Reading in Amsterdam

Prologue

Week number 42 starting Friday the 12th of October 2001 marked the autumn break from university. This was the first period of time since starting my studies where I had an opportunity to do some travelling. I also had one Free Friday award left from Starwood that would expire at the end of October and with that in mind the "opportunity" to travel seemed more like and "obligation" � I would not want to waste a valuable free stay after all!

I knew however that I needed to do quite a bit of law literature reading during the holiday but I figured there was no reason why I could not read comfortably in a hotel somewhere.

On Oct 11th I had placed a winning bid on an online SAS auction and thus getting my hands on a return ticket from Copenhagen to Amsterdam at the rather good price of 1001 DKK (= EUR134,61 ). I was allowed to bring people along at the same fare so I tried desperately to bring friends along � their reason for saying no was the problem that I am also having: economy. Of course in my case the need to travel at this point had turned into a rush stronger than heroin and the frequent flyer junkie that makes out part of my glorious person had no intention of going cold turkey.

Therefore, I booked the earliest possible departure at 9 o'clock Friday and a return Sunday since this ticket did have a Saturday night requirement. I opted for the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport because I did perceive the main reason for this trip as being an attempt to catch up on some reading in a new environment. They booked a morning departure Sunday but I called and changed that to afternoon instead and also booked a lacto-ovo special meal. I want to try the different special meals until I know which one I prefer.

Thursday, October 18th


Finding somewhere to stay Saturday proved more difficult. The only thing I had to spend (having no money) would be Hilton points. I called Hilton reservations on Thursday Oct 18th and was told that both Hiltons in Amsterdam were fully booked for using points on Saturday Oct 20th. This did not come as a big surprise since I was calling only 2 days before the date I wanted. I preceded using the "Goldlust-Will-Prevail-Eventually"-tactics and called the Hilton Amsterdam Airport. They confirmed that they were fully booked for points. Then I called Hilton Amsterdam and it turned out they had a special room available for award stays for Gold VIP members: I took it! Another example that proves one must never take "no availability" from Hilton reservations as a fact.


After enjoying myself with the fact that I am getting quite good at arranging free travel I further liked the fact that I had just received an apologetic letter from a General Manager of a Starwood property that for the sake of this report shall remain nameless. Even better a nice 7000 star points were coming my way as a more real way of apology. After this I headed for one of the centrally located cinemas in Copenhagen city and bought a ticket for American Pie 2 setting me back 65 DKK (= EUR8,74) and I flashed my cinema customer VIP card to get a large coke and a (way too) huge container of popcorn at the less than half price of only 24 DKK (= EUR3,23).

The movie was extremely funny. I liked it more than the first one and I can highly recommend it to anyone that may even remotely like this kind of film. I could recognize several of the scenes from my own experiences recently (okay, so I have kissed a guy) and it was just so amusing. I did find it strange that I was among the older part of the audience. I feel with the subject that this movie deals with (which is sex) there should be teenagers from 15 and up only). I fail to understand how a 10-year-old could benefit from this movie.

I headed back to my suburban dormitory room and concluded that I wanted to leave for the airport at around 5am so I could be there at 6am and then spend a nice 3 hours in the Scandinavian Lounge there. I managed to stay awake doing homework until 3.30am and then I fell asleep.


Friday, October 19th

I woke up at 8.30am � this did pose a problem since the planned departure was 9am. I called SAS reservations and was told that this reservation could not be changed! We had a small chat about when I had booked the auction ticket and then the female agent said, "How about 10.20am, is that late enough?" We settled for a 3.05pm departure. Why did the agent ignore the rules about no change of reservation? Simple, I were to pick up and pay for the ticket at the airport. Who stands to loose anything on a no-show with unpaid ticket? That must be the thoughts that ran through the mind of this SAS reservations agent that Friday morning in October.

I slept some more and packed in a real hurry leaving home at 12.14pm. At the suburban station I was going to take the suburban electric train and then change to the airport regional train at the central station. I needed two more zones than I had on my monthly traveller card and I got those from the machine at 6,50DKK each totalling at 13DKK (= EUR1,75). Arrived at CPH at around 1pm and picked up my ticket from the ticket counter.

