We don't understand how this hotel got such good reviews on Trip Advisor - we only booked it because it did and were quite disappointed; now maybe will think again about the reliability of this site.
Positive:
* Staff very friendly and helpful at all times of day - in fact, they were too nice for such a disappointing place
* Rooms well equipped and clean
* Central location
* Nice balcony (if you can stand the noise - see below)
* Free drink on arrival (non-alcoholic)
* Nice shower, in our room, at least
Negative (where to start...):
* We had rooms at the front of the hotel which were very noisy - the tram rails were being changed during our stay, so we were woken 2 out of the 3 nights at 3 or 4am (I think that's what time it was) by the most awful noise that even ear-plugs couldn't block out
* The hotel was very smoky - fine if you're out for a "good time", but forget it if you have children, worth avoiding; everyone came back wheezing and coughing and we all stank of smoke of all types; people smoking in the middle of the night, smoke coming into room under doors, etc.
* Breakfast was very disappointing - if you like cold croissants, cold bread, packaged rusks, packaged ginger bread and processed cheese (hardly what you'd expect in the land of cheese!) then you'd love it, but we didn't; no cereal, no fresh milk, no hot food (unless you asked for toast), no yoghurts, no fruit, nothing, even the bread was out of a packet
* The rooms we had were tiny - no room to swing a cat; the only comparable thing is a berth on a ship and even then, we had bigger when we went to Santander by ferry; sitting on the toilet, your legs hit the door; also rooms very poorly lit
* Expensive for what it was - we paid about 560 euros for 3 kids in one triple bedded room and 2 adults in a double bedded room for 3 nights and that included a discount for cash
* TV was okay - lots of channels, but not all TV's received BBC - our kids room did, but our's not; CNN (puke!) was all we got
Other points:
* Stairs - we knew there'd be lots, but 73 steps to our floor was a bit excessive, especially after walking the whole day (we were on the top floor) and all were steep
* We're sure there are probably decent rooms in the hotel, but we didn't get them; perhaps a stay on the 1st or 2nd floor or inside rather than outside would be better - would recommend asking if you want to stay here
* Stayed in much better places for much less money even on previous visits to Amsterdam. Would recommend looking for somewhere else and think about being slightly further out as that's probably what makes this place so expensive; think about a non-smoking place as well, you can always visit a cafe or a pub - they smoke everywhere anyway!