There are two reasons to go to Amsterdam and the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank house aren't the top two. We went for the coffee shops and red-light district.

The Renaissance is centrally located, in fact perfectly located. It is on a side street only a few yards from a canal and about a five-minute easy walk from the main train station. (That station by the way has non-stop service directly to Schipool airport; there's no reason to take a cab. Even the "slow" train that stops takes just 20 minutes.)

The hotel has a nice lobby and many of the postings here about the state of the building are quite accurate although I didn't really notice it when I was staying there. I thought the rooms were decent sized and had no complaints about the bathroom or the physical condition of the property. I've stayed in worse, I've stayed in better but never once did I think the place looked shabby. We were actually impressed by the quality of the rooms, but we only saw one room and were quite happy with what we had for our four nights there.

There is a small red-light district located quite close to the hotel as well as a fair number of coffee-shops a very short walk away, perhaps about 100 meters away from the hotel.

Can't say enough about the convenient location. It's very, very accessible. Noise and check-in/out were not issues for us. As a matter of fact what was most memorable for us about our visit to this hotel was the amount of time we spent sleeping! Whether it was the lack of daylight when we were there, jet-lag or time spent frequenting the coffeeshops and red-light district we spent an awful lot of uninterrupted time in our hotel room sleeping late.

We got a great rate on the internet and the combination of rate and location will easily make this our number-one pick on our next visit to Amsterdam.

I stayed 3 nights with my family (5 persons) in 2 connected double rooms on the Club Floor. I was amazed by the size and condition of the rooms. Dark, relatively small and low ceilings with almost no view. And the bathroom was really disappointing: small and completely white tiled with a white plastic shower-curtain. Not really what you expect in a 5-star hotel.
Apart from that everything was fine: the room is nicely furnished and clean, I paid a great rate including free minibar, snacks and free access to the clublounge including breakfast. The location is very good and the employees were friendly and helpfull. It is really the building (dating back to the 70's) that is disappointing. But if you can get a cheap rate, you can try it anyway.

This place is a dungeon. The rooms are dark and drab. I requested a non smoking room, and it was given to me; however, I had to walk about 10 minutes through horrible hallways before I arrived at my room. The bathrooms smell horrible and have no upscale qualities...I got kicked out of my initial room because the bathroom sprung a leak...I thought Moby Dick was in the tub for heaven's sake. The maintenence guys were a gag! What's up guys? They did compensate me with a nice dinner voucher though.

On the positive side, it's location is strong to quite strong--close to central rail station and walking distance to main attractions.

Overall, if you get a super cheap rate, ahead and book the sucker, otherwise, shop around.

Arrived on 8/21 at 11 a.m. prior to check-in time to a desk line 5 deep with all before me told rooms ready at 3. No members line or club floor line. Finally get to desk to discover the club floor room we had booked had been upgraded to Ambassador Suite and room was ready. This more than compensated for the queue. Card access elevator to club floor and suite is next to lounge. Suite is 2 full rooms, one as bedroom with king bed and one as living area with pull out sofa. 2 full baths, 2 minibars, bathrobes, slippers, bath condiments, bowl of fresh fruit as welcome amenity. Each room also had doors to double rooftop patio area with table and chairs looking at Koepelkerk. Usual tvs, magazines in room, etc. Lounge had morning and evening buffet and in evening had beer selection and wines. Soft drinks, tea and coffee available all day with some fruit and automatic expresso machine. Best part of lounge was Bronwyn who made our stay more pleasant.

Room decor was standard Ren, but very roomy and comfortable. This hotel may be a 4 rather than a 5, but this suite guaranteed a pleasant visit and I would strongly urge those staying here to pay more for the club floor. The reviews here convinced me to do so and I found it worthwhile.