I headed for business class check-in (One person in front of me since another person headed to the check-in line to the left and checked-in there) and provided the agent with my passport, AC Elite card, and ticket. An efficient service as usual and this lady did remember to put the red priority tag on my baggage. She also addressed me Mr., which is quite rare in Denmark. She got me a nice window seat at an exit row.

Headed for the transit hall and therefore I had to pass security. It went fast and efficient as usual and I did not discover any change at all compared to how things were pre-Sept-11. I did forget to put my cell phone on the belt at first but I doubt that had anything to do with Osama bin Laden.

Went 20 metres to the left and entered the Scandinavian Lounge. One must love being the owner of a Star Alliance Gold card. After entry I had some lunch food for breakfast (no metal but awful plastic knives and forks, screw everybody responsible for that!). A couple of drinks also went down my throat (coke, straight). Then I headed for one of the nice booths where you have a desk and a chair and � most importantly � a phone that dials any national number for free. This includes cellular phones so I got a kick out of calling several of my friends on their mobiles for a healthy chat � I got the home addresses from 3 of them so that I could mail them each a postcard from the Netherlands. Of course the postcard would certainly arrive after Monday by which time I would already had seen them at class but Goldlust has his own philosophy regarding postcards.

The longest chat I had in the lounge was with a friend to his regular phone so I guess I saved SAS a little bit of money there. Suddenly in the conversation he reminded me that it was now past my boarding time and I kind of agreed with him that it might be a good idea for me to head towards the gate. Before leaving the lounge I made sure to ask for a razor kit and a toothbrush. The lounge no longer provided razor kits but I did get a toothbrush and with that I headed for the gate.

Boarding had already begun and I sad down and relaxed with a newspaper at the gate instead of standing in line. Ultimately I boarded as the last person and discovered that the middle seat next to my window seat was empty. Take-off was uneventful and meal service began. My special meal was not onboard but since I had missed my original flight that was no surprise. Instead I had the scrimp sandwich and discarded the liver p�t� � which the FA suggested I probably could not eat as I only ate lacto-ovo. I played along. My drink order consisted of the usual: water, vodka and coke. The vodka bottle went straight into my pocket.

Touchdown uneventful and I went on a rather long walk towards the arrivals hall. On the way there I stopped by the Diners Club lounge. I had not been there before and apparently they had no problem with being used for arrivals since my boarding pass slip was accepted. I only spent 5 minutes there and then headed for baggage claim. Picket up my trolley and found the Sheraton very fast when I exited the airport terminal. I headed back into the terminal and used the designated walkway to find the entry to the hotel lobby.

Check-in was done quite smoothly and as SPG Gold I had been pre-upgraded to a clubroom. "Your stay will be paid for," was the comment given to me at the reception. Interesting since it was a Free Friday award � well, somebody is always paying I guess. I wonder how much the hotel can bill Starwood headquarters? Not my concern.

I took the elevator the fifth floor. Cool elevators in my opinion because I either had a view of the large atrium or a view towards the outside world. Elevators with a view are a very good idea. The room, which was some 25 metres from the elevator, was very much to my liking. It seemed quite new, pretty clean (I did find a dirty ear pin in the corner but let us not go there), and with nice decor. The bathroom (I often find hotel bathrooms small) was quite wonderful with a tub as well as a cubicle.

I headed for the executive lounge on the top floor and that is when I realized that my upgrade had followed SPG rules to the letter. I had not been placed on the executive floor as would have been the case would Hilton rather I had been given the next available class of accommodations which for this property was the club floor. The peerage for this hotel was: regular room, clubroom, executive room, smart room, one-bedroom suite, and royal suite. I guess Platinum members would get executive floor or even a suite. Actually I liked my clubroom so much that I was not even jealous.

Upon entry to the executive lounge the hostess who did not want to see my key card greeted me. Just as good really since I had no right being there I am quite sure. The lounge is only for executive floor guests and above. Since nobody wanted to see any proof they must blame themselves. Upon check-in I had been given a letter with some offers regarding Instant Rewards. Among these the possibility of using 1250 points to upgrade to the executive floor. Well, with the lounge access there anyway I would not waste points on that. I had some coke in the lounge and then headed back to my room for some reading.

My room was facing the big tower at Schiphol that was really close by! The reading I did involved family law and proved quite interesting. I certainly need to talk to some family members about changing their wills.

