hoping some of you well travelled folk can help, me and the mrs are off to Amsterdam for a few days

we have quite a tight budget (flights are cheap enough but looking at 600 quid max all in)

obviously town centre ones that are nice are really expensive, but some of the ones out of the centre are cheaper and within budget, but obviously out of town

how easy is it to get into the centre? time wise/distance etc, this is a ‘fun’ few days, so plenty of booze etc will be consumed

if any one can recommend a nice’ish hotel that’s not to far out etc and within budget please feel free to reply!

hoping you can help as im stuck and haven’t got a clue where to start

Getting in and out can be a little effort as the canals / bridges restrict traffic. That said most locals ride the tram or bike so with a little planning you can do the same. TBH I’ve always paid up for the center hotels so cannot be too specific on recommendations, we last stayed near the Ann Frank house and I think there are some cheap options there but perhaps a bit “hostely”. There was another thread recently so worth a search.

The Trams are great.
Last time I stayed at the Lloyd Hotel. Out of the city centre.
It’s bonkers and I loved it. But I live in Hebden Bridge.

cheers folks, i had heard the trams are good, plus the airports circa 10 miles from the centre, so taxis to/from airport not bad

has anyone used a relatively cheap hotel in the centre then? but not a shitehole on a budget?

Frisco inn if you can get a room. Ive been over before with no accommodation booked and just winged it each night. Im assuming youre staying near the Daamrak/red light area when you talk about the city centre? Each morning i walked from one hotel and found another within 10 mins. The other hotels ive stayed in i cant remember the names of, sorry. Was too wasted.

Got a tip for you though. Dont eat a full bag a magic mushrooms and then go to the zoo. Lions and elephants are scary as **** when youre out yer nut 😆

Train into centre is super easy. No need for taxi.

train runs direct from airport to town centre much cheaper than taxi. From memory it’s a double decker train which I found a bit of an extra novelty!

I found a bag of magic mushrooms combined with a trip to the Van Gogh museum was a great way to “experience” the culture on offer in the ‘dam – 2 birds, 1 stone and all that.

Apartments can offer a better deal than hotels.

Was going to suggest somewhere like Leiden or Delft if staying out of town. Then you’re on the main train line joining those places up, with Schiphol airport in the middle (station is in the main airport concourse).

But then hotel price there is probably not much different.
But then you get to visit another touristy kind of place too.

Trams are great for getting about Amsterdam. Someone will be along to explain how the chipcard works though (trains let you use paper tickets too, but the machines iirc only take coins?).

cheers folks, haha magic mushrooms’ well as the saying goes…..when in rome……

yeah as in city centre where its all happening (red light district etc), train sounds great and sounds like it will save a fair bit of cash!

i dont think the mrs will want to just wing it and get a hotel, as we’ll be wasting each day checking out numerous hotels, just want to book one and be done with it, we wont even be in the hotel hardly anyways, but dont want a shitehole all the same

We’re staying in a hostel in the red light district in November, £220 all in for flights and accommodation so its definitely gonna be interesting 😆 itss only somewhere to sleep/pass out though and ours has a 24hr bar 😀

I was going to mention the Hotel next to the Central Station, its Hilton Doubletree, great location but a bit expensive!

Normally stay in the Radisson Blue right in the centre of Amsterdam. Not too pricey, nice rooms and convenient for looking around.

We stayed here:

http://www.nh-hotels.com/nh/en/hotels/the-netherlands/amsterdam/nh-amsterdam-museum-quarter.html?nhagentid=10166&nhsubagentid=101660000001&oodc=30_18589&source=adwords&gclid=COOz3fvbwsECFe3LtAodIEIA5w

Nice hotel, within walking distance and a nice quiet part of the city.

Home

Ive stayed here a few times. It’s alright.

I’ve also stayed at the Grand Krasnapolsky, and that was very nice. I met Steven Seagal in the bar there, which was odd.

my usual amsterdam hotel pre ferry boarding is the bastion amsterdam zuidwest.

its nowt fancy but its clean , good breakfast and 5 minutes from a tram stop. although it might be more expensive- iirc it was 70 quid a night for a double but it also has secure parking – a must for us with the van and bikes. not so much if your flying in.

trams in amsterdam are fooking ace, the only way to get around without your bike.

the train from the airport would be the sensible way – the stations IN the airport. – or rather directly under it.

cool thanks for the ideas so far, keep em coming, some of the hotels above are out of price range sadly

but if its just over budget will stretch a bit further

check lastminute.com and look at the secret deals. It’s usually pretty simple to work out which hotel it actually is. There are some fantastic deals available in all sorts of places.

