Hotel at Schiphol airport

I have stayed at Citizen M twice. It's perfect style room for a solo traveler, 5 minute walk from terminal under a covered walkway. Nothing near the airport is super inexpensive, but given her late arrival and early departure she probably won't want to go too far from there.

Other options include a Yotel (airside) but if she has to retrieve her bag that won't work. She should also be sure to allow plenty of time to check in for USA flight, check bag (if she has it), and get through security. The airport has a planner that helps with determining how busy the airport will be on her specific flight day (it shows about two weeks at a time) https://www.schiphol.nl/en/my-travel-day/today/departures/

Thanks, CL.
The Citizens M hotel was on her short list in a text to us.
So I’ll pass on your recommendation yo her.
Thanks also for the link showing how busy tge airport could be in the morning. I didn’t know it existed..

We stayed overnight at the Hilton, which was a short walk from the airport. In fact there was a covered walkway with a moving sidewalk that was nice.
The hotel was very nice.

I had a very negative experience at the Hilton and really wished I had gone to Citizen M instead.

I have stayed in the Yotel as well for an 8 hour layover. It was functional and met my need which was for a secure place to sleep.

I think I would still vote for Citizen M unless she wants to stay airside. Then, I’d go for Yotel.

Thanks everyone for the additional info about hotels at Schiphol airport. Good to know in case we also decide to overnight at Schiphol.

My granddaughter returned home yesterday after a short 12 hour stay at Citizen M. I haven’t spoken to her in person yet; just text messages, but after staying at Citizen M overnight, she did NOT go through passport check OR security in the morning. Her bag was already checked through from Madrid to Medford, Oregon. So….she had a long wait at the airport.
I don’t know why she didn’t go through security. Seems like she should have been checked for liquids….unless I misunderstood her.

I think you must have misunderstood your granddaughter. Hotel CitizenM is located outside the secure airside of the airport. Coming from the CitizenM, it’s physically impossible to reach the gates from which planes to non-Schengen destinations leave without going through both security and passport control. So unless your granddaughter goes to Hogwarts and has passed her apparition exam, she definitely did go thru security and passport control on her way to the US.
Unless of course, your granddaughter stayed in the Mercure Hotel or Yotel, not the CitizenM. The Mercure Hotel and Yotel are located in the secure area of the non-Schengen Zone of the airport. To reach these hotels you first need to go through security and passport control, but the next morning you can indeed just walk on up to the gate.

dutch_traveler is correct - she could not have stayed at Citizen M without leaving the airport and going back through airport security on return. Hopefully you will get more information once you're able to speak with her. Come back and let us know what happened in case it helps future travelers.

I love how “smart & experienced” people are on this Forum. I just asked my granddaughter….and she did stay at Mercure. In her words, “By the time I was ready to book at Citizen M, the only bed left was a very skinny loft.”
I just assumed she stayed at the Citizen M because it was the only hotel I suggested to her. (Need smiling, laughing emoji here).
Good to know, staying at Mercure bypasses Passport and Security.
Thanks, All for prompting me to find out.

(Need smiling, laughing emoji here).

Carol, emojis are back again! 😊😂♥️

Thanks for reporting back. Good to hear that there was no breach of security at Schiphol Airport and that there was a logical reason why your granddaughter didn’t have to go through passport control and security on the morning of her flight.

Just to be clear though, staying at Mercure hotel at Schiphol does not necessarily bypass Passport and Security. The Mercure hotel is located in the secure non-Schengen area of the airport. If you’re not familiar with Schiphol; the hotel is right in the same area as the tax-free shops, lounges, gates etc. are. Only when you arrive from a flight from a non-Schengen airport and travel to another non-Schengen can you stay there and not go through security and passport control. In all other cases, you must go thru passport control and possibly security too.
So in the case of your granddaughter who flew in from Spain, she arrived in the Schengen Area of the airport. In order to get to the Non-Schengen part of the airport where the hotel is located, she had to go to passport control to formally exit the Schengen zone. It could be that she forget, or didn’t tell you. But she definitely went to passport control at Schiphol when she arrived there from Madrid, otherwise she could not have gotten into the part of the area where the Mercure hotel is located..

I love how “smart & experienced” people are on this Forum. I just
asked my granddaughter….and she did stay at Mercure. In her words, “By
the time I was ready to book at Citizen M, the only bed left was a
very skinny loft.”

I'm glad you got the mystery solved. And for future readers, all they have at Citizen M are very skinny lofts - it is a pod style hotel and there is only one room type.

*edited to clarify: By "pod style" I meant it's pretty small and streamlined, but not tiny like a cubicle like a Yotel. It has a king size bed but the bathroom and shower are glass enclosures. It's not intended for people who don't know each other well.

I have stayed at the Schiphol airport citizenM, and the bed was not a skinny loft, it was an extra large king as shown in the photo on their site.
Not a pod hotel, but not a typical hotel room either. I didn't care for it.
https://www.citizenm.com/hotels/europe/amsterdam/schiphol-airport-hotel

@Mardee: You are so on top of things.”💕
Will you enlighten us to new travel “necessities” you have discovered? 😂😊

On our trip next year we'll be staying at AMS Sheraton, a quick overnight to break up our (KLM) return from Budapest. Have never stayed at Schiphol, but on a similar itinerary a few years ago we did VIE-AMS-SFO getting home, and it made for too long of a day (26 hours door-to-door from hotel-taxi pickup). Has anyone stayed at the airport Sheraton? Not expecting anything fancy, just the ability to arrive and depart (next morning) without leaving the premises, and grab 6-7 hours' sleep and a shower.

I have stayed at the Sheraton and it is hooked onto the airport. You walk over a ramp to go from the terminal to the lobby of the hotel. It is so convenient and is a nice hotel. I have been there before and plan to stay there again in a couple months on my way home from the Olympics.

Much obliged, Charles. Really appreciate you sharing helpful experience factor with Sheraton access/proximity from the terminal. That was my hope, honestly couldn't recall seeing the hotel (or signage) in past times we've been through AMS. Great to have benefit of your experience. Enjoy Milan!

Citizen M has only one type of room as far as I know, and it is pretty much the same rome at each of their locations. That is part of their concept. I like them, because the beds are very good, and for me that is the most important feature of a hotel room.

So "the skinny loft room" was all they had left, because that is all they have :-)