kit

THese are the ones in my price range and in a location that looks pretty good to me. Which would you pick, or is one generally regarded as much better? (My third trip; my family's first...)

Carlton
City Centre
Schiller
Doelen
Caransa

Thank you in advance!

Palenque

Price generally is a good indicator of what are the best hotels - besides location, of course. And hotels all have various types of rooms as well. One person may rave about their room im say Doelen and another may have one on a noisy street, etc.

kit

Understand. They are all within 10 euros pricewise and akm location-wise. I am, indeed, looking for one person's opinion (and then others).

hetismij

NH Carlton, on the Vijzelstraat, close to the Munt and centre. There is a lot of construction further along on teh Vijzelgracht.

NH City Centre - just that, right behind the Dam, but maybe not so well placed for the museums as some of the others.

The Schiller is close to the Carlton, on the Rembrandtplein.

The Doelen is down on the Amstel near the Hermitage. You would need to be careful that you don't end up in the RLD if you are heading to the centre. It isn't in the RLD but you could end up there by mistake.

The Caransa is in the same general area as the Schiller and Carlton, on the Rembrandtplein.

These three are well placed for nightlife and good access to the main sights, and public transport.

There is also the NH Centre which is near the Rijks and Van Gogh museums, so a little bit further out.
Any of them would be good as far as positioning goes, it really depends on whether you want to be near the nightlife as well.
I would say the Doelen is the least well placed of them all, though the rooms probably have a great view over the Amstel.

kit

Thank you, hetis, for your thoughtful reply.

YEs, I think NH Centre is a bit further out than I'd like to be. I am leaning toward the Schiller or the City Centre. We'll be doing all the usual tourist things and are good at walking.

Question about the Schiller: is the REmbrandtplein super onoxious/student-like loud or just on-the-square, expected noisy? We're in our 40s and 50s and don't want to be in a party hotel.

ANd is the street area the City Centre is on nice, lousy, sketchy or desirable?

Again, many thanks!

stepsbeyond

I recently stayed at the City Centre and liked its location close to the Spui, its historic cafe scene, and shopping, and a number of modestly priced but more than adequate eateries. So I would describe the area as desirable.

Some rooms face the canal, and they are quieter and I think probably sunnier than those that face the street. Also some rooms appear to have been more recently renovated than others.

The hotel is not a party hotel and gets a business clientele.

I personally was quite fascinated with the hotel's De Stijl decor in its public areas. It used to be a clothing factory if I'm not mistaken, in an era when all the workers ate on site. It has an amazing lounge if you like De Stijl.

The only thing I wouldn't recommend is using the shuttle service to or from the airport. It's not really operated by the hotel, makes a zillion other stops, and just isn't worth it.

kit

Thank you, Steps. That helps. It has a good rate, too.

Suspaul

Hi kit,
we stayed at the NH Carlton this past August and found it very acceptable. We got it by bidding on Priceline and got a very fair price in our opinion. It is located at the flower market, has a trolley line in front of the hotel, many restaurants nearby, etc. When checking in we asked for a quite room not on the street and were given a room that faced into a courtyard, very quiet. It's not a fancy place but clean and had everything we needed. The front desk staff were also very accomodating. Hope this helps.
Susan