Oh my precious Hotel D'Amsterdam, how I remember you fondly.
It was in that summer of 2005 that my friend and I ventured into Amsterdam and right into the Downtown Flying Pig Youth Hostel where, over the course of the next few days, I acquired a plague of some sort. Whether it was from hordes of unwashed backpackers, appalling bathroom conditions or makeout sessions with hippie boys, I will never know. I do know that I was sick, Amsterdam was in the middle of a horrible heat wave, and I refused to live under such conditions anymore. I needed to get out of the air densely filled with pot smoke and incense and into a clean environment.
I found Hotel D'Amsterdam on a web site, booked it, and we ran away from the Flying Pig as fast as my flu-filled lungs would take me.
It was Heaven. Tucked far away from the sleazy downtown area and near beautiful Vondelpark on a quaint street, it was quiet, tiny and perfect. The owner worked the front desk, and he was awesome. I think he took pity on me and my snotty nose as we ended up with a nice room that actually had a balcony. Considering we'd just left a hostel with a window that would not open, I appreciated the air flow.
It wasn't an amazingly beautiful room, but it was perfectly acceptable. We had a mini fridge, a TV, and a shower. It was very clean. There weren't any bunk beds and we were not sharing a room with an Aussie backpacker with a severe farting problem, so we were thrilled. The balcony faced a courtyard of residential apartments and was a nice place to sit and enjoy a breeze.
The quiet location was still close enough to everything as Amsterdam is a compact city. Leidseplein, a center with tourist-centric shops and restaurants, is only a five-minute walk away, as is the stop there where you can catch the tram.
I'm not sure when or if I'll ever make it to Europe again now that the dollar has collapsed, but I'd recommend this quiet, sweet hotel to anybody looking for a relaxing place to crash after a long day in the city. read more