Stayed here a couple of years ago and have just had a similar experience in a hotel of the same chain elsewhere. We checked in and I had arranged an upgrade, whilst the staff were fine the rooms are disappointing.

Our bathroom had the toilet at an angle, as otherwise it would not have fitted in! Bed comfy, but could have been better.

When I returned and complained through the priority club programme, I never heard back from them.

Not a bad location and a shame that many hotels connected with Priority Club are let down by a lack of TLC and a lack of "newness".

So many other hotels which offer great service and rooms.

Second stay at this hotel, though the last was several years ago. It is rather tired now and seems to lack investment. Club Room was not really worth the extra. Little things were missing such as the complimentary newspaper and footstools for the furniture - things which are used to sell these rooms. Breakfast was a rather tired affair with little room to sit and, when the croissants ran out, they stayed run out! Rather a pain, too, not to be able to reach the Club lounge from my room without going down to the lobby and taking another lift. Despite what another reviewer said, the in room bar is not complimentary. I checked! On the plus side, the hotel managed to accommodate me for an early check-in. However, all things considered, I would look around next time for another venue.

I have been reading the reviews of this hotel and most seem to be of a negative experience. I found this hotel to be excellent.
I have visited Amsterdam 5 times since 2001 and stayed in this hotel on 4 of those occasions. The first time i stayed in the city I stayed here then the following year stayed at another 5 star hotel opposite - now that was poor - since then i have always stayed at the Crowne Plaza.
I can only speak of my experiences here and every time i find the staff are brilliant, helpful, courteous and yes I'm sure they get paid buttons and are polite and helpful as they wish to be given tips but that doesn't mean we need to give them a negative review.
Some people comment that the management are not bothered - again I find this to be the opposite.
The bathroom decor may not be as contempory as some more recently decorated hotels but they are clean & in full working order. There is nothing wrong with the bedroom either. they are excellent. The location of the hotel is bang in the centre and in a great position for access from Centraal Train Station (3 or 4 mins walk), near Damrak, Dam Square, Red Light District and not too long a walk to the likes of Anne Frank's House, Westerkirk Tower and even to more vibrant night life areas such as Leidesplein.
I appreciate some people have stayed in hundreds of hotels and do so on a regular basis so thay may be able to comment on hotels in Helsinki or wherever they have been but I would highly recommend this hotel for people who are on their first or a return visit to Amsterdam. Maybe me being from an inner city area of Manchester is not used to all these nice luxurious surroundings.
It's location is great, mini bar prices are actually very good (go to the local bars and see you pay at least €4.50 for 1/2 litre - not a pint - of Heineken with a head bigger than humpty dumpty and in the hotel mini bar it's €3.50 for a 330ml can of Grolsch - a premium beer - not bed for a hotel then.
The hotel has it's own pool and gym which is free to use for residents - the other 5 star hotel I stayed in didn't have these facilities
I could go on but i've said enought for you to get the general impression.
Try it for yourself and see - or go to the not so much cheaper hotels in the city and bear in mind this is a capital city that is very busy with tourists so prices are bound to be a bit dearer than some out of the way places - then you will see that you get exceptional value for money in this hotel

A personal view
We had stayed at this hotel on dozens of occasions in the early 90's. In fact, at that time it was one of our favourite hotels and could easily hold it's own with other 'superior' hotel in Amsterdam - but not any more.
What has changed? Well, with two notable exceptions the answer is absolutely nothing whosoever.
The whole place is still stuck in an 80's time warp. It is bland, characterless and depressing with a decor that would not look out of place in a brown on beige 80's Colombo movie.
The bedrooms are depressing and unimaginative (don't go there for your honeymoon) - did I say depressing again.
In the bathrooms, apart from some peculiar space age soap dispensers (a smart salesman at work here) things have not changed in over 20 years, ugh.
The public areas look and feel like an 80's shopping mall of the worse kind and the public rooms have the despairing air of the worst kind of UK motorway service station.
So what has not changed? The first surprise is the room rate. It's very, very high indeed. For the 5 stars (how do they judge these things) that the place is definitely not you can get better value elsewhere in Amsterdam by paying far less for far more.
The second change is the staff. We are very pleased to report that without exception the ordinary workers in the hotel (all immigrants who no doubt needed the work) were unbelievably efficient, outstandingly helpful and very eager to please. Quite wonderful people !
Unfortunately the exact opposite could be said of the junior so called 'Management' who turned out to be extremely unhelpful, rude, supercilious and arrogant.
This must be one of the very few commercial establishments in Europe where the ‘Management’s’ attitude is 'the customer is always wrong'.
In summary, if this 'Crowne Plaza' was downgraded to a Holiday Inn it would not do credit to the Holiday Inn brand.
However, you will appreciate that this is just our personal opinion based upon staying in literally hundreds of hotels over the past 30 years in dozens of countries in Europe and the rest of the world.
So, why not find out for yourself. Book yourself in for a night. Pay the exorbitantly high tariff. Enjoy the un stimulating decor. Explore the depressing public spaces and when you get back to your room put a pillow over your head to block out the realization that you might, just might have made a very expensive mistake.
And one last crucial tip for your enjoyment, don't whatever you do expect anything from at least the junior ‘management’ but ingratitude.
After all, the customer is always wrong – at least in this establishment !!