| From: Antoine Haddad, Greece |
| Date of Stay: July, 2008 |
| Nice hotel, the location is not bad very close to the central station, but you need to take a ferry boat to the hotel, the ferries are available all the time and free of charge. The breakfast is pretty good, the staff are very helpful, rooms have very small bathroom. Overall the hotel is good for the price. |
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| From: margaretta bond |
| Date of Stay: September, 2008 |
| Directions on how to get to the hotel very good,straight forward, the short ferry ride was a good way to start the holiday.Ferry was frequent and free.The staff were very informative and helpful.The boat was clean and breakfast very good buffet but with a wide choice,not just continental.The scenery was as expected down at the docks,but at night it was very quiet.Very good value for money.Very relaxed environment. |
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| From: Barry Ansell, United Kingdom |
| Date of Stay: July, 2008 |
| A unique setting in Amsterdam. Quiet location and peaceful yet the main part of town was reachable by free ferry which was only five minutes from the Botel. The ferry took ten minutes to cross the harbour and ran at frequent intervals. The room was adequate although the en suite shower room was rather small. Breakfast was good. An enjoyable place to stay for a short break. |
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| From: mic chikanda, Ireland |
| Date of Stay: July, 2008 |
| you real feel at home and you wont even notice the distance & location due to the efficient shuttle ferry and bus in the early hours.if we are to go back to amsterdam we know botel is the place... |
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| From: JILLIAN REMBLANCE |
| Date of Stay: April, 2008 |
| It was a shock to find out that the boat had been moved since booking it in November.We had, had no notification But then it was no problem with the ferry service every 15mins ,then across the road to central station ,through the station and straight into the hub of Amsterdam city ,infact it made the stayThe staff are very friendlyThe rooms were warm and airy but we warned if you are on the portley side the shower and toilet area is very small |
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| From: GM, USA |
| Date of Stay: July, 2008 |
| Good location, right next to the ferry stop so it was easy to get to. Also close by is De Pannenkookenboot (The Pancake Boat). Dinner cruise on the Amstel with all you can eat pancakes. Great fun. The Botel is geared for a younger crowd, but we had a nice stay there. |
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| From: Reviewer has requested to be kept anonymous. |
| Date of Stay: January, 2008 |
| Had a good stay at the BOTEL, but the new location is a serious pain. You are no longer beside Centraal Station, and instead have to take a ferry to the new location of the BOTEL. This is a real shame. Next time I will go for something more central. |
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| From: Caroline Barrett |
| Date of Stay: June, 2007 |
| This is a travelodge on water-clean, functional but basic. The rooms were larger than I had expected with a good size bed, the shower room was compact but very clean.. The rooms to one side of the boat had good views over the city but the other side you would be looking over a building site so make sure when you check in which side you are on!The location is very good and only 5 minutes walk from the main train station and tourist information-the city centre is within easy walking distance. Breakfast was buffet style, basic but tasty and the bar was lively and very reasonably priced. At the price, I would recommend it to groups who are looking for value for money and clean accommodation-not a luxurious hotel if you are looking for a romantic weekend away! |
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| From: WW, USA |
| Date of Stay: June, 2008 |
| This hotel is really well-managed. It feels like everyone is there to make your trip more enjoyable. Usually, hotels are a pretty forgettable part of a trip (unless they are bad), but the botel is one of my fond memories of Amsterdam. The rooms are quite small - be warned - but the bed is comfortable, and there is a small desk in each room, and the staff is great. Also, don't worry about transportation. Though the botel itself is a 15-minute free ferry ride from the Central Station, after hours there is an all-night shuttle van, so getting to and from the botel is much easier than you would think. The area is very quiet, but there is a funky artists neighborhood nearby and also a Greenpeace boat you can tour - very interesting locale. I hope to stay there again one day. |
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| From: Dean Gum |
| Date of Stay: June, 2007 |
| Very convenient location only a 5-10 minute walk from the train station.Towels provided in good condition and shower facility whilst very compact, was clean and in working order.Breakfast was ample with the usual continental variety.I would suggest requesting a canal facing room. Most critical issue which one needs to be aware of is that there is construction work nearby (non-canal side) which promptly starts at 7am hence external noise (which is outside the hotel's scope of control) is quite annoying especially if you like to sleep in. I was informed by a local that this contruction work is scheduled for at least another 6 years (ending approx 2013 ?).Hence be prepared to put up with the outside noise first thing in the morning. Breakfast starts at 7am so probably a good idea to plan for early morning starts to the day.Not sure of the cost/availability of double beds. I was allocatted twin singles which I found were somewhat uncomfortable. As usual for Amsterdam, bringing a compact umbrella would be handy. |
