It looks like now that covid is "over," hotel rates in Amsterdam are insane.

For a Saturday night, over 300 euros for anything that is not a complete dump. Over 400 for something slightly nicer (but still far from luxurious).

Strap yourself in it's going to get worse, a lot worse!

Terrible.

I'll be returning to my old tricks of avoiding weekends and visiting in colder months. There is a nostalgia associated with meandering in the cold rain through the canal lined red litten streets looking for a whore, finding an adorable beauty, and enjoying her warmth more than imaginable... Magnificent.

... Eric

I was looking the other day with half a mind to book a trip and couldn’t believe the prices.

I’m also reminded of my younger days when every penny saved counted. Out of season midweek visits, and Priceline’s ‘Name Your Own Price’ hotel deals were the order of the day.

I used to walk by the Hotel de l’Europe and fantasise about being wealthy enough to stay there one day. Where is the Botel docked these days? :-)

Agree. My regular hotel is around 50-60% more expensive than before Covid, whichever day or season I'm looking at.

I don't understand how rates can have jumped that much. Is there really enough demand at those prices for them to remain as profitable as before?

Basically it's a situation of the hotels charging what they think they can get away with to make up for lost business during the Covid period. Some would call it as the market doing what the market does, others would call it price gouging.

Sure. I wonder how long it will last - surely it's not a permanent increase to such levels?

Perhaps people have saved a lot of money by not spending for c.2 years on holidays, and are willing to pay now.

The first time I visited Amsterdam I stayed in a hostel behind the train station. I had arrived same day with no place to stay. A guy at the train station handed me a flyer about the hostel. It was clean and safe and, as I shortly discovered, very close the the RLD. More recently, I've been lucky enough to occasionally stay the Amsterdam Hilton of some cult renown due to John and Yoko's bed-in. Prices this summer are higher than I have ever seen. If you look around, you will also see that most hotels are fully booked for the next week or two. Room availability is lower than I have ever seen it. On a recent trip I had to change hotels twice because of availability (lack of).

Tourism is back in a big way. If you are planning a trip, book your hotel well ahead of time.

I will add that the one-way rule in the Wallen is insanity. Seems to be only on weekend nights. The Wallen has shrunk as mentioned previously. Also, there are even empty windows. The crowds of tourists are huge. Doesn't seem like any of them are punters, just gawkers. Besides talking to a girl about a session while mom and pop from Kansas are leering over my back is a bit awkward. Even by 1.00am the crowds of tourists were there. Old Sailor closed by 1.30am.

Almost makes me think that a sex center might be a feasible idea. The old Wallen is already dead. Makes me sad to write that.

IQ

Thought I'd reply given I've visited 4 times in 5 months. Prices have risen massively. I now cannot stay at my usual hotel if thought it's a 5 min sprinter ride from Centraal. Even hostels in outer areas,(cleaner ones) are charging an arm and leg! I am fussy about where I stay but I think my recent experiences are questioning if I can continue to spend a large amount of my budget on a hotel I don't make proper use of.

I'm not someone who generally needs the fanciest hotel. On most holidays in Europe, I'm happy to stay in a cheap 3-star hotel (as long as it's clean). But:

1. Staying somewhere that is really run down and depressing kind of ruins the experience of the trip. Amsterdam is really bad in that respect. Even relatively expensive hotels can be much more run down than you'd expect.

2. I usually want to book an escort, in which case a nicer hotel is a necessity anyway.


Maybe it's a good time to visit Rotterdam or Utrecht :)

Good insight guys.

I am fussy about hotels, and have this one nice hotel that i have stayed in on almost all of my trips over the last few years. I just find myself in a better mental state if i have a nice hotel to use and sleep in. But it's just so damn expensive now. I can still afford it technically, but that doesn't mean I'm comfortable paying those prices.

I really don't want to be too far from de Wallen, as i go back and forth from the hotel each day. This particular hotel i stayed in even had a a really nice lounge with drinks and snacks in the early evening - and that added to my overall experience.

There does indeed appear to be massive tourism in Amsterdam now, clearly people making up for lost time and with money to spend having not done much for a couple of years.

Looking at prices, I'm going to have to swallow an increase but minimise it by booking well in advance - prices are slightly better if booking say 2 months in advance. For any very short-term trips in the next few weeks, I'll have to make do with a lesser hotel.

rooms are up, but flights seems to still be cheap though....

having a look at the moment. Seems to be around 80-100E within EU. these are with good companies like KLM, Lufthansa, SAS etc ..

Ryan Air, Easyjet are even cheaper. looking for period: aug-oct and to places like Amsterdam, Brussels, Germany (more or less any city)

otherwise prague is still cheap for hotels. I guess eastern europe wont be that crowdy this year because of the war... hehe...

Recouping lost money after COVID plus massive inflation / cost of living rises which were also caused by COVID, plus the war in Ukraine. Netherlands hit 12% in March.

First of all, I have to say Amsterdam does stand out with insane prices. In Germany it's not that bad so far, prices are slightly up, but not doubled compared to last fall like in Amsterdam. Event season is also probably plays a role, e.g. next week is Money 20/20, first one since 2019.

I don't beleive that price surge is sustainable, but who knows when it will be over ? Probably no earlier then September-October.

Yes I've been looking at prices in countries such as spain and portugal and whilst they are up, it is nothing like Amsterdam.

I think the event season is a very minor influence on the increased prices.

I've been checking prices over the last few weeks, and looking all the way up to the end of 2022; every season is up substantially. There are other factors at play such as price gouging, wanting to recover covid losses, and taking advantage of people having more savings having not been spending for 2 years.

I'm really interested to see how long these high Amsterdam prices will last.

Another "fun fact". I've tried to book a decent restaurant for this Friday, and this turned into an impossible task. Basically every single restaurant from TA top 50 is either fully booked or maybe accepting waitlist. Unbelievable, never thought booking a restaurant could be such a challenge.

P.S. Anyone has a good concierge service that can get me a reservation :) ?

Wow, that is an indicator that Amsterdam is very busy at the moment, so hotels can charge these high prices and get away with it.

I had a taste of that for the first time this past March, walking around RLD on cold drippy nights. Had to rush the experience being on a business trip. Planning a solo trip purely for RLD windows, any hotels/Airbnb you recommend if the goal is just to be closeby, but still reasonably clean & safe?

We have booked for August at 800.00 a week on Nieuwendijk . But we booked in advance.