Hotel Vondel-youd be better off on vondel park....
by TripAdvisor Member ansell
I booked the hotel vondel, as part of birthday present for my husband, on the understanding that it was a four star hotel,and asked for a superior room(and paid for).
We arrived, and as I had been a little ill, prior to travelling, i was very tired. We were kept waiting twenty minutes, before the guy behind the desk would see us. When he finally saw us, he informed us our room was in the next building. We hauled our luggage out into the street, and up four flights of stairs, one flight of which were very near verticle.
On the way to our room, we noted that the decor left much to be desired, with peeling paint, and carpets worn through the to thboards underneath. There were baskets of laundry blocking very narrow halls.
When we got to our room we were sorely dissapointed. The room was tiny, and very badly maintained. The decor was shabby, and they had obviously papered over very cracked, and blown plaster. THe tiling in the (very tiny) bathroom, was mildewed, and there was no sealant between the ceiling and tiles, resulting in cracked ceilings. THe furniture barely fitted in the room, and there was not even room for our bags on the floor. The carpet was worn through, and the boards clearly showed through. The furniture was all slanted, and the minibar charged 4 euros for a can of coke.
We complained, and were told this was a four star hotel, to which I replie dthat it certainly wasnt. We were told that they could need twenty four hours notice before we checked out.
I tried to have a shower, and the plumbing used antiquated mixer tap shower, so I was scalded and frozen in the same shower.
I have stayed in hotels all over the world, and have stayed in two star hotels with better facilities. I am certainly no snob, but when I am paying these rates, i expect better service. When we checked out to go and stay at the hotel american(excellent hotel), we were offered a free breakfast, which we politely declined.
Over priced and under impressed
by A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed at the Hotel Vondel July 12, 2005 through July 14, 2005. Overall, I found hotels in Amsterdam to be surprisingly expensive and booked this hotel because of its location and relatively low price. However, after staying there I feel like I overpaid for the quality and service provided by the Hotel Vondel. When we arrived at the hotel, we found it to be in incredible disarray because they were renovating one of the buildings and the lobby. We had no prior notice of this and would have booked a different hotel if we had known. The desk staff was extremely unorganized. It is a hotel that requires you return your key every time you go out, but the staff was so inefficient that there was always a line of people waiting to turn in keys. They also had problems with misplacing people's keys because the lobby was such a mess. This hotel would be the equivilant of a motel in the US because it has exterior hallways. The lobby is in the far building and our room was in a building two doors down. This wouldn't have been a problem except for the requirement to turn the key in everytime you leave, which wasted at least 5 minutes each time we left the room. Very annoying and inconvenient. Our room was okay, with a nice bed and other amenities including cable tv, phone, and safe. However, it was a smoking room, which I didn't want, that stunk the entire time. We couldn't open the windows because the room was on the first floor. There was no A/C. The location of the hotel is great. It is very close to the tram stop and Leidesplein which has tons of restaurants and bars. However, I was totally disappointed with the hotel and the hotel staff. They made no attempt to rectify the situations that we brought to their attention and provided substandard service. I would not stay at this hotel again.
Amsterdam visit
by A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed at the Hotel Vondel for two nights in May. The room was the smallest I have ever stayed in we did not even have bedside cabinets each as there was only room for one. This said the room was clean & tidy & the bed comfy. If you do not mind short walks the hotel is near Vondelpark (about 5 minutes) and about 4 bridges away from Dam Square (about 20 minutes). There are trams everywhere and you can buy a pass from the Hotel for 6.50 Euro's this allows you up to 1 hr of travelling. There are also canal buses for about 26 Euro's per person but we did not use either so can not comment on efficiency.
The Hotel staff both impressed & dissappointed me. We had E Mailed prior to our arrival to enquire about check in times (15.00 hrs) and if there were any tea/coffee making facilities in the room - no there wasn't but if we asked at receiption they would see what they could do. We were therefore pleasantly surprised when on arrival at 11.00 hrs our room was ready & we were told our kettle would be delivered to our room shortly - so I was impressed. On our last day we checked out the room at 12.00 as required and at 16.00 when waiting for our taxi went to the bar for a coffee - bar unmanned - so went to reception & was told bar was closed till 17.00 & he didn't have time to get us coffees. We had therefore been thrown out room at 12.00 and could not get any drink at all from the hotel , they didn't even have a shop selling cans of coke etc - not very impressive.
If I went back I would be inclined to check out other Hotels first (Marriott at bottom of road) but would stay here again if price was competitive and if building work had seized as this made lie in's impossible.
If you need transport I would recommend using ---- they were both efficient & friendly giving us information on Amsterdam as we travelled.
Never again
by TripAdvisor Member AnaVu
Two of my collegues and I stayed in Vondel Hotel for 4 days. We had a very bad experience. I got a very, very small room (we reserved executive rooms), near the stairs, with thin walls, without hot water - it was fixed right away but it was big surprise when I tried to get a bath. I couldn't sleep whole night. In the morning they started with some construction works in the next building so I had to change room after two long sleepless nights.
My collegues had problems with heating and very strong smell of canalization. Also, the noise from the other rooms kept them from sleeping.
Breakfast was poor, not so bad. We definitely expected more from 4 * hotel, it was more like 2* exept the price and location.
Great Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member Joodle
Very friendly staff and the hotel is in a nice quiet location. My only complaint was that it was very noisy first thing in the morning - we were also in a basement room (but given that we had opted for the cheapest rooms, can't really complain about that!) which was nice but I think it was probably noisier because we were at street level.
Having said that, the small amount of time you spend in your room meant that none of this really mattered much. The staff were extremely helpful and we had a fantastic stay in Amsterdam. We'd definitely go back, but I'd ask for a room at the back of the hotel next time.
Forum Posts
hotel vondel amsterdam
by cristiana04
Does somebody know the Hotel Vondel Amsterdam? Is it well located? What can I find next to that hotel? Restaurants, shopping, museums?
thanks people
RE: hotel vondel amsterdam
by randstad
yes, the location is fairly good: some 10 minutes walk from the real center.
the area is where the hotel located is very quiet and safe..
RE: RE: hotel vondel amsterdam
by cristiana04
thanks
