I honestly cannot believe the high score at tripadvisor. I usually choose my hotels based on the ratings here at tripadvisor and have never been disappointed. However, Esthera did not live up to my expectations. The room (512) was tiny, with a tiny bathroom which actually has no space to put the towels (stored on a rack above the bathtub). If you want to take a shower you have to throw the towels onto the floor. The furniture had several cigarette holes, although it was supposed to be a non-smoking room. The rooms are noisy due to the lack of any sound insulation. Breakfast is an extra 16 EUR per person which I thought was included in the price, another bad surprise.
Staff is not particularly friendly. Location is quite nice, which is the only positive thing about this hotel.

The hotel itself is very nice. However, watch out for the bedbugs.

We stayed in room 406 at the hotel on the 24-26th October 2008, when my Husband and I woke up on the Saturday morning we noticed that we had little lumps on our skin but did not understand why.

When we woke up Sunday morning with more bites I put 2+2 together. I woke up with a bite on my eye lid, which hurt and itched like hell. A week later I still have the lump without the redness!

Since then, I have had to spray my home and my bags with the clothes I took to make sure this does not spread into my home. Once you have bedbugs they are hard to shift.

Until now I did not know they actually existed. Its AWFUL!

I have yet to email the hotel and see what repsonse I get, however, if you do stay here I would suggest you check the bed first before opening your luggage.

Other than that, its a nice hotel and a nice location.

I hope you have better luck than me!

Incredible hotel and experience! We loved Amsterdam and the hotel made it an even better experience. The location is perfect and right in the heart of everything. The staff was wonderful! I really cannot speak highly enough of this hotel. The next time we are in Amsterdam we will stay here!

Stayed for three nights from 20th October to 23 October & found it more than lived up to our expectations. We had a very comfortable, quiet room with large bathroom. The hotel was warm & comfortable with exceptionally charming, helpful & efficient staff. The breakfast was delicious & the complementary coffee, chocolate or tea very much appreciated. The hotel is on a lovely stretch of a quiet canal within easy walking distance of almost everything. There is a selection of restaurants to suit every taste & pocket just around the corner in Spuistraat . The only negative thing I would say about the hotel is that the grouting & tiling in our bathroom needed some maintainance

The only negative experience we had in Amsterdam was that we were very overcharged for our taxi from the station. We asked the hotel to get us a taxi back to the station. This was less than half the price we paid to get there