Swissôtel Amsterdam

1   Not Recommended
October 7, 2018 by EXPERT

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Swissôtel Amsterdam
 Map | 1 Review | 0% Recommended

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Share
Liked:
Location
Service
Food
Amenities
Room
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Overall a very disappointing stay (first for me since Swissotel joined Le Club). The Platinum experience was poor, the room mediocre and the service left a lot to be desired. To top it off the room was extremely poor value for money.

Check In

Things did not get off to a good start. Check in was not prepared by the hotel. I was asked to fill in all the personal details. When I told them that they have everything on file already suddenly it wasn't needed any longer. Why then ask me? No "thank you for loyalty", no upgrade offered, no drinks voucher. Instead I was given a welcoming speech noting that the room and the balcony were non-smoking. Needless to say I have no problem with the room rules but as the room was specifically booked because of the balcony (which costs more) I told them that the balcony rule was absolutely ridiculous. I refused to proceed with check in and told them that if that was their attitude I shall transfer to the Sofitel (same room rates, much better hotel). Management was consulted and balcony rule was rescinded. Pathetic welcome. The manager escorted me to the room.

Room

The room booked was a junior suite but in effect it was just a large room, sparsely furnished. My travel companion called it IKEA chic. It featured a king bed (comfortable), a desk and a mini sofa with a tiny glass table. The TV was the smallest TV I have seen in a hotel in a long time. Yes in Amsterdam space is at a premium but if you are charging premium prices I expected more. At least a further armchair was required. Socialising in the room was uncomfortable as we could ony sit on the mini sofa.

When I entered to room I immediately noticed that it was not properly cleaned. The glass table was covered in finger prints. The aforementioned balcony turned out to be a tiny ledge with space for 2 adults standing, no more.

The bathroom was bijou at best. The shower was good and simple to use (a rare thing these days with overly complicated controls). It also had some vases but of course no flowers... Toiletries were not very luxurious. the room also had a mini bar and Nespresso machine as well as a tea set.

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Service

Service was mixed, varying from almost rude to excellent. The whole check in debacle left a bad taste. However the cleaning staff were excellent (when they rectified the fact that the room had not been properly cleaned) as was one of the room service guys. We had asked for some ice to be delivered to the room and were presented with an ice bucket, limes, mint, straws and nuts. Excellent! However when we asked for a bottle of wine to be delivered on the second night the response was "we are not sure if we have any" and "we have no wine glasses, use the ones in your room" (there weren't any). Not exactly excellent...

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Elite experience

I already mentioned that the drinks voucher was not ready at check in. It can be used in the outsourced restaurant/bar (which closes very early at 22h). Not having read the small print (only beer or wine) we ordered a G&T and a mojito (at €500/night not unreasonable) it required some negotiations.

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The welcome amenity was a cheese board with a small bottle of wine (think airline size). Cheese was nice, wine was stingy.

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Dining

I only had breakfast at the outsourced restaurant. There was a decent choice. It was surprisingly reasonable at €17.50 (as was the room service menu). The costs were waived due to the trouble at checking in. Unfortunately the "hot" buffet was anything but.

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Location

The location of this hotel is very central, 10 minute walk from the central train station. The city can easily explored on foot or via tram which stops right in front of the hotel. Noise insulation was very good (plenty of inebriated revellers at night time outside).

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Overall

Overall this was not a good stay. There we small positive sparks during the stay but the hotel largely disappointed. Value for money was extremely poor and while some attempts were made to compensate I could have stayed in a very nice room at the excellent Sofitel nearby for the same rate. I definitely will not return.

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