Eventually I got hungry. The SPG letter had included an offer of a great three course dinner at the hotel restaurant (or at the even more high end restaurant at the Pulitzer sister hotel) for a whopping 4500 star points. I called the restaurant to get some menu info but then decided against using that many star points. Instead I ordered room service: a big cheeseburger, French fries and coleslaw and I also choose Japanese dim sum with soya and sweet chilli. Including the EUR3,40 cover charge the room service bill amounted to EUR24,98. The cheeseburger was very good and so were the fries � and the coleslaw. The dim sum was a complete failure and not at all worth the price. They reminded me of the hour doers available in the executive lounge of the Vancouver Metrotown Hilton and they are really nothing special.

I did some more reading and at 10pm I headed for the health club. I like hotels such as this where the health club is open 24/7. There is a small ("private") elevator going straight to the health club so I used that. In order to access the health club the card needed to be reprogrammed. I wonder why it was not done at check-in since access to the club is free for SPG Gold members and above.

The health club was quite well equipped. A nice pool, sauna, and steam bath made out the relaxation part of the club. The fitness part had some running belts, bicycles, more workout machines and some weights. There was not a sufficient number of different bodybuilding equipment though.

After a swim and some sauna time I had some fun and then headed for the supermarket at the airport. Once there I bought 2 cokes (0,5l) and a Toblerone bar (100g) as well as lime ice-tea. It totalled at EUR4,75 after I had been whipped with a 2,5 NLG charge for credit card charges less then 25 NLG.

Saturday, October 20th

I read some more and went down to the health club and did some workout at around 2am. At 4am I managed to fall asleep and I totally missed breakfast by waking at 12.30pm. I called and secured a late check-out (free for Gold members but otherwise an expensive 3000 star points). I wanted to pay the room service with star points and 1500 equals $20 so it should take care of almost everything. The hotel had made quite a good offer regarding bath robes: 1 bathrobe for only 3000 star points � I thought $40 for a nice bath robe was cheaper than most places so I jumped at that. I worked it out with the reception and told the front desk lady, "the 1500 star points is not quite going to cut it are they?" The response, "It is no problem sir, there were an additional EUR3 that was not covered by the star points but that was just the cover charge for the room service so I have taken that off the bill." These are small but nice gestures that I think are very good for business. I checked out with no bill but 4500 star points poorer, but: a nice bathrobe richer.

It's getting late now, so I am going to post the rest of this report tomorrow.

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Sumsar - Hotel Reviews & Travel Guides




[This message has been edited by Goldlust (edited 10-25-2001).]

Saturday, October 20th

Part 2.

Before leaving the lobby of the Amsterdam Airport Sheraton I needed some information on how I could most easily get to the Amsterdam Hilton.

I asked the front desk lady and she directed me towards a man standing in the lobby. I had thought all along that this was simply a bellhop but it turned out that he was in fact the hotel concierge.

The concierge quickly moved back behind the desk when I directed my question towards him. He solved the problem pretty well. He called the Hilton up and let me take directions from their concierge - an easy solution for him, I thought. Then he printed a city map for me. His problem seemed to be lack of work, now, when finally he had someone he could help he seemed unable to accept the fact that eventually he would have to let me go. So, I said thanks and went towards the terminal.

Once again inside the airport I first tried buying a train ticket to Amsterdam from the machines. The credit card did not work - I think those machines only work with Dutch debit cards. Instead, I approached a ticket counter and purchased a one-way ticket for Amsterdam Central. At the counter they did accept credit cards and I was set back NLG 6,50 (EUR 2,95).

I headed for the lower level where the trains depart and had an uneventful and fast 15-minute ride to Amsterdam C.

The Amsterdam Central station brought back fond memories (or just memories I would say) from my last and first visit, which was in the summer of 98. Back than I arrived with a girl friend from Denmark - we had travelled by train all the way and it was around 10pm. The Central station as well as the Red Light District (where our hostel turned out to be located) did present a bit of a crime-infested image at the time.

Now, however, I feared nought and headed for the ticket counter to buy a ticket for the tram, which with line 5 would bring me to Apollolaan where the Hilton is located. The ticket cost a mere NLG 3,00 (EUR 1,36) but alas they took no credit cards and I was forced to use the ATM. I got my hands on NLG 100,00 (EUR 45,38) and was a little annoyed by the fact that this would cost me an advance fee of DKK 50,00 (EUR 6,72).

