20,000 points a night?

Jon Gegenheimer

As I understand it there are only 1 or 2 "royal" suites in the property. A friend and I were fortunate enough to score that Plat upgrade over Christmas for 6 nights, but we had to move to one of the MUCH smaller split-level suites for the last few nights (over New Year's).

The big suites are lovely. Bedroom is gigantic with non-working fireplace; probably twice the size alone of the average room in the property. Master bath is similarly huge with a gorgeous, deep tub and excellent water pressure, though no seperate shower. 2nd bathroom is actually a full bathroom with a very small shower, but quite well appointed. Living room is also huge; ours had a decent canal view, 2 sofas, maybe 3 chairs, entertainment center w/ CD, a very small library, very spacious desk.

And that's about it. It is pretty plush and nice; not a lot of cheap repro and worn furniture but really nice, comfortable stuff.

I would not, however, spend 20K points because I find even basic rooms to be quaint and comfortable; the upgrade was more of a Christmas treat than a necessity from my view.

Softwizard

I stayed here in August of last year. As a Platinum, I was upgrade to a big room that was basically it's own elevator stop. It had a large main room with multiple couches and TV and fireplace. The masterbedrom and bath was down a staircase a bit but pretty amazing. If you can get this room, I'd say you'd be pretty happy. 20K points is a bit steep, but this is a great location and this is a good room.

LH738

IMO, spending 20000 points is also dependent from your earning "ability":
- If you have many points or if you can earn points very quickly (e.g. credit card earnings, conference planning, etc.), go for it!
- If 20000 points is much for you because of "slow" earning (e.g. no credit card, no 500points amenity option, etc.), I wouldn't do it. I'd safe the points for a better value.

shaworth

When I was there in October with my family we were upgraded to a 2 bedroom, two bath, two story suite on one of the top floors with a nice canal view, a kitchenette, dining room table for 4, etc... The bellman told me it was the nicest room on property, for what that is worth.
So if you can use both bedrooms it may be worth twice a regular room, but of course, you are the only one who know how you value 20K points.
Stuart

suzy1K

I really liked this hotel despite being, apparently, the only one who got a "regular" room. The front desk was really nice about showing me 5 rooms to choose from

Be sure to take their Canal Boat tour (leaves about 5:30 pm) for $30 ish. 1 1/2 hours. Excellent tour by the captain in English. Boat holds around 10 people so if it's summer, you might want to book ahead. Do it the first night so Amsterdam makes sense the rest of your visit. The Concierge has great tours (walking, local driving, etc.) set up. See if he can fax the options to you before you head over. He is really really tops! If he can't I can probably scan them in for you.

PS the Bar is super smokey. You will have to take a shower & wash your clothes afterwards.

iahphx

Just back from the property and I must say I liked it -- both the hotel atmosphere and location. I had an 11,500 point executive room booked (there are at least 2 versions of it, I had the family room setup with a couple single beds in a loft), and the executive room is definitely worth 1500 points. One big reason is that they throw in the excellent breakfast buffet, which otherwise is prohibitively priced (something around 25 Euros per person). Do the math -- especially if you're 2 or more persons, "buying" the breakfast for 1500 points (not to mention the extra room in a quirkly hotel with lots of weird rooms) is a good deal. The executive room also comes with a free welcome drink in the bar, which was a nice freebie.

We had the misfortune of arriving in Amsterdam by car, and I must say this is the worst city in Europe to have a car. Not that the driving is so bad, but the on-street parking is 3.20 Euros an hour, free only from midnight to 9 am. You can save a few Euros buying a day pass, but it still comes out to about 27 Euros, with no other viable option seemingly available. The hotel has a private lot somewhere that's about another 10 Euros a day.

PremEx

suzy 1K observes: You may have had my ladyfriend, Catman, and myself (not pictured) to blame for that!

http://members.aol.com/premexfiles/sherAMSbar.jpg

When in Rome...

suzy1K

PremEx, were you there the last weekend in February? I went on a Mileage Run and later SkiAdcock told me there were 7 other FTers staying at the Pulitzer that weekend

PS Love the pix!