Very good location and very good service. Staff is ready to help and support the guest's needs.

The complimentary room frigo bar and the complimentary snacks and beverages in the hall have been highly appreciated.

The rooms are very comfortable and quite (mine was on the back).

Breakfast is included in the room price and 2 computers with free access to internet are available in the hall. Other hotel consider these services as extra.

Negative comment: only the ugly moquette outside the rooms

The friendly staff couldn't do enough for us. They made our stay very special. The bathroom was amazing and the room was clean and spacious. The breakfast was good and all the drinks and snacks were free of charge. We would stay there again. Have stayed in other hotels in Amsterdam that were more expensive but not as nice!

Banks Mansion is not your usual European City Centre hotel. It is much more in keeping with the 'Inns' found in New York City. It is all the better for this.

Our stay over new year was excellent - from the friendly, efficient check-in; stylish, modern, clean bedrooms; bathrooms you actually want to use (though many rooms simply have walk-in showers rather than a bath so worth checking if that is important to you); 'The Living' where drinks and snacks are available 24/7 - all complimentary - and internet access is free; to the more than sufficient breakfasts served in the kitchen.

If you are looking for pomp and ceremony (you know the sort of thing - your poached eggs brought to you covered in a silver dome at breakfast), then Banks isn't for you. If, however, you are content to request freshly cooked pancakes, french toast and feast of high quality fresh bread, jam, cheese and meat at breakfast and prefer a more relaxed hotel stay, this place is perfect.

Re comments below regarding the policy of not taking drinks to your room. This is nonsense. Yes, the drinks are for sharing so it is bad form to take a bottle of champagne up to your room, but we (and other guests) were never stopped from taking glasses of wine & champagne, bottles of beer, cups of coffee etc. to our room. As we stayed over new year, a half bottle of champagne was left on our bed - a nice guesture. There is also a well stocked mini bar in each room along with decanters of gin, congac and whisky.

For a City Centre base in Amsterdam, Banks Mansion is faultless. I wish every city had an equivalent hotel to save us from the overpriced misery of bland, outdated, business hotels that charge €20+ for a substandard breakfast.

If I had to critique it would be twofold: 1) our loo roll supplies weren't topped up (thoug remedied by a phonecall) and 2) local taxes payable on checkout were unexpected. That said, as everything else was included in the room rate, the bill on checkout was considerably smaller than is usually the case!

There is a reason that Banks Mansion is rated number 2 among hotels in Amsterdam on the tripadvisor website--it's simply a great hotel. As other reviewers have stated, the hotel staff is friendly and helpful with directions and restaurant recommendations, the rooms and beds are comfortable, and the complimentary breakfast, snacks and drinks only add to make your stay more enjoyable.

My husband and I stayed at Banks Mansion in early December 2006 with two friends. Our friends are rather picky about where they stay, so I spent a lot of time researching various hotels in Amsterdam based on the location, cost and amenities. We booked the Christmas Shopping arrangement package on the Banks Mansion webiste at a good rate considering everything that was included with it. We were fortunate to be visiting during Sinterklaasavod (December 5th), when Sinter Klaas, along with his helper, Zwarte Piet, arrive to launch the Christmas season. As a part of this celebration, the hotel left cookies at our door as a gift.

I have visited Amsterdam in the summer, spring and winter, and I've found December to be one of the best times there because of Sinterklassavod and the Christmas markets. Moreover, of all of the hotels I've stayed in during those visits, none compares with the comfort of Banks Mansion.