Hotel Pe-euw Hein, More Like (Piet Hein Hotel Amsterdam)

Member Name: venice105

Product:	Piet Hein Hotel Amsterdam
Date:	04/12/06 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quiet location, yet convenient

Disadvantages: Pretty basic, Smoky

I stayed at the Hotel Piet Hein in Amsterdam back in March for three nights. I chose it based on location and price. It seemed to stand out in the price range I was looking for as a bit nicer and cleaner than the rest.

This hotel is located beside the Vondelpark, not far from (10 min. walk) the Rijkmuseum and the Vincent Van Gogh museum. My biggest advice when visiting the museums to save time is to purchase your ticket in advance, particularly the Van Gogh Museum, as then you do not have to queue and this will easily save you an hour of your day from the looks of the queues at some points. Tickets can be purchased online, at many hotels, or at several tourist sites around the city, specifically off Dam Square, and across from the rail station. This cannot be done for the Anne Frank Haus but that is well worth the wait.

A five minute walk north from this hotel and you can catch the tram (which you can buy tickets for ahead of time, or on the tram, in the back, not the front!), and also canal boats, so the location is pretty ideal if you don't mind being away from the hustle and bustle of Dam Square (which itself is about a twenty minute walk, 5 min. tram ride away). The Vondelpark beside the hotel is a pleasant, basic park and is nice to stroll around (despite there being a murder there one night during our stay!) Honestly, it was lovely though, and I think the violent crime rate there is quite low generally!

We arrived around midday and were told our rooms would not be ready until around mid-afternoon. They allowed you to leave your luggage in the lobby, sort of behind the bar, which wasn't exactly high security but we didn't have much choice. The bar is located right in the lobby/computer area so it has a permanent smell of smoke.

When we did get to check into our rooms (my Mom was along as well), they were.....fine. Well ours was fine, my Mom's was adorable. The hotel has a nautical theme due to its' namesake Piet Hein being a famous seaman of some kind. Our room was sort of subtly nautical, and small. No tea or coffee making facilities, which seems standard in many European hotels. I wasn't blown away, but city hotels rarely impress me (not being able to afford four stars anyway!) so I wasn't disappointed either.

Our room had quite a charming view over a courtyard garden (the hotel's), and the front rooms would look out over the park which would also be nice. Some rooms have a terrace as well. My Mom had a single room, and it was just the sweetest little room ever. The bed was a generous single, close to a double, sort of bunk style, as in a boat, and had porthole lanterns built into the wall. It was really cute, and nice to see the hotel had carried out the decor a bit more convicingly than in our room, which was a bit more careworn.

The bathrooms were small but clean and new-looking. We were amused with the toilets being slightly too high for the short Mom and even me, at 5'5", found them a bit of a stretch. Boy, those Dutch are tall! The towels were replaced daily and the rooms cleaned, so no complaints there.

The main niggle I had was that there was no ventilation, and in a small hotel (36 rooms), everyone else's smoke positively infused our room. The doors were not airtight, and it was like being in a pub. I kept the window open at night as I couldn't breathe. It wasn't even the kind of secondhand smoke that could've given me happy dreams! Maybe this just comes with the territory in Europe but it was pretty unpleasant as I have asthma, and not just limited to our room as Mom was on a different floor and had the same problem. So not great for non-smokers, or anyone with breathing difficulties. I didn't complain about it as it seemed pointless in a city where you can smoke pretty much anywhere.

Other than that it was a nice location, and nice to return to a peaceful place at the end of a long day's touristing. It was relatively quiet (although the walls were thin), and seemed to attract families and business travellers mainly.

There was no restaurant or room service in this hotel, but there are many restaurants in easy walking distance, including places for breakfast. They do serve a continental breakfast for 11 euros, but we chose to eat elsewhere. There is a Lounge Bar as mentioned earlier in the Lobby, open until 1a.m. This never seemed very crowded so would be a good place for a quiet nightcap should you want one. There were a half dozen or so computers available for use in the lounge, and wireless connections are also available, "for a small fee" (this is what is listed on the website). The staff were always pleasant, they gave us restaurant suggestions when we asked, and also offered the service of booking various excursions should you require.

The main lift is quite old and on the small side (At one point with five people in it was a definite squeeze - and that's without luggage). There are some steep stairs into the main entrance of the hotel, and no accessibility for people with disabilities that I noticed. There is no information about this on the site so I am not sure if there is an alternate route into the hotel for anyone who needs extra assistance.

The hotel offers rooms from singles up to Deluxe "Sand Rooms" which did peak my curiosity as the beds are made of sand, which they advertise as the height of comfort. These rooms are also a superior finish overall, although not having seen one I could not attest to this. The beds in our rooms were quite comfy, more on the soft side, and the pillows a nice quality as well, feeling like down of some sort. The rates listed on the hotel's site are from 80 euros for a single up to 165 for the Deluxe, varying seasonally, according to the website, www.hotelpiethein.nl.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Amsterdam, and would love to go back, but perhaps not to this hotel due to the smoke congestion. It was a little bit dear for what it was, I thought, but I think Amsterdam hotels are not known for their affordability. You are paying for the city experience, and that lived up to all of my expectations.

Summary: It was an o.k. hotel, no frills