I've been to Amsterdam twice, both before the Euro conversion, and both of those times I was too broke to stay in anything but hostels(the life of a college student). Now that I have some cash, I am looking for a place for me and a friend of mine who's never been. I was looking at the Crowne Plaza for a bit, but haven't/couldn't find any reviews on it. I've read multiple things about Rho/Victoria/Kras/Winston/Tulip/Toren, good and bad, but none of them seem to fit the bill. I'm trying to keep a 4 night stay (May 5-9th) under $900. It's got to have seperate beds, private shower/toilet, preferably within walking distance of RLD and Cent. Station. quiet night sleep after 2am or so, smoking allowed, and breakfast included is a plus but not necessary..

If anyone has experience, good or bad, with the Crowne or can point me in the direction of something that sounds like above that would be great! The reason I was leaning toward the Crowne Plaza is that they have a "club" deal where drinks & snacks are free, free use of minibar, and free breakfast. That's not a huge advantage, but I like the location as well(plus with Sivini's <sp?> near) I've looked for hours on the message board, bookings.nl, and hotels.nl and don't think I can read much more. They are all starting to blur together!

Tripadvisor has reviews of the Crowne Plaza City Centre.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review ... lland.html

Welcome tryinitout,

I've stayed at the Crowne Plaza a few times. I think the reason it's hard to find reviews is that the Crowne seems to serve mostly business clients. Whenever I was there, there was always a convention of some kind going on, with lots of suits and very few tourists. Perhaps this was just coincidence, but I felt the Crowne markets itself primarily for business clients.

It is a nice enough hotel, but overpriced, IMHO. During my last stay, I was in a ground-level room that was H-O-T as hell. The windows were painted shut, and the A/C wasn't working. They apologized to guests, but they offered no solution. I moved upstairs to a 'club' room, which allow open windows. That helped, but it was an expensive solution.

Because of the more formal business atmosphere, I assumed smoking was not welcome. We smoked in the bathroom, with a pipe, to avoid letting the smell into the hallway.

The free breakfast was a basic "bread and cheese" offering. They also have a very nice full buffet downstairs, but it wasn't cheap (20 euros?).

I have no memory of drinks - or anything else - being free.

I'm not trying to trash the Crowne. The rooms are fine, and the location is good. I would stay there again, but it is no longer high on my preference list..

I haven't stayed there in 3 years, so my experiences may not reflect current conditions.

hopper

I stayed at the Crowne Plaza once. 4 star prices, 2 star luxury.