Great hotel, can confirm one of the best hotel in Amsterdam

100   Recommended
Room 203 , King Premier
September 17, 2021 by

 Map | 2 Reviews | 100% Recommended
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Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
 Map | 2 Reviews | 100% Recommended

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Room 203

King Premier

Liked:
Location
Service
Food
Amenities
Room
Stats
Room
King Premier

As one of my silly goals during this pandemic period was to stay at all the Hilton group hotels in NL, this will be my 2nd last one (only the Hilton in Schiphol left) - or the 3rd last one if I count the soon to be opened Doubletree in Sittard.

Booked for 1 night using points - quite a steep number of points needed, but on the other hand this was expected for this level of hotel.

Surprisingly, after being in Amsterdam like so often, I have never really taken noticed of this property and even during the canal cruise which I have done before - this property never really stuck out like how everyone knows the Intercontinental Amstel or the Okura Amsterdam.

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Location

The property is located in the heart of Amsterdam, close to Rembrandtplein and most of the tourist attractions within walking distance.  Within 5 mins walk, there are a couple of tram stops.  From the main Central train station it is about a 30 mins leisure walk to the property.

Check In

A week before my stay, I received an email from TrueWaldorfService (their concierge service) listing down the pre-arrival information.  Included in current times was that an associate will call me the evening before my stay to confirm my health status - which did happen.

I arrived (slightly later than I planned) around 2pm and as I entered, I was greeted by one of the concierge.  I was shown to the Front Desk area - located in a very private and elegant room.  I was invited to take a seat and the check-in experience started.  Why experience, because it was an experience in itself.  After the formal documentation step, my host explained to us about the welcome amuse (in the form of a bee) and offered a welcome drink - including champagne, which was of course our choice.  A warm towel was also provided before the drinks arrived.  During this whole period, small talk was engaged in a casual manner - which was a welcome especially some of these level of hotels can get too formal.  

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I had already seen in my app that the room was upgraded to a King Premier room - was only not sure if it was canal or garden facing.  After enquiring, I was told that it would be a canal facing one - I was curious too on the garden view room - and was offered by my host that she could show it to us too and make our choice.  I had wanted to ask if any further upgrade would be granted - was hoping for a King Loft, but in the end I thought I'll first see the situation of the allocated room.

Before we proceeded to the room - there was another surprise - I was asked to select from 4 different in-room scent which I would like to be used during the evening turndown service.  The scent came from if I remember correctly, Fragonard - an old French parfume house.  It was also cute that every scent had a story behind them.

Since I only had my backpack for this 1 night stay, there was no need for any concierge assistance.  

After all formalities and the experience completed, my host came with us to show us the garden view room on the same floor (2nd floor). 

Room

My preference would have been for the garden view room - the room I was shown seems to be bigger in size compared to the Canal view room - my partner went for the canal view room, which I too did not mind.  Maybe the next time, I'll try the garden view room.

As expected, the rooms were very elegant, yet not old school.  It was good mix between keeping the room elegant yet modern at the same time.  The size of the room was ok - in fact I would say large for city centre Amsterdam standard.  Along the entrance hallway was the built in wardrobe (where it had space for 2 large luggage if needed.  

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The bathroom was situated midway in this hallway, and at the end, this opened up to the room itself - which at the foot of the bed was a small sofa with a small side table.  There was a working/TV desk where the coffee/tea making facilities are located.  There was more than sufficient windows to enjoy the canal view - and most importantly good blackout drapes.

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Coffee was the as expected Nespresso capsules and TWG branded teabags offered.  Complimentary bottles of water were also offered (and replaced during turndown service).  The minibar was well stocked.  As expected all amenities in the room were from well known quality brands.

The bathroom size was more than sufficiently spacious - with a walk in shower and a open bathtub - with TV viewing included.  Toiletries were from Salvatore Ferragamo.  The only small critique that I would have is that it would have raised the level of luxury if they had placed the Japanses type of toilet bidet instead of the normal one.  

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Already placed in the room was also a welcome amenity and a welcome card.  Another critique here is the welcome amenity which some of have indicated - quite a pathetic 3 small pieces of madeline (yes I know it's high quality madeline, but adding a bottle of wine or something in this line would not cause a dent in the budget especially if guests are paying that level for a room).

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Wifi was as expected fast and stable.  TV channel options were the usual mix of local and international options.  The climate control in the room was very efficient and most importantly not too loud even at high fan speed.  It was too bad that windows were all locked, as i would have preferred to have some fresh air in the room once in a while.  

