The College Hotel

A very recommendable hotel in Amsterdam! Well-located, 15 minutes walking from Museumplein, and tram station just in from of the building. Pretty comfortable rooms. The only thing that I missed was a little more light in the room. Anyway, the atmosphere was so good! A nice place to stay if I come back Amsterdam!!

We loved the location of this hotel. I was hesitant to stay there considering the reviews but we had such a nice experience! People are lovely and trying to do their best to help you. When I learn that most the were students/ apprentices then I appreciated the level of service more. We stayed in room number 207. It was cosy ( That's my view cause I really like penthouses!) but quite small. It was dark due as there was only a small window on the roof and we had no views at all. In contraire, the bathroom was big and comfortable. The breakfast was nice. It was clean but I can't say spotless as I am pretty cautious about the cleanliness of the hotels. We decided to stay in this one considering the price, location and the approach of the employees. It was so much fun to rent a scooter and wonder around.

We stayed here for two nights and were very disappointed. In general, this place is filthy. Example: the carpet by reception is covered in stains. The explanation was that it's the result of the welcome drinks they offer. Two things: 1) a welcome drink would have been lovely, thank you very much and 2) maybe have the carpet cleaned regularly? Upon arrival our room door was open with a mobile air conditioner in the door opening. Roomservice were busy with the rooms right next to ours, so we thought this was a temporary thing and we left it that way. When we got back late at night, we were quite shocked to find that our door was still wide open (with all our belongings inside) and that's when we learned that in fact the air conditioning for that wing was out of service altogether. We got a different room. Even later that night, we got back again to find that turndown service had attempted to close the curtains. One of the curtains was obviously broken (half of it was not attached to the rail anymore) and it left a 50cm gap as a result. It seems the person who broke this figured we would just sort this out with reception, who came with a ladder at 1:30am to fix. At €22, breakfast is understaffed and overpriced with basics like butter, OJ and bread running out halfway through and staff running around frantically. The free (yay!) minibar contains two waters and a miniature chocolate. We paid something like €250 per night to stay here. For that sort of money I expect staff to keep their eyes open to spot problems before I have to call reception about them. Especially if it's basics like the A/C not working or curtains not closing.

The location is very good if you use the tram or bus, just a few metres away and you can travel in three directions. The room was fine, but not luxury perhaps a little tired, the very large window blind was broken so we propped it open with a bottle of water to let the day light in. Bathroom was showing its age wall paper above the toilet dirty and pealing away, the shower controls a little dangerous trying to turn off the water was hit and miss, last complaint was the bed softer than I would like. Didn't try the breakfast after reading previous reviews and the inflated price. Lovely building, very fetching reception and ground floor area, pleasant and what seems safe and quite part of the city, probably would stay again.

We rang ahead to this hotel when we saw the reviews coming in. We were assured that the issues were addressed. It sure looks like the General Manager has taken this place by the scruff of the neck and given it a good shake. It is working like a well oiled machine now. This historic building has been styled into a wonderful chic hotel with a restrained palette. It exudes restrained good taste, very Dutch in that regard. Staff efficient and friendly. Service very good. Lovely dinner of high end Italian in Ferrilli's restaurant. We were Looked after very well by Giovanni and his staff. We had a Junior Suite which is not big but it is Amsterdam. However, the two of us were able to navigate with relative ease. The ceiling height must be twice normal which gave added effect to the colour scheme - straight out of Kelly Hoppen. Light flooded in through tall windows. From the bed we looked through into the small lounge room and we realised this is like a scene from those Dutch Masters like Vermeer capturing this effect of light coming in through a tall window from the left. See the pic. Great location, Widlshut next door and trams convenient to everywhere including 197 Express bus to Schiphol. Stay here. You deserve it especially on a sunny afternoon on the terrace.