Sign in with FacebookAmstel Botel
Hotel Class: 
3 Stars - 32 Reviews and 319 Opinions
NDSM-Pier 3,1033 RG Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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zadunajska8
- Reviews: 225
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Basic, but very cheap, clean and good value
We paid very little to stay here having got a good deal through Easyjet so we expected the hotel to be basic. It is basic. The rooms are quite small (bathrooms are tiny) and very simply furnished but the place is spotlessly clean and the staff are extremely friendly and helpful and all seem to speak perfect English (as do most people we met in Amsterdam).
The breakfast is a continental style buffet and is a rather more limited selection than we have seen elsewhere, but what was there was good. I could see that there would be a real problem if you were veggie however as there appeared to only be yoghurt, rolls or toast available for strict veggies.
The botel is currently north of the city centre at NDSM werf, a 10 minute ferry ride (free) across the IJ from the back of Centraal station. The ferries run every 15 to 30 minutes depending on the time of day. We thoroughly enjoyed the ferry journey each time actually as for us brits it's pretty novel and some of the views, particularly at sunset are quite amazing. The area the botel is in is quiet and we never heard any noise from other guests either and so had a pretty good sleep.
The hotel rooms have TVs and you can get some of the BBC channels (BBC1 BBC3 and BBC news) but if you're spending muchof your time in the hotel watching TV whilst in Amsterdam you are probably doing something very wrong!
Overall it is very basic but at the price it is excellent value.
Unique Quality: Unique Qualities- It's a hotel which is a boat - how novel! At least that's what I thought at the time, since then I've seen the same concept in a number of other places, but still - it's a boat!
- Opinion of Price: less expensive than average
- Related to: Budget Travel
- Written January 15, 2012
Amstel Botel Photo: Amstel Botel
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Henrik_rrb
- Reviews: 444
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Cool living on a boat
Initially I got shocked by the prices of the hotels in Amsterdam. Either everyone knew that 5000 swedish football supporters would show up during three days in October, or it's common that a 2* hotel costs 170 euro/night...?
With some luck I managed to find a hotel worth it's price. Amstel Botel charged about 80 euro/night for a double room including breakfast, which I must say was fair enough.
The hotel is a boat, which you reach by taking a ferry from the central station. The rooms are pretty small, after you have put down your bags there isn't much space to move around. The beds are small but comfy, and bathroom is even smaller.
But for a few nights in Amsterdam it's great.
On the outside of the boat it written "luxury room for just 82 euro" and I would sign up for that, as soon as they take away "luxury"...
The boat is floating, so when the ferries passes by you'll feel the hotel move by the waves. Pretty cool! Bring motionsickness pills though if you easily become seasick!
Breakfast is served everyday on the ground floor, and is included in the price. Nothing spectacular, but there is enough to make you full. The hotel seem to be very popular, as the breakfast area was almost full every morning, despite being low season.
To get there you'll take the NDSM ferry from the central station (exit West). There are a few different ferries taking off from the same place, so make sure it's the NDSM! The ferry then stops (and starts) just 100 meters away from Amstel Botel. There are two ferries that goes from there though, so make sure to take the one that says "central staation". Otherwise you'll end up like us, with a 20 minute walk back to the station...
The ferry takes 15 minutes, so with the extra time it will take to come from the central parts of the city to the Central Station it's better to stay out all day. Coming back to the hotel in the afternoon and then go out again in the evening will just take too long time.
The ferries are free, and goes from early morning until shortly after midnight. After that there is instead a shuttle bus from the station.
Unique Quality: Good price, quite central.
They have wifi internet onboard in every room, which cost 6 euro for an hour. Lower price if you sign up for a longer time.
Best of all, don't miss the neighbor. A huge submarine!
- Opinion of Price: less expensive than average
- Related to: Budget Travel
Amstel Botel Photo: Amstel Botel
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petecosby
- Reviews: 1
User Rating
Amstel botel = Great hotel (-;
Hi, we as a group of 4 friends stayed in this lovely boat in august for 3 nights. Its very easy to find if you got a bit of sense for orientation. Arriving to hotel we took a taxi from Amstel station (20 euro) as we didnt want to carry our cases through city. But its easy to take free ferry from Central station to NDSM pier where this Botel is located. You can stay at city as long as you want and there is free ferry running all night long from Central station to across the water (not NDSM pier) and as you get off you just wait for free Amstel botel shuttle bus and you are safely at you hotel. Easy as that.
