Tip toe through the tulips with me baby! (Mercure Amsterdam aan de Amstel)

Member Name: alginate

Product:	Mercure Amsterdam aan de Amstel
Date:	21/05/06 (114 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice and quiet

Disadvantages: None i can think of

Having never done a travel review before i will apolgise in advance for making a total pigs out of it and thank all you kind people out there for taking the time to read,rate and leave any comments!

My boyfriend and I have recently been to Amsterdam for his 40th birthday and im really glad we did.

We booked on line with Thomas cook and got a real bargain, return flights and 3 nights in the Mercure Amsterdam aan de Amstel hotel cost me £361 for both of us.
We flew from London Heathrow terminal 3, Beware if your departing from terminal 3, you have to catch a rail replacement bus from Hatton Cross under-ground station if you have travelled by rail to the airport as there is work being carried out at terminal 3 under-ground station.
We flew with KLM air lines and our flight took us about 50 minutes.

We landed at Amsterdam Schiphol airport and took a train to the Zuid Oost Business Centre, from there we took a number 25 tram to our tram station Over Amstel, from there we could see our hotel, we simply had to turn left from the tram station and then take a right and the hotel was about a 5 minute walk away.

Our hotel Mercure Amsterdam aan de Amstel is part of the Accor chain and they have over 4,000 properties through out the world.
The hotel is situated on the out-skirts of the city and sits on the river Amstel.
Upon arrivial i showed the gentleman behind the desk the paperwork i had been sent via email from thomas cook, this was our hotel booking coupon, as i had booked on line using my credit card i had to produce my card so he could confirm i was the party leader!
We were asked if we would like a smoking/none smoking suite and opted for none smoking even though i smoke like a chimmney
we then received our swipe cards instead of room keys, these are used to open the bed room doors and to work the lifts.
The room was a nice size with a huge double bed (happy days) the bed was really comfy and not to soft that you roll into the middle during the night, they also provide you with an extra pillow and a heavy blanket in case it gets cold during the night, there is also a television which you are charged for by the day, think it was about 12 euros per day.
The bathroom was also a nice size, with a bath and shower and they even had sanitary bags for us ladies!
Tea and coffee was available, as was a trouser press and a safe which let you put your own personal code in and a mini bar!

The view from our window was ok on one side you had the main road, nice if your into car spotting and the river amstel on the other side.

The hotel has 2 resturants, and you can also order food in the bar area, the food in the bar area was quite good, we both had a starter and a main course each, 2 beers and a large glass of coke cost us roughly 60 euros, you could pay there and then or have it added to your room bill, breakfast was also included in the price and was fairly continental, hams and cheeses.
One of the resturants i believe you have to be in a group party which is per booked before you can eat in there.
It also has a gift shop, a very nice bar, conference/banquet rooms, laundry services, a huge car park and all rooms are fully air con.
You can purchase a 2 day pass from reception which allows you to use public transport when ever you want to, which is handy as the tram station did'nt seem to have any ticket machines only swipe machines, rather like the oyster card machines.

Payment for any food/drink can be paid as you go or added to your bill and payment made when you check out, we paid asap simply because we did'nt want a huge shock upon checking out, your charged if you take something from the mini bar and dont even drink it!
All in all we had a great time, the hotel is nice and quiet and not full of loud rowdy hen/stag parties as i had always imagined amsterdam to be like, many people there were business men/women, older couples who seemed to be in a coach party and travelling from city to city, and then me and my man, on a short week-end break.
To be honest i dont think it really catered for familys with young children as there did'nt seem to be any kiddies things to indicate other wise, but i could be wrong.
Its a lovely hotel with very helpful friendly staff whose english is better than mine.
So if your after a nice week-end break with a nice chilled out atmosphere i would reccomend the mercule amsterdam.


Thanks for reading.

Summary: Affordable, nice and quiet and not to far from main town centre