The last time i stayed in hotel in amsterdam, I ended up paying 80gbp per night to stay at the Apollobuurt Hilton. Fantastic hotel, great links to the touristy centre and in an exceptionally pretty area. Lots of nice little boutiques too, if I remember correctly.

Most other times i just stayed out all night in the bars/cafes/takeaways. One time i found a floating sofa in the redlight district and kipped on that. Safe as safe can be

Try the Rho hotel it’s good value and just off dam square I always stay there. It’s handy for coffee shops too!!

eskay +1 (NH hotels Museum Quarter) – stayed there a few months ago. Nice neighborhood, out of the hubub of the centre but only 5-10 mins on a tram, or a nice walk. Some nice bars the other side of the canal opposite too.

Stayed here a couple of times.

Cheap, central but right in the heart of the red light district.

I much prefer somewhere restful away from the hubbub.

bicyclehotel.com

They have a garage too if you ride or drive there.

Just get a daily pass and tramsurf your way around.

Careful of the steep stairs in the old building hotels….

I was once woken from a restful sleep by a loud bang followed by knocking and shouting (in dutch) at my door – I told them to shut up and rolled over and back to sleep. Only to be woken about 30mins later by the paramedics putting the victim on a spine board!

so taxis to/from airport not bad

even the taxi driver told us to get a train.

stayed here last time. http://www.citizenm.com/

cool place not too expensive and 10 minute tram into city. not much going on locally though…

Yep, train to Centraal is the only way. Go first class for an extra three euros or something!

I use the Park Hotel. Right by the Vondelpark, easy to ride anywhere in the city from there as well. As for the trams? Stupidly expensive, and nowhere near as convenient as a bike! So, hire a bike!

I’ve stayed at numerous hotels in A/dam, this one fits the ‘cheap and clean’ tag:
http://www.nadia.nl/
Pretty basic, up a steep flight of stairs, but was cheap on both occasions I went.
Walkable from the Train station.

Public Transport is ace in Amsterdam I thought….wouldn’t bother me staying a little out of the centre tbh.

Citizen M is great, but as tomthumb says, its in a fairly quiet residential bit of town. Good tram link though and pretty reasonably priced.

Was over for a gig a few weeks ago and gave Air BnB a whirl. Got a decent basement apartment in Jordaan for less than a hotel would have been. Nice to have a proper kitchen, dining table and lots of space. Would check reviews pretty thoroughly, but worth a punt.

Stayed in this place a while back too Hotel Luxer clean cheap and very central. Terrible name, expected it to be rubbish but was very pleasantly surprised.

Very close to De Prael brewery which is worth a visit wherever you end up staying… great beer, friendly staff and good food too.

If you decide to stay in the museum quarter or elsewhere in the South or De Pijp (all of which are a lot nicer than the area around central station), it will actually normally be quicker to get the train from Schipol which skirts the South of the city to Amsterdam WTC or Station RAI. You then get tram 5 (WTC) or 4 (RAI) into the City

Another vote for the public transport.
Train ticket machines have an English language option at most (all?) major stations including Schipol and they do take cards for an extra fifty cent charge.

If you fly budget/smallet airlines expect a different kind of long taxi at the airport. I think it was over ten minutes from stand to runway without stopping. I started to wonder if the plane was going to board the stena brittanica and come back via Harwich.

thanks guys

some really informative stuff there, especially as I didn’t know the public transport was so good either! sounds like it will save me a fair few ££ in taxis

more drugs/booze/whore money now!

we made a decision based on a friends recommendation to stay just by vondelpark as its in close proximity but not to in the thick of it, a short tram ride or walk down the canals if the weathers decent!

now can anyone recommend any good boozers? bearing in mind this will be me and the mrs just boozing the days were there, both in soul/northern soul/mod/60s/ska that sort of music are there any decent places like that in Amsterdam? the darker and dingier the better 😉

“As for the trams? Stupidly expensive”

7euro for 24 hours – the longer you buy your ticket for the cheaper it gets.

came so often it was a no brainer.

+1 for http://deprael.nl/proeflokaal-2

I’d really recommend visiting http://www.brouwerijhetij.nl/splash-page-nl/ Brewery in a windmill.

Good few boozers in Dam Square. I think i remember staying in the hotel luxor and radisson blue as well. Dont be put off about staying in the red light district. Its not that noisy. Full of tourists and stoners. Some dodgy scumbags about though at action in the wee dark alleys.