HotelChatter

Check In
Check in was fairly easy and since everyone speaks near-perfect English in Amsterdam, there was no problem with the language. However, our room wasn't ready at the time and we were given a one-star to relax in which was nice except tile walls make for a very cold room at the end of November.

The one-star where we slept off the jet-lag.

History
The Lloyd Hotel was built back in 1921 specifically as a hotel for immigrants making their way from Eastern Europe to the Americas. Then it spent almost fifty years as a prison before being rented out for various artist workshops. By the mid 1990s the building was falling apart but the area around it, the Oostelijke Handelskade, was going through a rebirth. So the city of Amsterdam held a contest to see who could come up with the best idea for the building. And the winners were a group of individuals who decided the place should be turned back into a hotel, with rooms and common areas designed by Dutch designers and artists. In renovating the hotel, the designers tried to keep as much of the building's original structure as possible. Hence, there's a four-star room that used to be the old pharmacy for the immigrants with a bed in the old elevator shaft.

The four-star room with a bed in the old elevator shaft.

Common Areas
The hotel has a restaurant, lounge and library, with the library being on the second floor overlooking the other two. There's also a small bar near the front of the hotel. The restaurant is open, thankfully, pretty much all day with the menu being available in room service for 24 hours.  The hotel also has amazing WiFi which works throughout the hotel, including your rooms.

View from the library looking down on the restaurant.

Room Reaction
The room we spent the rest of the trip in,  room 604, is we think, one of the best in the hotel. Any room on the 6th floor as we explained last week is one of the best thanks to the wooden beam ceilings and waterfront views.  But even if you have a one-star room and have to share the bathroom at the end of the hall, you will sleep very well as the beds and its comforters are heavenly. Big and soft, you sink right in them. The heat in the rooms also work fast which was important since we had a cement floor. And every morning and every night, we tripped down to the little tea spot out in the hall where a hot water faucet, tea bags and tea cups were placed.

The only thing that was a little unsettling was the shower since it had no shower curtain and no glass doors to keep the water in. But most bathrooms in this hotel have quirks like the one in the middle of the room with a squeegee mop, one that is part of a giant armoire and one room with a tub right in the middle. Nonetheless, all rooms come with a desk, phone, and television. One-stars get special bathrobes for the trip down the hall.

Room 604 and the most comfortable bed.

Our shower. Note: The white shower puff is ours.

Red room tub.

Our tea spot.

WiFi
As we said above, the WiFi works amazingly in this hotel. There's no fee and there's no sign-up. We even downloaded TV shows off iTunes with this connection and it didn't take half the day like at some places. If you don't have your computer with you, the hotel has a business center with two computers but no printer.

Cost
Depending on what sort of room you want, you can pay between 80 and 295 euros.  

Bottom Line
At first, we were a little skeptical of the hotel thanks to the one-star experience. But room 604 perked us right back up. The staff here is lovely, mostly hip young people, and the hotel seems to be a popular meeting spot for several locals who often met there for lunch or tea. And despite being a little bit out of town, the Lloyd Hotel seems to capture more of the essence of Amsterdam than a Marriott in the center of town ever could.

We'll be bringing you more reports on Amsterdam throughout the week both here on HotelChatter and Jaunted. In the meantime, you can visit Trippist for more of a local's perspective on Amsterdam.

Tags: Amsterdam Hotel Reviews

by juliana