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| From: GG, Spain |
| Date of Stay: May, 2008 |
| This is a 3 star Hostel/Hotel. You find there all kind of people (younger/older). The rooms are OK according to a 3 stars hotel. The price is also OK for Amsterdam (expensive anayway but Amsterdam is expensive). The realtion situation/price I think is good because altough you have to take a ferry to arrive Central Station, the ferry takes 15 minutes, it's free and there is one every 15 minutes. |
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| From: Reviewer has requested to be kept anonymous. |
| Date of Stay: June, 2007 |
| The hotel needs to advise guests that they may not have a quiet and comfortable stay when they know there is major building work underway right next door. This is poor customer service. |
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| From: ET, Norway |
| Date of Stay: May, 2008 |
| Bathroom so small that you have to walk out to change your mind. |
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| From: S Webb |
| Date of Stay: April, 2007 |
| Hotel very easy to get to - only 5 minutes walk from the station. Bathroom facilities were rather basic - the shower didn't really work that well, but we had to remember that it was a 'ship-type cabin' we were occupying. The only other major inconvenience could be the very thin walls - every night we were woken up about 3am with other guests returning from a night out, either next door or above us. No problem if you're out yourself! On the other hand, no problems whatsoever with cleanliness or customer service - nothing was too much bother. And there was a fantastic Chinese restaurant next door if you didn't fancy eating every evening in the hotel. Breakfast, by the way, was very good. Would stay there again. |
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| From: Hisanobu Monobe, Thailand |
| Date of Stay: April, 2008 |
| Hotel was moved to the opposite side of Station & needed to use ferry We wasted 1.5hrs to reach there! We wanted VERY clear Information that the Hotel moved ONLY one good point? => will become good memory |
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| From: Reviewer has requested to be kept anonymous. |
| Date of Stay: April, 2007 |
| Checked in early and left bags in secure luggage area which was good - only 5 mins walk from main train station.Quality of room was poor, very small bathroom, beds uncomfortable, and no tea or coffee facilities. Breakfast was good hot & cold stuff, location was good too but unfortunately the room quality was not good. Also there was building work going on next to the boat that started at 8am in the morning - not what you want afer a night on the towm!!! |
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| From: CG, Denmark |
| Date of Stay: March, 2008 |
| We feel that we've been cheated. When we booked the hotel it was located near the central station. |
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| From: Reviewer has requested to be kept anonymous. |
| Date of Stay: March, 2007 |
| Hotel is fine, I'd stayed on a previous occasion & knew what to expect. Comfy clean rooms, not too much noise. Breakfast is served 07.00-10.30, is best to get there early as there is not a lot left by 09.45 & the cook will not top anything up. After three days of missing the croissants, we got to breakfast early at about 07.15, still no croissants! When we enquired about this we were confronted by the breakfast cook, who was very rude & abrupt, stating that we'd have to wait, I said that was fine, but there wasn't any need to be so rude. At this the cook began shouting at me in front of all the other guests, demanding to know my room number, he then stormed away, refused to give me his name. I would hope that all the Botel's guests aren't treated in this manner & that hopefully it was an isolated incident, but somehow, judging by the reactions of the other staff, I don't think that it was. |
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| From: AM, Italy |
| Date of Stay: March, 2008 |
| Amstel Botel has a new location that it is not near the station. You must take a ferry (that starts every 30 minutes). This is very annoying! By the way rooms are good and breakfast is fantastic! Anyway it is a good compromises between price and quality. PS1: Venere.com tells me the old address of the hotel, the first day we found that the hotel has moved! PS2: The last day i had a problem with a noise coming from the door electrical system during the night. The employee was not capable to solve the problem so the last night was horrible. |
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| From: A Gunter |
| Date of Stay: March, 2007 |
| The Hotel is easy to find and in a good location. It is basic but good value. The rooms are small and the bathroom is tiny but their is a Queen size bed and the shower has good preasure. The canteen is good for breakfast with Continental and a small hot English selection. You do need a cannal side room for a veiw which is essential but cannot be pre booked. The large Chineese resteraunt next door is excellent. I would stay again and recommend to those on a budget. |
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