Tulip Inn City West, Amsterdam

...in a fabulous place then Tulip Inn Amsterdam West is for you.

The Tulip Inn Amsterdam West is a 3 star hotel situated in the western area of Amsterdam (3 stars indicates that the hotel has a quality rating). There are 162 rooms, which are reasonably priced and during my stay there, the room was clean and had maid service every day.

I stayed at the Tulip Inn Amsterdam West in December 2005 with 3 friends and we booked ...
...not be a problem at Tulip Inn Amsterdam West.

Coming and going from the hotel is easy as there are staff on reception 24 hours a day. If it is late, you have to ring a night bell but the response is immediate. There are 2 lifts to all floors and an electronic paper stand nearby at an extra cost.

Overall, I had a wonderful first trip in Amsterdam and a wonderful stay in this cheap and cheerful hotel. I would recommend ... more

If you want a cheep but cheerful hotel for a great weekend in a fabulous place then Tulip Inn Amsterdam West is for you.

The Tulip Inn Amsterdam West is a 3 star hotel situated in the western area of Amsterdam (3 stars indicates that the hotel has a quality rating). There are 162 rooms, which are reasonably priced and during my stay there, the room was clean and had maid service every day.

I stayed at the Tulip Inn Amsterdam West in December 2005 with 3 friends and we booked 2 twin rooms. The trip was extremely good value and was booked through Expedia at a price of £116 each including flights and 2 nights (3 days) stay at the hotel.

The hotel states that it's facilities include; airport transportation (at extra cost), breakfast room (at extra cost), Wireless Internet access, Free Parking, Conference Rooms, a Restaurant and a Bar/Lounge area, 24 Hour Front Desk, AM/FM Alarm Clock, Babysitting Services, Barber/Beauty Shop, Casino, Express Checkout, Laundry/Valet Services, Mini Bar, Modem Lines in Room, No Smoking/Smoking Rooms, Pets Allowed and TV with Cable.

The hotel is on Reimerswaalstraat 5, which is western Amsterdam, and it is approximately 4.3 miles (7km) from Schipol Airport and the same again to Dam Square. When you land at Schipol, you need to go to Platform 1 and head towards Central Station. You leave this train at Lelyllaan, which is one stop before Central Station, and from here, you have to get on tram 17 in the direction of Osdorp. You leave the tram at Hoekenes and have to cross over the road towards a canal. You then have a 15 minute walk down a dark unlit canal pathway (not suitable for the elderly or families with young children) and at the end of this path, you cross over another road, turn right and the hotel is a couple of minutes walk from here. The journey into Dam Square is much easier as you simply get a tram at the same stop but heading towards Central Station and get off wherever you want. The Hotel states that the tram stop is a 5-minute walk from the hotel but I can assure you it is not!

Travelling around Amsterdam is cheaper with a combined travel card or I Amsterdam Pass, which can be obtained from the Tourist Information Offices and are well worth it.

The reception area of the hotel is pleasantly decorated with plenty of seating and a PC for internet use at an extra cost of a couple of Euros for an hour or so. There are also cards on a small carousel at Reception which show places of interest and some have discounts on them. These are an excellent idea and are small enough to fit into your purse/wallet until you are able to use them. The Reception leads into the Breakfast area, which is also, used as the Bar/Lounge area and Restaurant during the evening.

The breakfast room is superbly decorated with a friendly and comfortable atmosphere however, I did have some problems with the food on offer.

Breakfast is from 07.30am until 09.30am and was a let down. We decided to have the hotel breakfast on the last day of our trip and paid 14 Euros (cash) for this the evening before. The following morning I made my way down to the breakfast room (which doubles up as the restaurant/bar/lounge area when breakfast is not being served). As I walked around the room, I began to look for the usual breakfast items only to find some stale bread, cold croissants, beans that looked like they had been there for years, some cheese, and some ham. There were a couple of cereal options also but you did not know what they were as there were no labels on them. Then you had the usual tea and coffee etc.

I decided that this was not worth the 14 Euros and argued the point with the manager who stated that he would reduce this for me to 9 Euros. I decided that 9 Euros was still too expensive and after a few moments of arguing my point, the manager refunded our money. After this ordeal, we found a very satisfactory breakfast at the Pancake Bakery, which is well worth a visit!

I stayed in a non-smoking room and I have to say there were no smells of smoke either in the room or on the whole floor level. The room itself was quite large with twin beds, adequate wardrobe space although I feel you may struggle if you are staying for longer than a weekend. The room had a TV with working remote and varied channels such as Dutch TV, BBC1, and MTV. It also had the option of a wake up alarm and pay-per-view movies at extra cost if wished. The curtains are blackout lined which means you do not get any flecks of light or sunshine (if you are lucky enough to spend summer here) peeping through to wake you each morning. The beds had sufficient bedding on them and the pillows were flat but it was not a problem to be given 2 more when I asked at Reception. Reception also loaned me a travel plug (with a refundable deposit) as I had forgotten to bring one and gave me a map with directions of how and where to catch the night bus and tram into the city centre.

The bathroom was of adequate size with a spacious shower, fitted hairdryer, large lit mirror, complimentary shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and shower cap! There was toilet roll provided (this is not always a free luxury in all hotels!) and 4 clean towels which were changed every day of our stay.

Each room has a telephone with a booklet telling you the cost and codes to all countries. The booklet was full of information about the hotel, listed all TV channels and almost everything else you might need to know about your stay in this hotel.

When leaving the hotel, you can leave your luggage in a lockable storage room. Your cases are tagged and you take part of the tag for when you are ready to retrieve them. This room is monitored by the staff on reception and is only opened by them after you have shown them your part of the tag. I have heard of some storage rooms being left unlocked or un-monitored and people's luggage going missing but this would not be a problem at Tulip Inn Amsterdam West.

Coming and going from the hotel is easy as there are staff on reception 24 hours a day. If it is late, you have to ring a night bell but the response is immediate. There are 2 lifts to all floors and an electronic paper stand nearby at an extra cost.

Overall, I had a wonderful first trip in Amsterdam and a wonderful stay in this cheap and cheerful hotel. I would recommend this hotel to all budget travellers, groups/students etc but not to families or the elderly. I am returning to Amsterdam in May 2006 with my partner but am staying nearer the city centre in the floating hotel, the Amstel Botel and so will let you all know what that is like when I return.

I hope this review has been helpful and teases you into visiting the wonderful city of Amsterdam.
 

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