Amsterdam

[ibelieve!!!]

Planning a weekend in Amsterdam with the wife in May, any hotel recommendations?

[Exglasgowasc]

Depends if you want something central. Can't go wrong with Avenue Hotel. I stayed here in September 13, again in May 14 and staying here again in May 15. I have managed on each occasion to get it through hotelbooking.com with breakfast for between £47 and £51 a night. It's on Nieuwezids Voorburgwal which is parallel with the Damrak. When you come out Centraal station instead of heading down the Damrak take the next main street on the right of the Damrak. Stop off for a quick beer in the Flying Dutchman pub. It's less than 5 mins from the train station. Despite its location it's very quiet and the breakfast buffet is lovely.

[Flora MaDonald]

With the wife??!! Are you mad?

As an aside, I'd have bet a grand exglasgowasc would've been first to reply to this thread!

[Huddersfield]

There's a few decent hotels out near Schiphol. I'm trying to remember the one I stopped in a few years back but it was cracking value & restaurant/bar on each floor (one a sort of sports bar). Anyway a fair few of the places around there run free shuttle buses to the airport & it's about 15 mins. or so as I remember on the train to the city centre from there.

[Flora MaDonald]

There's some boat hotel thing in the toon a lot of folk seem to rave about.

[Brummie Hibs]

Stay down Leidseplein area. I much prefer that area to the more central ones.

[yourname]

not a hotel tip but an eating tip. There is a new renovated tram factory called De Hallen in West (on tram line 17 i think), with a really cool food hall with about 15 different restaurants in one hall. It is a bit pricy but it is so damn cool that i dont mind spending the money. I'd recommend you go there at some point to eat

[rabmania]

Stay down Leidseplein area. I much prefer that area to the more central ones.

American Hotel, right there. I got a really good deal through destinia, http://destinia.co.uk/ great breakfast, huge room overlooking the square, 5 minutes to Rijksmuseum, 20 minutes walk to the station.

[FraserM]

https://www.bestwestern.nl/en/hotels/best-western-leidse-square-hotel-amsterdam-92704

Stayed here a couple of times. As Brummie Hibs says, Leidesplein is a great area, loads of bars & restaurants.

[Brummie Hibs]

Talking of food, some of the best food I have ever eaten, was in a small restaurant very near the Leidesplein called La Cacerola (Weteringstraat 41, 1017 SM)

Doesn't look that fancy - very basic and rustic, not expensive, but the food was incredible.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/La+Cacerola/@52.36112,4.888748,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x2291dd29f4f50dee

[amsterdam scot]

not a hotel tip but an eating tip. There is a new renovated tram factory called De Hallen in West (on tram line 17 i think), with a really cool food hall with about 15 different restaurants in one hall. It is a bit pricy but it is so damn cool that i dont mind spending the money. I'd recommend you go there at some point to eat

If you are going to go to eat at De Hallen then recommend you do so during the day as it gets extremely busy in evening and not enough seating.

As for the place being so damn cool, well let's agree to differ. I live very close to De Hallen, and like many local residents dislike what they have done with a passion. Its the beginning of the gentrification of a decent area and unfortunately has lead to area now being overrun with hispsters and yuppie twats. As I say let's agree to differ.

As for hotels, as others have said Leidseplein and Museum areas are good areas to stay in

Edited February 11, 2015 by amsterdam scot

[yourname]

im interested, why do the locals not like it? As far as i can see, it is a very cool (if expensive and hipster-attracting) way of renovating an old tram factory. I have only been in Amsterdam for a year so i dont know what it was like before.

[Brummie Hibs]

Unless you are a hipster wnak, then you hate everything hipsters do, go, see, wear, eat, etc.

That is the law.

I hate hipsters.

[amsterdam scot]

im interested, why do the locals not like it? As far as i can see, it is a very cool (if expensive and hipster-attracting) way of renovating an old tram factory. I have only been in Amsterdam for a year so i dont know what it was like before.

Hi, hope you are enjoying living here so far.

I am glad as well to see the old tram repair depots being used again after lying unused for 35 years. However a number of things have got the local residents up in arms. The proposed upgrade to the buildings was first mooted over 10 years ago. What we have got now and what was originally proposed are completely different. Original plans did include a number of facilities for local including a sports hall etc. As the years passed and through pressure / blackmail from developers a lot of the original development ideas were dropped ( these being the ones that benefited local people) , presumably as they were not making enough profit from them. So as you can imagine this pissed off a lot of locals even before it opened. Even the cabins in the food hall are rented by companies from outside the area when again promises were made that local businesses would be give opportunity to rent first.

In those 10 years, a lot of local buildings were bought over by developers in the hope of the development going ahead. Recently they who have forced out a number long-standing shop owners by increasing the rents beyond what they were worth or able to afford. These shops have been taken over by chains with increased coffee companies, organic bakers, organic supermarkets all springing up.

Since the development opened there have been number of issues arising. The numbers going to it are far greater then anticipated and to people living in the area the infrastructure to support it is not in place. Locals next to DeHallen are having issues with noise levels at night, bikes being parked in front of their doors ( big issue in this city lol), people urinating and vomiting in the street and people not being able to get parked next to their houses etc. There was a meeting with residents in December and council officials and these were simply swept aside with the usual "well your house values are increasing so a little bit of noise makes it worth it" excuse. The area around De Hallen is surrounded by small streets unable to cope with the increased traffic in terms of lorries for the building site and cars for visitors. Few months back a young girl was killed in the surrounding streets by a lorry going to the building site which left feelings high amongst locals.

Finally, recently planning permission has been given for a further 2 hotels to be built in the area. Again not part of any original proposal but the City Council have decided they want to spread tourism away from city centre and into neighbouring areas. Oud West has always been a good area for living. It is close to city centre but without the trappings of tourism. It was a traditional Amsterdam neighbourhood and a real delight to live in. The last 6 months especially has seen that change completely and there is no doubt if council get their way it will become unrecognisable. Thus the reasons for a large number of local residents being unhappy about the opening of DeHallen and other plans for the area relating to that. To a number of people it is looking like enforced gentrification.

Well if you are ever in the area pm me and will take you a local brown cafe for a beer away from the Yuppies and hipsters

[At U Peter]

Going to Amsterdam for the first time next month. What time do the "coffee shops" stay open until Amsterdam Scot?

[irnbruman]

^{I stayed at the Greenhouse Effect when I was there for the Scotland match. Couldn't recommend it as a family hotel or one to take your wife to - but the bar was very interesting.}

[Bzzzz]

Stayed here last time me and Mrs Bzzzz were over in Amsters (March), it's a wee walk out of the centre but really very good! can't recommend highly enough!

http://www.hotelarena.nl/en