Nice stuff, great breakfast, rooms are exactly what it says on pictures (clean and tidy, no smell as some other people mentioned). They even swaped our room for one with double bed after first night as we are couple and dont like sleeping on two singles.
So I definitely recommend this hotel. It has beaufiful views, nice vibe and all sorts of people staying there. Really dont understand who written bad reviews as we had great time there and in the city.
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BellaBellaBella
- Reviews: 1
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Amstel Botel: BAD hotel!!!
We have visited many hotels in Amsterdam, but never have we visited a hotel wich is so poor as this Amstel Botel.
The staff is not very friendly, the rooms are very very small, old and dirty,
even the tv and the phone didn't work at all.
We had many drunk tourists shouting all night.
Because all of this we have left this terrible hotel in the middle of the night!
Unique Quality: We have visited many hotels in Amsterdam, but never have we visited a hotel wich is so poor as this Amstel Botel.
The staff is not very friendly, the rooms are very very small, old and dirty,
even the tv and the phone didn't work at all.
We had many drunk tourists shouting all night.
Because all of this we have left this terrible hotel in the night!
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islamonroe
- Reviews: 10
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Amsterdam BOTEL
The Botel is a hard left from Amsterdam Centaal station through the bus lot. about a 5 minute walk. Check in was easy. we had room 455 and 438-one had a veiw of the canal and the oter a veiw of construction. rooms were quite roomy and clean. Rooms had a TV but no coffee makers- had breakfast available but we slept too late. We called room service because a TV was not working and they came up and fixed it right away. Beds were very soft. Shower was small. It was kind of noisey-you could hear people coming and going at all hours but not miserable. Bar was nice-friendly people. About a 10 minute walk to main street. This botel is next to the floating chineese restaurant and museum.
Unique Quality: a floating boat with no waves...surprisingly very still.
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darkjedi
- Reviews: 387
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Take the ferry to the boat
This boat used to be a Rhine cruiser and when it was near the Central Station it was concreted to the river bottom, unfortunately now its at the NDSM wharf its not and you can easily sense it rocking at night. The rooms are small but adequate, think boat cabins, small wardrobe and a few cupboards, on my second visit in 2009 its starting to look a bit run down. Staff speak English during the day and a few other languages depending on whose shift is working and are polite enough without going out of their way to help, I find the night staff useless. Rooms are tidy and are cleaned daily from 10am onwards so lock the door if you don't want to be disturbed. TV has about 30 channels mostly Dutch/German/French and a few English channels ie international news and event channels. One free hardcore porn channel too! Bathrooms are really small (1.7m x 1.23m) and don't expect a shower without banging your elbows. No real noise from other rooms but I was on the top floor, now I have slept further down it can be a bit noisy. Turn the radiator on yourself as they will all be off when you arrive, and be prepared for some plumbing noise too but you get used to it. In the central stairwell on floor 2 are chilled machines with drinks and crisps/buscuits/cake that can be purchased if you wake up hungry in the night.
Unique Quality: From 21 January 2008 the Botel had been moved to the other side of the dock at long last. Catch a free ferry from the north exit of Centraal Station and enjoy a free 15 minute ride almost to their door. The new home is the former NDSM-shipyard in Amsterdam North. From the dock to the boat is about 200m and two minutes. As you reach the shipyard you will pass the Botel so no need to worry about finding it. If you know the old Russian submarine: its next door!
- Opinion of Price: less expensive than average
- Related to: Budget Travel, Trains
Amstel Botel Photo: Botel at the NDSM wharf
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bmccruz
- Reviews: 2
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Hotel + BOAT = BOTEL
Overall I like, but it could be better. The staff is friendly, but the room and the bathroom where indeed very small and also not very eye candy.
The location is good near alot of restaurants, the Central Station, the turist information point and the boats for the canal cruises.
I guess that for the same price is possible to arrange better, although not a boat.
PS: beware of the internet in the hotel lounge is just too expensive and dosen't work as it should be (you pay for the minute).
Unique Quality: Staying on a Boat.
