As part of a winter stay in the Dutch capital, we stayed at the Renaissance Amsterdam, located in the heart of Amsterdam.
A stay not really up to our expectations.
Booking
When booking a hotel room on the Internet, there are only two things to choose from: the photos on the hotel’s website on the one hand, and traveler reviews on the other. When the two, however attractive in this case, match, there is a problem … And this problem is to know who made the reviews and photos …
In any case, these two elements, as well as the reasonable price, pushed us to choose this hotel among the different options at Marriott for this romantic weekend, despite my very positive experience at the Sheraton Amsterdam Schiphol. Mistake!
Arrival
I arrived by plane from Paris, to join my wife who was already in Amsterdam for professional reasons, and who was sleeping at the Sheraton. Since we both love to grill and the Sheraton’s restaurant specializes in that, we’ll meet there and have dinner before heading downtown to the Renaissance.
We arrive at the hotel on foot from the Amsterdam Central station (10 minutes maximum) and wait a few minutes before being taken care of.
The check-in will be done quickly, but there is no mention of my status. I understand here that I would not have much benefit. I ask (without being offered) to have breakfast as an Ambassador benefit and ask about the Club Lounge. In the receptionist’s eyes, I feel that I have asked a crazy question. But after checking, he tells me his location and gives us our room keys.
Room
The assigned room is located in one of the lower levels of the hotel. What we can say is that it is really a standard room…
The entrance is rather narrow and gives on the bathroom which is… of another age! And what’s more, not cleaned properly.
The room is also narrow and low-ceilinged. The bed is quite comfortable, but we don’t have much room to move around.
The windows are small, the whole is very dark. Not very pleasant for a winter weekend.
A welcome service with chocolates and a bottle of red wine was left for us.
The short video tour:
Hotel facilities
Spa and fitness
The hotel does not have a spa, but a large fitness room on the first floor.
We will not use these facilities during our stay.
Club Lounge
The club lounge is located on the first floor of the property.
We won’t be there at meal times, but the space is quite small and not very appealing. During the day, hot and cold drinks are available.
Catering
Given the lack of inventiveness of the menu, we will not have lunch or dinner at the hotel’s restaurant.
However, we will have breakfast there… And how to say… I think that the word “factory” remains the most appropriate! A cerberus checks to see if your breakfast is included. I’m obviously not on the list of Platinum customers… Since I’m an Ambassador and you have to go to page 2.
But this gentleman prefers to send us to the reception and redo the whole queue since he can’t find us on the list. I insist that I will have the breakfast charge removed from the bill anyway!
We end up being seated and there, how to say…
Between the deafening noise and the almost empty buffet (there was still a good hour left on the breakfast slot), you don’t want to stay long!
The food is good, but once again the Dutch service has struck!
Departure
We will benefit from the late check-out and will reach Schiphol in the late afternoon for our return flight. The departure formalities will be carried out without hindrance, since there is no interaction with the Mobile Check-out.
Bottom line
American-style rooms and Dutch-style service.
