Visit Amsterdam

Hi, friends!

The information about the following Amsterdam hotel was received from Marbee. She liked the idea of describing budget Amsterdam hotels for my sister and friends who are going to come to the capital. She was glad to share information and facts about some Amsterdam hotels. These are hotels where her relatives, friends or acquaintances stayed when in Amsterdam. Thank you, Marbee! And here is the first hotel described by Marbee.

Hotel Artemis Amsterdam is a 4-star Amsterdam hotel located a little farther away from the hustle and bustle of the Amsterdam’s city center, so guests can enjoy quiet nights; the exact address of the Hotel Artemis Amsterdam is John M. Keynesplein 2. The city center is about a 15-20 walk away from the hotel. If you don’t like walking and prefer public transport you can just jump on a tram around the corner from the hotel. As I have already said somewhere in the previous posts, taxis in Amsterdam are exorbitantly priced, prices there are much greater than they should be. So, beware of taxi drivers they will rob you blind! Public transport is much cheaper! By the way, central station and airport are reachable by public transport as well.

Marbee’s family friends stayed there when they visited the city for a family occasion - her brother was getting married. They didn’t have any problems with checking in because they had booked the room in advance choosing from superior, executive and business classifications. The room they got was great for the price they paid, which wasn’t much in comparison to other hotels of the same star rating.

Sorry, I will continue later. Bye!

Hello!

Well, today I am going to tell you about our walking tour of Amsterdam. To tell the truth, that wasn’t really a “walking tour”, because we were able to see just one Amsterdam’s sight - Rijksmuseum. Of course, I had grater plans, but I just couldn’t imagine how much there was to see, we spent 2 hours in this gigantic art museum, but couldn’t view even a third of the museums richest art collection. You need a few days to explore the whole museum. Marbee said that the main building of the Rijksmuseum was closed for construction, so only the already renovated Philips Wing was open for visitors, but much of the museum’s art collection was being displayed there: masterpieces of Ruysdael, Vermeer, Hals, and, of course, Rembrandt. I am interested in arts, but I don’t really know much about it, in other words, I am a dilettante. Marbee knew even less than me, so we had to spend some money on renting an audio tour of the museum. I felt like a real tourist! From those unknown masterpieces I was impressed by Vermeer’s “The Drunken Pair” and “Woman at her Toilet”.

The decorative arts galleries were a little less-crowded than the rest of the museum. There were fine collections of Dutch ceramics, furniture, crystal, silver and other decorative arts.

We had a great time there and I think we should come back to explore the rest of the museum. We were tired, and here is my advice for all those who would like to explore this particular museum or some other Amsterdam places of interest - be sure to wear comfortable shoes! I will definitely follow this advice next time!

Bye!

Hello!

We, I mean Alex and I, are still sitting at home, we just went out for a short walk today in the afternoon to take the fresh air. I am really tired sitting at home; Jack is on his business trip to Milan, he will be back on Friday and I already miss him very much :((( I am planning to go sightseeing tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, just in order to cheer up a little. Marbee (a friendly young woman living next door, we often chat with her, she is local and she is learning French at the university, she practices in French with me sometimes) agreed to accompany me on my small sightseeing tour. I hope to have a good time.

Now, I am going to revert to the Travel Hotel Amsterdam, a cheap 2-star Amsterdam hotel in the center of the city and close to many places of interest. We stayed in the Travel Hotel in Amsterdam two years ago (that was my first visit to Amsterdam). Jack and I booked a room in this cheap Amsterdam hotel for one night, the next day we were going to depart for another city. Unfortunately, we hadn’t enough time to explore the city.

We compared the rooms offered by the hotel and booked an en-suite double room, with private facilities, which meant that we had a double bed and a private shower and toilet. There were basic rooms (twin, triple and quad) as well with shower and toilet in the corridor. Not my choice! But guests could save some money booking this room type.

I will continue later on, just feel a little bit tired after a day with Alex, I hope he will recover soon! Bye!

Hello!

I go on with the description of Hotel Falcon Amsterdam.

I have already mentioned in the previous post the perfect location of the hotel in the center of Amsterdam, very close to the most popular places of interest and public transport, which makes this 3-star Amsterdam hotel a good place to settle if your goal is to explore the capital. You can reach most of the sights on foot, and if you don’t mind walking a little and want to save money and keep within your budget don’t take a taxi because local taxis tend to be quite expensive. Sandra admitted that when they tried to take a taxi from central station to the Hotel Falcon Plaza Centre, the taxi driver charged them EUR 25 for the ride; soon they discovered that the route was very short and it was quite simple to walk.

There is a special private parking lot adjacent to the Hotel Falcon Plaza Centre, so guests on wheels can park their cars for €25 a day (last year price, sorry, I don’t know how much they charge these days).

The hotel itself is housed in a modern building; stone-floored lobby with lots of plants is a pleasant place to relax with some friends. Amsterdam Hotel Falcon is far enough from the noisy nightlife, so it doesn’t disturb you in the hotel room, but it is still close enough to enjoy everything Amsterdam has to offer.

I will continue later about the hotel. I have to go. Bye for now!

Hello, friends!

I keep my promise to find the best Amsterdam hotel for my sister’s family, so here is the next city center hotel in Amsterdam - Hotel Falcon Plaza Centre - which has been highly praised by some of my acquaintances, Martin and Sandra. I don’t know them very well and have seen them once when they turned out to be in France while traveling around Europe; they are from Boston, so we mostly chat on ICQ. Very nice and friendly couple. Thanks for the information!

Hotel Falcon Plaza in Amsterdam is conveniently located in the very heart of the downtown Amsterdam close to everything: the vibrant “Waterlooplein” flea market (200 metres from the hotel.), which is a shoppers’ paradise with so many curiosities to gaze or to purchase (I haven’t had a chance to do shopping there yet, but I hope to wander there with you, Caroline!); “Rembrandtplein” square where lots of cafes with open-air terraces are conducive to enjoying a refreshing drink and watching the people go by (I have been there lately with Chantal); the ‘Stopera’ (Opera House and City Hall); Dam Square and Anne Frank’s House, not to mention the famous Red Light District, are just a short walk away from Hotel Falcon Plaza Centre in Amsterdam. Ideally located, isn’t it?

There is a tram stop located nearby and I must say that trams in Amsterdam run frequently! Joanne claims that if you take the tram, you can easily reach all ends of the city. I think, this 3-star budget accommodation in Amsterdam is an ideal base for the city exploration.

Sorry, I should go now, I will continue later on.