We are planning a trip to Africa with a stop in April in Amsterdam. Any suggestions on where to stay for 3-4 nights in or around; Don’t mind taking transit into old town. We would be there during Kings Day…Any suggestions appreciated!!
We stayed at 2 different Sweets Hotel locations. Each location is different, as each one is a former tiny home once occupied by bridge operators. We loved the experience, which we felt was unique, as well as comfortable and private.
I've mentioned it before in prior posts, but I have stayed at the XO Hotel Amsterdam Park West twice, with my latest stay in April, 2024. It has great transit connections with the tram that stops in front of the lobby that will take you to the central part of Amsterdam in about 15-20 minutes or is one stop away from Sloterdijk Train Station, which can be great for day trips. It is also very easy to get to/from the airport using the train & tram. I would definitely consider staying there again if I ever go back to Amsterdam.
If the Sweets works for you, do that. I'm going in March with a friend I don't want to share a bed with, so we're booked at the Nadia, which was recommended on the forum. Great location, great price. A little bit of an old-school booking process (email exchange).
If cost is not a big issue, then within the first few canal belts, or the museum area are nice, but things will be busy the weekend of Kings day, so reserve early and be willing to pay.
A bit more kind to the budget would be staying further out, but near a tram line or train station. I have stayed a number of times near the Sloterdijk Train Station. Only about 10-15minutes from the airport, and 5 into Centraal Station. Several chain hotels plus some B&B type places near there, I usually just stay at the Holiday Inn Express.
Staying in a nearby town is also popular Leiden works well, Haarlem has long been recommended, Utrecht works, but a bit further, for that matter Den Hague and even Delft are manageable. Most all those towns are worth time on their own, have a great choice of restaurants, and some things to see.
I like Booking.com, it shows a range of options, from hotels (small and large), to Hostels, to apartments.
Has anyone experience staying at the Hotel Estheréa? It is located at Singel 303-309,NL. It appears to be right on the Singel canal in what seems to be the Grachtengordel neighborhood? Any insight into this area would be great. First time in Amsterdam, so not familiar. Thanks!
We stayed at the Estherea last February. LOVED IT!!! The location was ideal as it was walking distance to everything, yet on a quiet street so there was never an issue with noise. The hotel itself is beautiful, has an amazing breakfast (well worth it!!!) and our room was spacious and had everything we could want. Keep checking their Instagram page as they have special on there. When we booked, they had a special where breakfast was included, and that was normally 25 euro per day per person, so that was a big savings.
Kings Day will be crazy with many places closed and reduced public transportation, and crowds!
We loved staying in Haarlem, which is charming in its own right, altho I don't know how Kings Day affects this town. The commute by train is 15 minutes. We stayed at the Hotel Boutique Staats, and would do so again.
Are you going to Keikenhof for the tulips?
Have a great trip,
We arrived in the Netherlands on King's Day this past spring; stopped in a small town for lunch (can't remember where) and then on to Delft. Kings Day was in full swing in both places. Lots of happy people celebrating. It was fun to watch! By the next morning, Delft was cleaned up and back to normal. We arrived 2 days later in Amsterdam. I thought Amsterdam looked like it had seen one major party!
We loved Haarlem and would probably stay there next time rather than Amsterdam. It's about a 15 min train ride. But if you want full experience, then stay in Amsterdam. And definitely get tickets to visit Keukenhof. It does not disappoint. There is some chatter on this forum that a good day to visit is actually King's Day, which does make sense.
We stayed at the Kimpton over King's Day this past year. It's expensive, but then everything in Amsterdam over King's day seemed expensive. We booked a dinner reservation in their restaurant for the night of King's Day. Many, many things were closed and we were glad to have somewhere to eat that let us not brave the street crowds again. You can tour the Anne Frank house and the Rijksmuseum on King's day and you can dance in the streets all afternoon, evening and night. You will be impressed by both the mess by the end of the day and the amount that city workers have cleaned up by 10am the next day.