The tram ride took quite a while, maybe 25 minutes but I eventually got there. The neighbourhood looked really elegant and quiet: rich, in other words. And so it is.

The Hilton greeted me with two red-dressed doormen each opening one of the doors - I guess it must have been one of the finest entrances I have ever made at a hotel but it kind of got ruined since I could not help laughing.

I had been upgraded on this award stay (as the Hilton HHonors rules state) and I was given what the hotel called a Junior Executive Suite. In was actually just an overgrown clubroom but still pretty nice (aside from the fact that it was a smoking room but for a one night stay I did not bother complaining).

As far as I can tell the Amsterdam Hilton has no executive floor per se. They have executive rooms and suites scattered out throughout the hotel. Part of the reason must be the fact that there are balconies on each of the sides of the hotel but not in the middle - and the balconies are executive rooms, so these must therefore be on several different floors.

The suite itself had one of these nice balconies, which faced towards Schiphol - on the other side the balconies faced towards a canal and I think I would have preferred that. The suite had a sofa group, a pretty standard bathroom and a queen bed. There was some free mineral water.

At 4.55pm I headed for the executive lounge, which is the only thing on the 10th floor. The elevator denied my attempts. It simply would not allow one to go to the 10th floor no matter how many times I pushed "10". I headed out to the lobby and it was explained to me by one of the bellhops that the elevator only goes to the 10th floor when the executive lounge is open. It was now 5.01pm and the executive lounge opens at 5pm. I went into the elevator again and gave "10" another try. It worked like a charm.

Once up there I was greeted by a very well dressed host (not a hostess, a nice change) who confirmed my room number and took my order of coke (as usual). No self-serve bar here which was kind of disappointing.

The only thing I had eaten since I woke up was what had been left of my Toblerone. Therefore the hors doers in the lounge were a sight for sore eyes. They turned out not inedible but not good either so I only had a little. The view from the lounge made up for some of the things I found lacking. I watched towards Schiphol and saw a Northwest jet flying towards the hotel and then make a sharp right. It was really a nice view.

ScottC had called me on my cell before I checked out from the Sheraton and we had agreed to meet in the lobby of the Hilton at 6pm and then head out to have dinner. It was now 5.30pm so I had just 30 minutes to relax in the suite. Not to be. The dreaded turndown service arrived and totally against my prior experiences with this "service" I let the maid in. She brought a new bottle of Evian but that's probably the only positive thing I have to say about turndown service - the whole concept is a waste of time in my opinion.

I headed down to the lobby and waited 1-2 minutes before a smiling and jovial man arrived. ScottC turned out to be very nice and interesting and it was nice to meet another European FlyerTalker.

We took a cab towards city and then had dinner at a quite marvellous Indoneesian restaurant that Scott had found. We both agreed the food was quite wonderful and we had a pleasant conversation over dinner. Topics were FlyerTalk affairs, world affairs and travelling. What a pleasure.

After we were both completely full we went for a nice walk in the city centre and then had a cab take us back to the Hilton. We visited the executive lounge, 2 of us this time and the host brought us a coke each.

Only a few months ago a famous Dutch artist (and drug addict) had killed himself jumping from the roof of the Hilton and as a result (so we gathered) all roof access was now prohibited.

I had to change my view on the "no self-serve bar" statement since indeed there were 4 non-descript carafes with different kinds of alcohol. We established that one was whiskey and another vodka - the 2 others will for now remain whatever they were.

After having spend quite a few hours in the pleasing company of ScottC I bid him farewell. I undressed in the room and feel asleep on top of the bed.

Woke up and thought: wonderful, it is morning: I have actually managed to sleep at night. My happiness was quickly put to an end when I discovered that it was 1.30am. During the rest of the night I managed to read quite a bid of law since I was unable to sleep.

Sunday, October 21st


At 7.00am I headed for the executive lounge and discovered that their "deluxe continental breakfast" was indeed not so. The only things there were some pastries, tea and coffee and orange juice. That is not "deluxe" in my book - hell, it almost is not "continental breakfast."

Back in the suite I finally fell a sleep at around 8am. Woke up at 11am. Called down and asked when the next bus for the airport would leave, the answer: 11.08am. I got checked out over the telephone and managed to pack in 5 minutes.

