I took my (senior) mother for her first trip to Europe. I had booked us for a Tulip Time River Cruise for 9 days on Avalon Waterways. (that will not be reviewed here, other than let me say Hendrick, the cruise director we had made our experience first class.)

We actually had two stays here. One for a couple days prior to our river cruise which we booked through Hotels.com and post-cruise I had booked directly with the hotel.

I had many communications with the hotel staff prior to our arrival, since I wanted to make sure of many things prior to our departure from the U.S. They were always very prompt and courteous in responding to all my questions. Most times they responded within a couple hours, but certainly always within a day. (Don't forget the time zone changes from when I was writing them and actual work hours for the main staff.)

On both of our stays we were roomed in the front of the hotel (the "old part") which faced Vondelpark. It does face a side street and I was concerned with street noise but that was absolutely not an issue. (Also remember we were there in April, so the windows did not have to be open due to warm weather. If you are visiting during more "summery months" and you're disturbed by noises, you may want to consider upgrading to a room with air conditioning.)

We arrived quite early into Schiphol and caught a Connexxions hotel shuttle that dropped us off directly at the hotel. It was a great alternative for someone that doesn't want to pay taxi fees and you don't have to mess with the wonderful mass transit buses with a bunch of luggage. The shuttle dropped us off at Piet Hein well before the posted check-in time. I cannot say enough positive concerning the front desk staff! They were very kind to us and when they saw the haggard appearance of myself and my mother from the flight, rushed to have our room readied hours before the posted check-in time. They held our luggage in a secure room while we went out to have breakfast. Upon our return from getting food into our bellies the room was prepared and they offered to assist us with our baggage, however they were very busy at the time with other guests so I got mom into the room and then I made a second trip to the luggage room for our remaining bags.
The room was on the smallish side, compared to U.S. hotels, however it was decently laid out and had all the amenities we needed. The room was quaint, with a nautical feel, befitting a country that is "of the sea". The bathroom was very modern with a double flush toilet (little flush/big flush) to conserve water. As found in most European hotels, they provide an "all purpose" liquid soap that is used for hand washing and bathing/washing hair (it is wonderful and unless you have special skin concerns, works superbly.) Note however, I had asked them if they provided wash cloths for bathing and they assured me they did. (My mother asked me to check on this, as when her mother went to England years before mentioned they are not supplied.) Through translation they didn't understand what I was asking and there were not wash cloths. There were hand towels, regular bath towels and a bath mat, but not a hand cloth to be found.

**PLEASE NOTE** If you book through any hotel booking service other than directly through them the morning breakfast is NOT included in the cost of your hotel stay. Since the first stay was booked through Hotels.com breakfast would have been extra. We opted to catch something to eat at one of the many places in the vicinity. On our stay after our river cruise, which we had booked directly with the hotel, breakfast was included and we found it more than sufficient with the variety of items and the quality of the food provided.

We loved the location of the hotel. Close to many of the museums we were interested in, overlooking Vondelpark and away from the hustle and bustle that we experienced when nearer to Centraal Station.

Upon our return from the river cruise we had the room directly over our previous room. This had even more space in the room due to where a single closet was placed. It made a huge difference, even though the closet in the first room only took up approximately 6 sq feet near the beds. In the second room that closet was positioned near the entrance door and made a world of difference. When we were on the river cruise the boat did have wash cloths, (confession time) and one of them came up missing in our stateroom, which later served us well when we returned to the hotel.

The section of the hotel we stayed in had an elevator making access to the rooms easy. I took the stairs many times and enjoyed the small amount of exercise going up and down. However the steps tend to be quite steep and my mother would have had difficulty in walking the stairs. So, again, fellow traveler, if this might be an issue for anyone in your party, check with the staff ahead of time to make sure this will not be an issue. In a review I had read, the traveler mentioned their room had a step or two from the floor of the sleeping area and the bathroom. I consulted with them prior to our departure to Amsterdam that our room would not have the steps, as my mother sometimes gets up in the middle of the night and I didn't want harm coming to her.

In closing, is this the PERFECT hotel? No, one can always nitpick any accommodation apart. However, if one is looking for a reasonably price hotel, convenient to many of the museums and Vondelpark, a great desk staff that is more than willing to help you plan your day touring Amsterdam, and beds that are very comfortable, you could do MUCH worse than staying at the quaint Hotel Piet Hein.