I've booked the "hotel" kind of last minute, without looking at the reviews. After I read some of them (one day before traveling) I was a bit scared as everyone was saying it's a total disaster ... However, I didn't find it so extremley bad, as some people are saying. We were a group of 4 students, and have been given a room with 4 beds (slightly small, but we didn't spend a lot of time in there anyway). It was not super-clean, but you could see thet they've put some effort into cleaning it after previous guests. The bedsheets were old, but washed, and they've given us some tovels as well. The bathroom has a nice toilet, the only bad thing is the shower, because the whole bathroom gets wet when using it. The stuff were very friendley and helpful - they asked almost every day if we need enything and they let us use the internet at the reception desk. The steps are quite steep, but I guess so is the case everywhere in Amsterdam's city centre. We didn't see any bugs or mice or some other discusting stuff, and the location is perfect. So if you are going to Amsterdam to party with some friends, want to have a cheap private room in a nice area (city centre, lively nightlife) and are not too pickey, it's ok. If you are very sensible, bring your own bedsheet and a tovel, and you'll be just fine.
