My husband and I were here for a relaxing break away. We loved Amsterdam but would not stay at this hotel again.

The room itself was a decent sized double and clean on the surface but it was clear most of the furniture/fittings needed a good dusting. The bed linen was too big for the duvet/pillows and none of the furniture matched properly, 2 of the chairs actually had large holes and tears in the leather. The bed was very comfortable though, and we had a beautiful view out over the Vondelpark with large floor to ceiling windows - but it's a shame they steamed up so easily in the morning, and it would have been nice if they'd remembered to put up the white curtain for privacy (it was hanging on a hanger by the door) because the back of the hotel also faces apartments. There wasn't a fridge but it was so cold outside we just put what we wanted on the window sill outside as the windows opened - very handy for a diet coke! We only had 1 pillow each, and no spares or blankets. No info leaflets or do not disturb notice, but the TV was good and we got BBC1 and ITV1.

The bathroom was small but again the same level of cleanliness (the tissue box looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months). The shower itself was a small cubicle and a huge shower head which meant having very little room to move without getting wet. Yes, it's a shower and you would want that - but not if you don't want to wash your hair every day which I was annoyingly forced to do. It really wasn't a pleasant experience showering, the water wasn't very powerful, the streams thin and sparse which made it difficult to rinse my hair properly. It was equally impossible to lather my body properly with the spray of the water reaching the entirety of the cubicle, and the temperature was impossible to get right - it would just go really hot without even touching the controls. Odd also was the toilet roll holder being situated so that you couldn't properly sit on the loo without scratching yourself on it. Body wash and hand wash were provided, but no other hotel minis, and the loo roll itself was really rough. The wall-attached hairdryer was useless (it was freezing outside and I had just been forced to wash my hair), the towels were small and there wasn't a heated towel rail or shower mat for the floor.

Unfortunately, we also had the noisiest creaking floor outside our room and we could hear everything and everyone going past, there was very little sound proofing and we were woken up several times during the night with passing guests. The lift didn't work from the ground floor (you had to go down to the basement to call it) and there appeared to be no attempts to have it fixed. The wi-fi was €8 a day I think, but there was a free to use computer in the lobby which was very very handy.

The breakfast was disappointing too - no cooked breakfast except scrambled eggs that were a bit grey or hard boiled eggs and some DIY toast. There was a large array of processed hams and cheeses, packet croissants/pastries, granola/corn flakes, yoghurt, tinned fruit salad and concentrated fruit juice - there's a lot there but the quality was not something I'd expect to pay €10 for. Particularly of note was the large sign stating that no food could be taken from the breakfast room. What if I want to finish my breakfast upstairs whilst showering? I've paid for it I should be able to do what I like with it thanks. The only positive thing I'd say was that they had rooibus tea which is something I very rarely find in hotels.

However, the hotel staff were helpful and courteous, and the location was very good - very close to good tram links and on a lovely quiet street close to the park. As isolated complaints, the above isn't so bad, but collectively they made our stay at this hotel a little more stressful than relaxing. Shame really.