Sir Albert Hotel Amsterdam review. Interesting location, but everything else is NO!

Marriott has 30 different brands in its portfolio. Each sign has its own specific location both as a product and as a philosophy that, unfortunately, As recognition of benefits under the Bonvoy program.

Marriott Design Hotels, what they are

These facilities are generally small hotels that have decided to join the Marriott family while maintaining a clear independence from the other hotels in the group. These are not run-of-the-mill hotels, but facilities with a strong design flair and attention to detail: being often boutique hotels, it is the attention to detail that makes the difference.

When people ask me why I prefer Hilton to Marriott one of the reasons is precisely because when you stay in a Hilton hotel with status you know very well what you will be able to ask for and what you are entitled to receive. In contrast in the Marriott world there is so much confusion, starting, for example, On which brand gives away breakfast and which does not.

Reservation

We decided to spend a weekend in Amsterdam, away from the spring bridges, but despite the uncertain weather and the not at all festive period, the Dutch capital was full of tourists from Italy and beyond. One of the reasons was the presence at the Rijksmuseum of the exhibition devoted to Vermeer, for many art lovers the exhibition of the year if not more. An exhibition that sold out as fast as the Coldplay tour.

Among various facilities, I decided to book in one of the Marriott group to maximize the early-year offer that doubles qualifying nights plus 1,000 bonus points For each night stayed. Take advantage of these promotions makes it easier to renew status, and this is a very important advantage If you want to scale a hotel loyalty program.

Marriott has several facilities in the Dutch capital and I focused on this one because of its location, in the heart of the museum district, and because I had never stayed in a Marriott Design hotel. I was curious to try it out, since I had stayed in two hotels in the family Tribute Portfoliosor as the The Vagabond Club in Singapore and the Royal Hawaiian in Honolulu Finding myself very well.

So we decided to make a reservation at the Sir Albert, and unfortunately it was not a good choice.

Check-in

We arrived around 1 p.m. at the hotel; the reception area is tiny as is the lobby in general. The lobby is very neat in appearance. From the wall with the hippos to the library, everything is taken care of down to the smallest detail such as the choice of books and covers, which is so neat that it looks fake.

Check-in is done at two desks at the end of the lobby. We were informed that we had received an upgrade, which is not taken for granted in a Design Hotel, insenga Where it is not even possible to take advantage of choice benefits, but that the room would be ready in the afternoon. Leaving our bags at the hotel, we headed out, despite the inclement weather.

First fail the fact that all arriving guests were offered a welcome drink, which did not happen in our case, probably due to the presence of so many people waiting in line to check out/in.

The room

At about 3 p.m. we received an email notifying us that our room was ready, but of course we continued our tour and returned to the hotel around 6 p.m. At the front desk we were informed that our luggage was already in the room and we went up to the fourth, and last, floor.

The hotel is located in an old building that has been completely renovated and used as a hotel. Actually, two typical buildings were joined together resulting in up and down steps to move around the corridors. Impossible not to notice it given the mural on the front of the building.

The room is not designer at all, except for a print hanging on the wall. The bed was a queen mattress, and the only really nice thing about the room was the accessible terrace with a view of Amsterdam's rooftops.

It's just too bad that the temperatures always close to 0 didn't invite much to experience it, but I guess in the summer this option can bring real value to the room. Other rooms on the 4th floor also have the terrace, but only this one had a small relaxation area, while all the others just space to smoke a cigarette.

In general, however, the room is small, there is a micro closet and next to the bed a small table with a chair and on the opposite side an armchair.

The bathroom looks like a prefab inserted into the room. A shiny black wall hiding a small bathroom with just the bare minimum, but at this level I would expect at least a real door and ventilation, instead the former was as crooked as when you assemble your Ikea closet without reading the instructions, and the latter was not there.

Coffee maker and kettle as standard as a small supply of snacks and drinks in the minibar. In the room nothing at all, nor a treat or a little something as is often the case when an elite guest arrives at the hotel.

The worst thing, however, came during the evening, from the hotel's air conditioning came over the hot air the scent of cooking, as if the restaurant hood and the air conditioning system crossed somewhere, flooding the rooms with Chinese restaurant model scents.

The structure

The main problem is that this hotel is not small, but it is the common areas that are nonexistent. The lobby consists of two sofas and a few chairs. And nothing else. If you have to wait for a cab, or a friend to come down from the room there was often no place to sit. The hotel is not small so this is no small inconvenience. There are also no facilities other than the restaurant facilities which are on the -1 floor, reached only by steep stairs.

As mentioned, there is little design around the rest of the hotel as well, except for some display cases outside the elevators and the beautiful wood and wrought iron staircase leading to the floors.

Food & Beverage

Another disappointment was to find out that. the hotel in fact does not have its own restaurant, or rather, the restaurant is there and is perhaps even more famous than the hotel, But guests of the facility have no facilitated route to book and given the weather was really severe we would have gladly had dinner at the ristorant that participates in American Express' Global Dinig and thus falls under the list where you can spend the €150/year Of restaurant vouchers available to platinum customers.

Breakfast in Design Hotels is not among the benefits for those with Platinum status or higher. It is served in the Izakaya restaurant. The feeling is that the obvious quality of the restaurant is not transferred to the breakfast as well, as if you are playing for 0-0, just because you are obliged to serve breakfast (for a fee).

The quality of the products and the offer is not worth the 25€ charged. The buffet is in the norm, and with the 25€ you are entitled to choose a dish from the a la carte menu.

In conclusion

The location is the only thing that saves this hotel: definitely an added value, but the rest is a resounding fail. The "stench" of cooking in the room forces you to turn off the air conditioning/heating (and we were 0° outside) in order not to sleep in a restaurant. The absence of common areas is really an annoying thing, also because the rooms are not huge and if you have to work on the pc you have to look for a place outside the hotel.

The verdict

Historic building and hotel fitted really well inside. However, the available space was sacrificed to squeeze in the highest number of rooms, minimizing the livable space for guests. From a design hotel I expect design, here there was really little design, partly because it takes up space.

4

Pro

• The location

Against

• The stench in the room
• No spaces or services
• No privileges for guests with restaurant