Sleep quality as one would expect was great - the Waldorf bed and sheets lived up to their expectation of providing a comfortable night rest.  I was actually surprised that the windows were very soundproof from the traffic - the only odd hearing would be uneless a motorized vehicle revved it hard - which only happened once during my whole period.  

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Turndown service was only done after informing them of when you will be out of the room - this is because of current pandamic situation.  The level of turndown service was good - as one would expect for this level, they did laydown foot mats and slippers on both side of the bed and provided some dutch sweets in cute delft blue themed boxes.  All used towels and other used amenities were cleaned/cleared and room was close to it's original state after check-in.  Only small critique here was the tray containing the welcome madeline - did not understand why they did not just clear/remove it since there was nothing left (or better still, replace it with something else)

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Spa

This property also had it's spa, sauna and indoor pool facilities.  This is quite unique in Amsterdam especially in the city centre.  I had originally planned to visit some sights after checking in, but in the end, this stay became a true staycation as I did not leave the hotel and used most of the afternoon enjoying the pool and sauna facilities.

I had close to a private pool/sauna experience as there was no other guests until later in the afternoon.  There is a changing room and lockers provided.  The weather during my stay was also perfect to switch between the inside pool/sauna and relaxing outside in the garden area.  

I did not partake in any of the spa treatments (but for elite members, you do get 30 mins complimentary above the usual treatment times).

The spa attendants also took care of the pool area - and they were very friendly and helpful in providing information if needed.   

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Gardens

I was surprised when told during check-in that the property has one of the largest and only private garden still left in Amsterdam.  This is also listed under the UNESCO Heritage (which has it's pro and cons).  The garden area spanned the length of the hotel and was divided into different sections.  There was also a small enclosed gazebo - which is also used often for wedding ceremonies (which coincidentally there was one during the weekend I was there).  

The hotel also seems to have their own beehives which was cutely covered and made to look like minituare canal houses.  

This is also the same garden that is connected to the pool area - therefore a beautiful place to enjoy between the pool and outdoors (especially after coming out from the sauna) on a good weather day.  

In this area, was also a nice outdoor patio - however this where the con of the garden being listed under UNESCO - the hotel is not allowed to serve drinks nor food in this area.  I was not aware of this initially ( I thought this was what they meant by their Terrace cafe) until I went in and approached  a member of staff to order items.  I was told that they officially are not allowed to serve anything out there - but i could on my own effort bring drinks out there.  Therefore after ordering drinks, they would bring it to the doorway and you will have to collect it from there.  Food restriction was fully enforced.  The other reason I heard was also because they did not want any complains of noise from the other houses - I guess there was an agreement with the neigbourhood tenants on this.

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Inside the Gazebo

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Breakfast

Breakfast was an affair by itself - guests have the option to have it in the open area in lower ground floor or in their room (no addiitonal charges).

I opted to have it in the breakfast area - arrived closed to 9 am and there was just 1 couple having breakfast. (it did get a bit more busy after that).  Was given a quick explanation of how service would be and handed the menu.  The signature is their Waldorf Breakfast tower which I ordered and as an elite member, another hot dish per person - which we went for eggs benedict and waffles.

Juices and hot drinks were unlimited.  As expected the quality was top notch and service was close to flawless.  A very nice sunday morning breakfast.

An improvement point here would to include at least a glass of champagne for those with breakfast included - I think this will certainly enhance the experience to another level.  

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Service

I guess there's not much that can be mentioned here but that it was of high level and again an expectation.  What I was surprised here was the number of younger service staff - as I was expecting more "matured and experienced" staff.  This is also good in order to keep the atmospehere of the hotel young and vibrant instead of being uptight.  

Of course with this comes at sometimes not so refined service moments/behavior, but I did not see anything too serious out of line.

Overall

All in all, after my stay I am not surprised that this is considered one of the best hotel in Amsterdam - maybe even in the whole of Netherlands if it's up to me.  Yes on one hand this is expected based on the price level of the hotel - everything should be close to flawles, however for European level, the service here is indeed very good and on par with other hotel at such calibre.  

Will I return and recommend this property, yes I would 100% for sure.  After this stay I am also now curous how other WA around the world are especially if they are a good combination of elegance and yet still being casual - which I found this property to have done very well in finding this balance.  In fact the property seems to be a destination in itself.

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Peacock Alley (where the famous High tea will be served - but for me I felt it was not worth the value from what I saw)

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