Stayed here from March 2nd - 5th. It is about a 10 minute walk from the station and very easy to find. Check in staff were welcoming and friendly and we were given Room 34 which overlooked the canal (as we had requested by e-mail). The room was small but adequate - the bathroom was tiny and reminded me of a caravan bathroom. There was no shower tray, just a drain hole in the floor but it seemed to work quite well.

The hotel is very central, near the station, canal cruises etc. Lots of restaurants in the vicinity - try Spuistraat for the best choice, although we had a fantastic meal in the De Belhamel in Brouwersgracht which was only a 4 minute walk away. There is also a tapas bar just down the street which did nice food but was very smokey (that will change after the smoking ban in July though).

One thing which did surprise us a bit were the number of red light windows in the street and also sidestreets off the Singel. My husband reckoned I had booked us into a hotel in the red light district!! They didn't bother us but I reckon if you were there with young children it could be a bit awkward to explain to them. The Hotel Brouwer just down the street (which I nearly booked instead of the Singel) even had one next door.

However, it was a good hotel, decent breakfasts and friendly polite staff and I would recommend it for its location and lovely views.

This is a very typical Amsterdam hotel, chic and small. I really do not understand those (mostly US) complains about the size of the hotel! It is a typical Amsterdam hotel, where space, amazingly, IS limited and damn expensive (unlike North US). So there is either the choice of staying downtown for a good price, close to everything you can imagine (from Bulldog Bar to Red Light District, shopping and museums area) OR pay 500 a night and stay 20km further, close to airport, with a great view of the landing area. Mention the Receptionist you want a room with canal view. otherwise you might end up with 35 or 36 for example, that face the wall. But this is the dutch experience. Breakfast is very good, with a good choice of cheese, jams, hams, bacons, eggs, milk, coffee, tee and cereals. Bathrooms are indeed small (compared to home standards) but again, this is Netherlands and this is a normal sized bathroom (and I've seen enough of that country, considering that my spouse is dutch). Don't forget to pick up the discount tickets in front of the elevators for the museums. WiFi is included, normally is a paper in the room with the key (or ask the front desk).

Stayed there for 2 nights. Fantastic location - right by the canal yet only 5 minutes walk from the main train station. Very close to every thing but since it faces the canal it is so peaceful. The room is however, extremely small but the window opens the whole way so it is not stuffy. The breakfast despite being limited, was sufficient. Very helpful and friendly staff. I really enjoyed my stay there.

This is aimed particularly at North American potential guests, who may make the same mistake I made. I was booked to stay at the Hotel Singel on October 23rd 2007, as a layover enroute from Vancouver to Johannesburg. I booked the Singel because of reviews in Tripadvisor, and because my other choices were full. Two days before I was due to leave Vancouver, KLM cancelled my flight KL682, and routed me on NWA through Seattle instead so that an overnight stopover in Amsterdam was no longer required.

I immediately e-mailed the Hotel Singel reservations desk to advise them of my need to cancel. I was shocked to then receive a response that I would be charged the full amount, even though I advised them a full 44 hours ahead of their deadline! In fact, I gave them 58 hours of notice ahead of their stated check-in time of 2 pm.

So here's the warning, especially to travellers from North America, where hotels will, almost without exception, accept cancellations within 24 hours of check-in. Hotel Singel's website is quite clear that the notice required is 48 hours, but NOT FROM CHECK-IN TIME. Rather, it is timed from 00.00 on the day of check-in! The website quotes check-in as 2 pm, so in fact you must give 62 hours of notice to avoid being charged the full amount.

I exchanged e-mails with the reservations manager, a Mr. Peter Verweij, who politely told me that I had not provided the requisite notice, and therefore nothing could be done. I offered to negotiate some percentage of the nightly rate, but my e-mail was ignored.

Obviously, I will never deal with organization again, and I hope at least one person reading this chooses not to stay at this hotel. I think their business practices are unreasonable, and although I agree that their policy is posted (and I read it), I think demanding 62 hours of notice prior to check-in is ridiculous, especially since the itinerary change was not of my making.

Finally, I did notify Mr. Verweij ahead of time that I would be posting this on Tripadvisor, Easytobook, etc so that others may learn from my mistake, and still he chose to make no amends. Hopefully the lost business will be worth the $150 he took from me.