The Amsterdam Sofitel is in a great location, right behind the Damrak and all the noise that accompanies it. Just a short walk from Centraal Station it's a great location....that's about it.
I had a rate of 179.00Euro ($220.0USD!) for 1night, including breakfast. Because I’m familiar with Sofitel, I assumed I was staying at a 4 star property. Not at all what I expected.
It’s a small hotel, 148 rooms with a restaurant and lounge. My room was very small and needed a makeover…badly. But then again, you don’t go to Amsterdam to stay in your room. I’ve read in other reviews that it’s a little noisy due to the traffic on that street, but our room faced a courtyard, so it was VERY quiet except for the maids slamming all the doors on my floor.
The thing I found slightly odd was there were no washcloths in the bathroom. Only towels….strange.
We had a cocktail in the lounge and encountered THE rudest bartender in the world. Didn’t catch his name, but he was an East Indian fellow. When we sat down, there was no one else in the bar. He walked right by us and started clearing off another table. No, “Hi” or “I’ll be right with you”, he just walked by and ignored us. We were in a great mood, so we just sat and waited.
When he finally came to our table, we ordered our drinks and waited…and waited. I ordered an Italian coffee, so I assumed he was brewing the coffee for it…that was the only reason it should take so long. After we got our drinks, the bartender never asked us if we needed anything else or even stopped by to ask if we wanted another, later. Anyway…when I complained about it at the front desk the morning when we checked out, the response I got was, “oh yeah, he’s like that”. Hmmm..strange response.
When I was paying my hotel bill, I noticed I was charged for 2 breakfast buffets at 20.00Euro a piece…even though my rate included breakfast. When I brought it to his attention, he tried to tell me that their rates don’t include breakfast. Luckily, I had my printout from the reservation I made on their website. I was right and he reprinted my receipt and took the breakfasts off.
This is a good hotel for the location…it’s literally a 2 minute walk to Dam Square and not far to the Anne Frank house. It’s not as noisy as the hotels on the Dam and the tram stops right in front of the hotel, to go to the train station or into the city. There are several restaurants within a 5 minute radius, a small grocery store across the street and 2 souvenir shops where the merchandise is less expensive.
I stay in Sofitels all over the place, and this wasn’t the quality and service I’ve come to expect.
I would probably give it another try when I return to Amsterdam. I REALLY like the location.

I had just stayed at the London Sofitel so my expectations were high. Unfortunately, they were not met. The hotel location is excellent and is central to anything one would want to do in Amsterdam. The check-in was okay, but it seemed liked the front desk was always short-staffed. I was attempting to use the business center to check e-mail and found it didn't work but could get anyone from the desk to assist as they were swamped with check-ins. The next morning they were swamped with check-outs.

The room was small and the bed was not that comfortable. The room was facing the back alley and was noisey. It was hard to sleep past 5:00 am with all the noise, especially since I was still partly on U.S. time.

I'd say the staff were generally helpful but seemed overworked boardering on burnout. The bellman was great though overworked as well trying to get cabs, move luggage, etc. They seemed to have a lot of tour groups coming through which always seems to overload a place.

The room service was overpriced at €20 for continental and the rolls still had adhesive labels on them! The room at €140 excluding breakfast was overpriced.

I stayed at this hotel last January and i liked it very much. Very good location, near the center but in a very pleasant and safe avenue, near the Central Station too (if you don't want to take a bus, you can walk). My room was not that big, but it had all I need for a 5 day stay (including coffee and tea facilities, which is very comfortable when outside is snowing!). My room was also very charming, with traditional wood celing. I also liked very much the staff, always very kind. I just don't give this hotel an Excellent because the normal price is very expensive. I bought it at a special price (99€), that's why I stayed there.

Very good hotel but room relatively small considering the rack rate. Better value for off season/internet etc reservations. Excellent location for rail station (but not too close) and trams etc. Buffet breakfast a little pricey for what's on offer. Would go back depending on room prices.