- Opinion of Price: N/A
Amstel Botel
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parsnil
- Reviews: 8
User Rating
holiday afloat not!!
the botel is in an ideal location near the bus stops, tramstops, and centraal station. the hotel is clean and basic. the breakfast is nothing special but the coffee is good. An improvement would be if the staff were more friendly and smiled!! this hotel is good for a weekend break
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johngayton
- Reviews: 2577
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Good Hotel, Great Location (at the time of write)!
I'd heard a lot of good reports about this hotel in the past. Though every time I tried to book it it was either full or more expensive than I wanted to pay but finally I managed to get a 4 night stay here at a reasonable rate - admittedly in the middle of November. As Amsterdam hotels go I can add my recommendation too.
Rooms are immaculately clean, and by Amsterdam standards relatively spacious and well furnished. Service is friendly and helpful and the breakfast buffet worth getting up for. My only little quibble was that the T-mobile internet connection was a bit on the expensive side.
Unique Quality: The hotel itself is a boat, at present moored on the IJ a short walk from Centraal Station which makes for an ideal location for exploring Amsterdam given that Centraal is the main hub for all forms of transport around the city. BTW - even though it is an actual boat it is very firmly moored and so you have no worries on the seasickness side, only the overindulgence side!
At the time of writing - November 2006 - extensive work is being done on the dock which I believe will require the Botel to be moved sometime in the relatively near future which may take it from its present central location, I assume the website will be updated as and when this happens.
UPDATE 2009
The Botel is now on the other side of the river! It is still only minutes away from Centraal Station but now by ferry!!
- Opinion of Price: about average
- Related to: Food and Dining, Beer Tasting
Amstel Botel Photo: Botel from main road (old location).
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LuckyVirgo13
- Reviews: 12
User Rating
Floating Hotel
This is a no-frills hotel located about a 5 minute walk from the train station. The room was clean and tidy, the staff was friendly and there is an elevator. The additional 5 euros for the canal view was definitely worth it (the land view is of an old builidng that has some construction going on). The bathroom was very small; we were able to borrow a hair dryer at the front desk for a 10 euro deposit (fully refundable upon return of the hair dryer). Breakfast (10 euros) was decent enough. The hotel is next to a floating Chinese restaurant. The hotel and the restaurant are the only two things around. If you're looking for people and hustle and bustle outside your hotel door (although a 5 minute walk gets you to all of that), this isn't the hotel for you. If you are just planning on passing through Amsterdam for the night (or would like a very quiet location), I would definitely recommend this hotel, primarily for its location.
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botel ferry times
hin guys. am coming over to amsterdam and staying in the botel which has moved since my last visit. any idea how often the free ferry from central station is and what time does it stop? cheers. h
Re: botel ferry times
See: http://www.gvb.nl/english/travellers/transporttypes/Pages/ferries.aspx
It's the "NDSM-werfveer" timetable you have to download.
As far as I know, it runs till midnight. Thereafter there is a Botel bus shuttle available (or GVB nighbusses).
PJ
Re: botel ferry times
You are rihght the Botel has moved place. It is no longer right inthe centre opposite centraal station.
Here is a detailed description of how to get there
http://theamsterdamguide.planeteye.com/review-botel-slumber-on-the-rhythm-of-waves/
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The hotel itself is a boat, at present moored on the IJ a short walk from Centraal Station which makes for an ideal location for exploring Amsterdam given that Centraal is the main hub for all forms of transport around the city. BTW - even though it is an actual boat it is very firmly moored and so you have no worries on the seasickness side, only the overindulgence side!
At the time of writing - November 2006 - extensive work is being done on the dock which I believe will require the Botel to be moved sometime in the relatively near future which may take it from its present central location, I assume the website will be updated as and when this happens.
UPDATE 2009
The Botel is now on the other side of the river! It is still only minutes away from Centraal Station but now by ferry!!
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A: "Try the VOC-Cafe; see: http://www.schreierstoren.nl/ They have the basement for hire or you might use the Herenkamer with a great view over the canal. PJ"
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Amstel Botel
We've found that other people looking for this hotel also know it by these names:
- Botel Amsterdam
- Amstel Botel Alkmaar
- Amstel Botel Hotel Alkmaar
Address: NDSM-Pier 3,1033 RG Amsterdam, The Netherlands