June 1, 2015

Review: Andaz Amsterdam

Introduction
Planning & Booking
British Airways 747-400 First Class Denver to London
British Airways Concorde Room LHR
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
Andaz Amsterdam
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome
Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class Frankfurt to JFK

After a great two night stay at the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam, we made our way over to the Andaz.  While the walk was gorgeous, I lost some points for making us walk with all of our bags.  Little did we know that I would make up those points (and then some) once we were shown to our room.  The building housing the hotel used to be the public library on the Prisengracht canal (Prince's canal) and is situated in the Jordaan neighborhood of Amsterdam.

Andaz Amsterdam Exterior

Andaz Amsterdam Check-In
Andaz has a great setup for check-in.  Instead of a "formal" check-in desk they have a handful of stations with laptops where they process check-in formalities.  I had booked the single night with Hyatt Gold Passport points (25,000) which I thought was a great deal given that we'd be rebated 20% of those due to Hyatt's current 20% promotion.  So a net cost of 20,000 points for a standard room selling for 635 Euros.  That works out to about $725 USD with tax - over 3.5 cents per point.





Check-in was smooth and took just a couple of minutes.  The hotel was fully booked and because of that we had been upgraded to an Andaz Large Suite on the top floor of the hotel (5th).  Check out the rate for this suite:


I'm not Hyatt Diamond (top elite tier) just Platinum thanks to the Chase Hyatt Card.  But for whatever reason, they selected us for the upgrade.  Sweet!

We made our way up to our room and were blown away.  The room contained a giant sitting area with a desk, couch, multiple chairs, and a dining table with 6 chairs although for some reason we didn't get a picture that did the room justice.

Sitting area of the suite
As is standard at all Andaz properties, the minibar (non-alcoholic) is complimentary for all guests.


A sliding door sectioned off the bedroom from the sitting area.

Bedroom
Amazing view from the 5th floor of the Andaz
The bathroom was attached to the bedroom and contained double sinks, the closets, shower, toilet, and tub.  The Andaz is an "art" hotel and there is a ton of art through the property - from the room to the public areas.  Definitely a unique feature and one that we both really enjoyed.





One of the cool parts of the room was that the sitting area contained floor to ceiling windows that looked across at another suite as well as the atrium containing a giant piece of art and hotel's elevators.

Looking out at the atrium
Off the lobby, the hotel has a "library" with complimentary pastries and coffee in the morning and happy hour (red/white wine and small snacks) for a couple hours in the evening.  We enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine before dinner just sitting on the couch facing the canal watching the world canal boats go by.

Andaz Amsterdam library


We loved our stay at the Andaz Amsterdam.  The upgrade was a great bonus as it's always nice to have a suite.  The service was friendly and accommodating across the board and we enjoyed our visit to the Andaz happy hour and the Bluespoon Bar for a nightcap.  We'd happily return to the property when we're back in Amsterdam.  Although deciding between the Waldorf Astoria and the Andaz could prove to be a challenge - perhaps we'll stay at both!

The next morning we went for one final stroll around Amsterdam.  Even at 7:30AM on a weekday, we couldn't find a place to grab a cup of coffee!  Checkout was a breeze and the hotel called a cab to take us to Amsterdam Central Station.  30 minutes later and we were boarding the train for Paris!

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