Just came home from Amsterdam. Spend four nights at the Jolly Carlton. This was the first trip to Amsterdam for both me and my girlfriend. The hotel got a great location, from the central station it`s approximately 7 euro with taxi. It takes about 15-20 minutes to walk to the Anne Frank house, 10 minutes walk to the red light district, and a 10 minutes’ walk to the canal cruise.
The hotel: As I said, this was my first trip to Holland. So I didn’t know what to expect regarding hotel standard. The lobby was quite nice, and the woman we spoke to on arrival made an ok first impression. As all Dutch people they hotel staff spoke English very well. We got a room at the fifth floor. The street outside the hotel lobby is quite busy, so I was happy to see we got a room with a view the other direction. But, the street outside our window was quite noisy during the night. Not much traffic at all, but there were people going to nightclubs (and home again) all night long. If you close the window, it`s not a big problem, but then again it`s much too warm. My body temperature is quite different from my girlfriend, I thought the hotel room was a sauna, but my girlfriend found the temperature with the windows closed brilliant :)

The room was quite nice, but not “state of the art”. The room was maybe a bit smaller then an ordinary room in Norway, but the size was no problem. The room was always very clean.
I would recommend the Jolly Carlton hotel if you get a good deal. I don’t know if it`s a four star hotel, because it`s hard to compare, because I have no other experience from hotels in Holland. Check out our pictures.

stayed at the jolly carlton for 2 nights at the end of October 2007. Great central location near the floating flower markets. Easy access to shops , restaurants, trams etc.
The hotel has an impressive lobby and helpful staff . We booked a standard double room as we were only there for 2 nights and didn't see the point of paying the extra 50 euro per night for a luxury room. The rooms were small but big enough for our short stay as we were only in the room a couple of hours as there is so much to do and see in Amsterdam.
The only below average thing that I saw whilst staying at the jolly carlton were the "grotty" looking stairwell that didin't seem to belong to the rest of the hotel at all (as I have a fear of elevators I used the stairs daily, and I'm sure that I was the only guest at the hotel that used them). We opted out of paying for the breakfast as we felt it was very expensive for 20 euro each per day (lovely little cafe around the corner that does a full english for 8 euros each)
Amsterdam itself is a lovely city with loads to see and do during the day and night. We pre booked an excursion for the Windmills and Edam tour which was a half day (4 hour) excursion It was a pleasant enough trip but we felt that we were being rushed from one place to the other and not having enough time to browse for souveniers in the the shops. Having arrived in Edam (beware shops are closed on Mondays) we only had 45 mins to have lunch and have a look around. We will definately be visiting Amsterdam again and will again stay at the Jolly Carlton because of the great central location.

just come back from amsterdam been staying at the jolly carlton with friends for 3 nights, i was very impressed with the hotel and would recommend it to anyone, the hotel room was nice and clean and light, and the location was great, would recommend and will be going there to stay again!

The next time you are in Amsterdam, you may be tempted to stay at the Jolly Carlton Hotel. Avoid this temptation at all costs! Though the price tag is hefty, at 186 euros for a basic room, you will do better spending your money at any other accommodation; rooms at the Bridge Hotel or Hotel Orlando, for example, are twice the size and only $120 euros per evening. Upon my visit to the Jolly Carlton, I requested a standard non-smoking room away from traffic noise; they put me in a strange L-shaped suite on the E-Floor. Beware the E-Floor, my friends! On the way up to my room, the bellhop described the E-Floor is “a sort of middle floor between floors one and two.” This proved to be an understatement, as the entire E-Floor has a low ceiling exactly like “Floor 12½” in the movie Being John Malkovich. This would have been entertaining, were it not for the fact Room 53 faced the blinking red/white/green lights of an LCD Supply Warehouse across the street, which blared bass-heavy music until late at night, accompanied by the rattling and thumping of streetcars. Speaking of entertainment, check out my photos of Room 53’s bed; it’s some type of roll-away contraption on a pedestal that sticks out from the wall. I guarantee you will be stubbing your toes on it whenever you head for the bathroom. And, oh, the bathroom … we don’t even want to go there. Literally! Moreover, when I complained to the desk staff, they informed me Room 57 was “an upgrade.” I asked to see a different room, but the best they could come up with was a smoking room (drenched in tobacco), when my reservations clearly stated that I am a non-smoker. Speaking of desk staff, to say their attitude was “chilly” would be putting it about 53 degrees too warm—they were abrasive and uncooperative (again, the staff at The Bridge or even the eccentric Hotel Munck are more user-friendly). Upon settling in to my room (if you could call it that), I discovered connecting to the Internet came with a 22 euro price tag attached. That’s 30 bucks just to get on-line … at a hotel that already cost nearly 200! Particularly irritating in light of the fact that getting on-line at most Amsterdam hotels is free. I could spend a lot more time complaining about the Jolly Carlton (trust me), but that would be jolly boring … I’m in Amsterdam, after all, and I have better things to do … but take it from me, there are millions of better choices than this trumped up old tart of a hotel. I knew I was taking a chance when I stayed here, and I won’t be taking that chance again. No siree.