Our low nightly rate probably colored our view of this place, but at $100 a night I think its a great value.

First, the location: the Marriot is between the Leidesplein and Vondelpark, which is really a great area. The Liedesplein is the party center of Amsterdam, and is chock full of restaurants, bars, coffeeshops and other people partying. Vondelpark/Museumplein, as the name implies, contains a nice park and some world class museums.

Second, the property is really deluxe. It has uniformed doormen, bellman and concierge. There are two eateries, a bar, a gift shop and a gratis morning coffee concession in the lobby. There is a free laundry on the second floor. Okay, so from the outside it does resemble the Politburo Marriot - but I didn't care how it looked on the outside.

Third, the rooms are "nice for Europe." That is, our room had a safe, ironing board, iron, unbelievably comfortable king sized bed and a small television. As is mentioned in other reviews, the heating and cooling leaves something to be desired, but by opening and closing the window, we were able to stay comfortable. The bath is large and the shower is great.

The concierge staff was extremely helpful. This old dude gave me directions to the Dampkring Coffee Shop without batting an eye. Hell he plotted it out on a map. Another of the concierge staff gave us the heads up on beating the line at the Van Gogh Museum by selling us our tickets (at the same price as the museum). We strolled past the other art fans and were checking out the Potato Eaters in no time at at all.

Getting there was easy from Schiphol Airport. We hopped a $5 train from the airport to Centraal Station. We then hopped on a tram (lines 1, 2 or 5) and were at the Marriot ten minutes later. When you get on the tram, tell the conducter that you need to get off at the Marriot and he or she will tell you when to get off over the PA.

Transportation around Amsterdam is easy from the Marriot. Three different tram lines run from Central Station by the hotel all day. We explored the whole city by jumping on and off trams.

We found the Dutch to be the coolest people on earth. They speak English better than I do, they are very friendly and are perhaps the best looking people on the face of the earth. We cannot wait to go back.

If I had to pay more than $100, I would be far less enthusiastic. But for the price we paid, it was the best deal in town.