I booked this hotel on the strength of the reviews on Tripadvisor and was not disappointed. My friend and I stayed at the hotel for a week in the middle of August. The staff were consistently helpful and friendly and were happy to recommend restaurants and make reservations whenever needed. The whole "at home" concept is great and the selection of snacks and drinks available could not be faulted. Breakfast was also varied and plentiful. My only slight criticism is that there do not seem to be any true twin rooms in the hotel - the best we could do was to inch our two single beds apart every night which was not easy since they were held together by a top cover; however, I would still have no hesitation in booking into this hotel again if I were spending time in Amsterdam.

What can Isay that has not already been said. My husband and I stayed at the Banks Mansion over August Bank Holiday. We upgraded to canal view room which was well worth it. As soon as we arrived we were impressed by the building, the cleanliness of the hotel, how smart and how helpful the staff are. A special thanks to Nina who made us feel so welcome, and always had a smile for everyone. All staff lovely but Nina stood out from the rest. Our room was large by european standards, spotless and as mentioned by others had very well stocked mini bar. The breakfast room was lovely with a good selection of foods, my husband enjoyed his freshly made omelettes very much. Once again everything was spotless. Amsterdam is a lovely place to visit with very friendly helpful people. So easy to get around and we always felt safe. If you are making your way from the station to the hotel by tram make a note to get tram number 24, 25 and I think 16 also goes there. the hotel is a couple of minutes walk from the tram stop. Ask for Herengracht Canal. Thank you Banks Mansion for making our stay a wonderful one. Lorraine and David.

Stayed at Banks Mansion for 3 nights on 25th August 06, for mine & husband's 10th wedding anniversary (without our kids hurray!! - thanks mum and dad for looking after them!).

Was very excited about staying at the hotel, especially after reading so many positive reviews on trip advisor. Arrived after a short delay on our flight at around 7 pm, we were greeted by 'Nina' on Reception, who was very friendly. We were given room 201 which had a view overlooking the Herengracht canal, and our window was directly opposite the Mayor of Amsterdam's house!! Lovely room, large bed with a chair/footstool at the side. Nice shower-room in art-deco style with a lovely big shower cubicle. The shower leaked onto the floor each time so we had to make good use of the bath mat, but it wasnt worth complaining about! Loved the plasma tv on the wall, and the dvd player. Also enjoyed the free decanters of drink - gin, brandy and whiskey. We made it to breakfast 2 of our 3 mornings, very nice but found the girl who made the omelettes/french toast etc a bit stroppy. I think she was just a bit stressed as she had been left alone by her colleagues, but even so she was a bit rude! (I only asked if there was another loaf of bread as when we arrived in the breakfast room there was none!). (on Sundays the breakfast room is open until 11, we had arrived at approx. 10:20 - so obviously we expected to have bread available)! However, dont let this put you off, the hotel is great in general!

We made good use of the 'living area' where they provide free coffee and pastries in the mornings, alcoholic drinks (more or less everything you can think of) and nuts/doritos/dips etc in the afternoon/evening. Oh, and free use of the internet if you need it.

The hotel was in an excellent location, everything we were interested in seeing was within a 10 minute walk.

We had a lovely meal (probably the nicest meal we've ever had - and we've eaten in a fair few restaurants!), at Casa di David which is located on the Singel, a 7 minute walk from Banks Mansion. To start we shared bruschetta with mozzarella and pesto - delicious. My husband then had a plain old spaghetti bolognaise - but said it was the best he'd ever eaten! I had kebabs of king prawn & poached salmon, on a bed of green beans with parmesan dressing - gorrrrgeous! This was served with saute potatoes. The food was lovely, the setting lovely, waiters very friendly, lovely atmosphere. (by the way we got Nina at Banks Mansion to reserve us a table as we'd tried to get in on the Friday night but couldnt).

We also ate lunch at Cafe de Kroon in Rembrandtplein, just a snack, but it was a lovely sunny day and nice to people-watch for an hour or so!

We also tried a 'coffee shop'. We stayed away from the tourist-y ones, and went to a more 'locals' type coffee shop. Had a great atmosphere, with funky dance music playing.

Had a wander through the Red Light District - what an eye-opener!!!

Also did a canal boat tour, during the day, this was really enjoyable too.

We spent one morning shopping in Kalverstraat - a few nice clothes shops (some designer, some high street), everything a bit cheaper than the UK.

All in all, will definitely go back to Amsterdam one day, and will stay at Banks Mansion!

Stayed here for five days starting August 19th. Loved the friendly staff, great breakfast and location. The free mini bar is ok but doesn't really offset the musty room that stank of cigarette smoke, the dirty chairs in the lobby, and the not quite sparkling clean bathroom.

Although the Banks claims four star status, this is a three star hotel at best.