Down in the lobby I got the news that the schedule of the bus had changed due to the fact that there was a marathon going on in the city. The bus would leave 11.15am. It arrived later that that and drove all the way to the Central station before going to the airport. The ride took a completely unacceptable time of 45 minutes. It set me back NLG 17,50 (EUR 7,94).

I found the SAS check-in area at 12.05pm. There were two economy desks and one business class desk open. I think there must have been around 40 people in line at economy check-in. At the business counter there were only a couple with a small kid in front of me. I was checked-in in 1 minute. One has got to love Star Gold. I left quite a few people staring ("why does he get to check-in at business").

I gave up finding a Star Alliance lounge and spent some time in the Diners Club lounge before heading for the gate. In the lounge I managed to write some post cards (5 stamps cost NLG 6,00 (EUR 2,72) which I bought before entering the secured area). I had the hostess in the Diners lounge post the cards.

The gate was close to the lounge. Boarding began on time at 12.45 and the flight took off about 10 minutes late. No lacto-ovo meal this time either - kind of disappointing. I did manage to order two vodka & coke and the two small vodka bottles went into my pocket (making my total catch for this trip 3 vodka bottles).

Upon arrival at CPH I spent around an hour at the Scandinavian Lounge there before picking up my bag (they do allow you to use it for non-trans-Atlantic arrivals also it seems). Headed home the same way as I had headed out (another DKK 13 (EUR 1,75) for the train).

Good to be home.



[This message has been edited by Goldlust (edited 10-25-2001).]

GL, thanks for your kind words!

I've stayed at the Amsterdam Hilton and quite enjoyed it.

When I stayad, the club room offered quite a substantial free bar and snacks. It was often unattended and empty, so I'd just grab a few things and take them back to my room.

The Amsterdam Hilton has the 'John and Yoko suite' where Mr Lennon and Ms Ono held their famous 'Bed-In' for world peace in 1969. You can book the suite! It's immortalized in the Beatles song 'The Ballad of John and Yoko' - '... from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton ...'

I know I'll be accused of being a jerk but so please forgive me, but what was the point of this? I'm sure the Coca Cola Company appreciated it, but we all eat, drink and sleep. What would have been helpful was the name was the name of the restaurant with the "quite wonderful" food Amsterdam but that little detail was missed.

www.sampurna.nl

Excellent trip report.

Generally, I have found that when trying to find the best deals for travel (read: FREE), being persistent is a much needed virtue. I have often had to resort to a very similar "Onedog will continue trying to find the best deal until it hurts" tactic.

Isn't this the greatest feeling? I think this is something that most FTrs can relate to.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MonicaL:
"I know I'll be accused of being a jerk but so please forgive me, but what was the point of this?"

I would not say you are a jerk, but I think you did perhaps miss the point.

So far, this post has provided me with a couple of hotel reviews, a flight report, info on bus transfers, cost details, and a bit of remembering my own law school days. Plus, I've enjoyed reading it (I love the stashing of the vodka bottles. It sounds like student days are similar the world over!).

The point? It seems to me it is to share some of ourselves and our experiences, so perhaps others can benefit in some way.

I have enjoyed this report. I learned some things. That's enough for me.

[This message has been edited by Shinkansen (edited 10-24-2001).]

Thanks for the fine report, GL!

Great report - thanks Goldlust. My home country there too. ozstamps and I too hope to meet up with Scott C in AMS as he suggests below and maybe we can travel to the DUS weekend together? We just confirmed our flights IAD-AMS on UA for "only" $258 plus about that amount of taxes. Be nice to meet with you again too - the Cokes�� are on us.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum95/HTML/001422.html

Spending New Year's in AMS. Go there four times a year, but never on NY's Eve. Anyone going to be there? Any suggestions? Or is that a stupid question?

If one does not have an office where they go to work, as I would assume to be the case with Goldlust, sometimes it's necessary to just change your surroundings when you have something important to get done. Being a telecommuter, I understand Goldlust's rationale completely. It's a little extreme, but that's the whole point of earning and using mileage.

Goldlust, thanks for the report.

My grandmother used to take me to the Amsterdam Hilton in the early 1970's for lunch as a treat! It was built in the 1960's I believe and is in a very pretty location on the canal. Very pleasant. IS IT STILL RECOMMENDED? A little far from town centre though.

GoldLust, very good report. Makes me want to visit Amsterdam!