Hello World, we are in Amsterdam!
Yes, we visited Amsterdam in Netherlands during the Easter holiday, completely by mistake. We booked EasyJet flight from Split, Croatia for 60 EUR (return ticket for 2 people). The ticket was so cheap that I didn’t even thought about checking the dates.
Why is she writing about this, you ask?
During any holiday, extended weekends and similar “fun dates”, popular cities all around the world are packed with visitors! There are huge lines at the museums, you can hardly find a restaurant with available table and, in Amsterdam case, ques for canal rides were just too long.
Traveler’s tip – never book a “holiday date” for your vacation, if you can.
Nevertheless, we had wonderful time just strolling around Amsterdam canals and streets. Let’s begin our Amsterdam story with some basics, our accommodation!
Where to stay in Amsterdam?
We looked for accommodation on Google.com, again, and found XO Hotels Amsterdam. They have 8 Hotels on different locations all around the city, so we decided to check out their website.
XO Hotels Amsterdam literally have a Hotel for any type of traveler: from luxury to backpacker and from family to business friendly hotel. If you are looking for city hotel, they have one. If you would rather stay next to Vondel park, they have one that location too. We have chosen XO Hotels Couture, honestly, mostly because of it’s colors. I mean, look at our room!
CHECK IN / OUT
They have self service check in and out! This was our first time experiencing check in without hotel staff and I must say, we loved it! There are 3 computers at the Hotel entrance and you start with“check in” box on the screen.
You need to write down the Name on the reservation, or reservation number and voila! Your reservation pops in front of you and you are ready to make your keys.
They placed empty room cards close to computer. You have to take one and put it on the scanning machine. If you need two, just repeat the process.
After you are done, computer prints out little note which has your room number, check out time, breakfast buffet working times and price (if not included), restaurant working hours and WiFi details. I mean, you have to love this!
I was a receptionist, lifetime ago, and I really respect this system. Repeating these information, million times a day, gets tiring after a while.
If you are old school, Hotels Couture’s staff is close by to help you with your check in.
ROOM
We got wonderful double bed room, on 10th floor. As soon as we entered, we fell in love with the view! I made myself a cup of complimentary tea, grabbed my book and sat down to the most beautiful rainy sunset window view.
BED
We booked Standard Double/Twin room and were given one queen bed, as we noted in our reservation that we are a couple. Bed was clean and comfortable, do I need to say anything more? That is all we needed after long walks in the city. We were so happy to come home to this cozy thing!
BATHROOM
The bathroom was very spacious, clean and really modern with rainfall shower. We had full size mirror above the sink, which is every girls dream….or maybe just my dream (as I was raised in the house with only one tiny mirror).
LAPTOP CLUB
You know that we bring our work with us, everywhere we travel. That is the reason why we always need place to set up our “laptop club”. It is basically our office on a road, but we don’t really like calling it office, it sounds too “normal”. We call it laptop club instead :).
COMPLIMENTARY
You will be given the WiFi password, obviously, a TV with international channels and also couple of other treats. We got bottles of water, tea & coffee bags in the saloon and also slippers & toiletries in the bathroom. Amsterdam guides, which they left for us on the table, were of so much help! Without it, we wouldn’t have know that flower festival has started the day we landed :).
BREAKFAST
Definitely include breakfast in your room booking, because they have very rich buffet breakfast. We stayed enough days to try everything on the menu and we give it 5 stars :).
Thing that we loved the most was “orange juicer”, you must try it. It squeezes fresh oranges right in front of you.
Thing that we appreciated the most were Easter eggs, served on the Easter day. It was so much fun for the children that were staying in the Hotel, but also for us adults 🙂
BAR
Last, but not least, we also went down to the Hotel’s bar. We have a habit of going to the hotel’s bars and I will tell you why. Usually, we come late into Hotel, to tired to go anywhere. To avoid feeling like we are missing the day in the city, by staying in our room, we go down to hang out. These kind of adventures are always the best. You get to met Hotel staff, ask about what to do in the city and meet new interesting travelers, which has always been our luck! Do you have a story from the Hotel bar’s? We have so many, wanna hear about it?
LOCATION AND TRANSPORT
Hotel is located slightly outside of the city center, but there is a tram stops literally right in front of the hotel. Tram NO.2 takes you directly to the city “hot spots” within 20 minutes.
You can also buy 24, 48 and 72 hours Tram ticket, which we highly recommend. There is vending machine in the hotel lobby, where you can get your “GVB” Amsterdam transport ticket.
I feel like I wrote down everything about our stay… is there anything else you would like to know about XO Hotels Couture? Send us your questions in the comments, we will be happy to answer them all!
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