Arena Hotel Amsterdam

This hotel was way more interested in being chique than helpful. For having a restaurant on the ground floor it offered a measely room service. Felt like we heard more no's and sorry's than any other place we've been.

This hotel refused to refund the money in the wake of the Iceland volcano eruption. They are the SOLE hotel in the entire region to so refuse. I spoke to both the greedy general manager and his absolutely nasty deputy to sneered and even enjoyed telling me that there was no refund regardless of disaster. Run do not walk away form this place folks- it wikll be nothing but troulbe if any wrinkle should occur in your plans. You'd be better off and treated far better if you pitched a tent alongside the Herengracht!

Excited to get to this fancy sexy hotel after a long day of sightseeing, couldn't have been more disappointed. I had requested a bathtub and had even called in to confirm. The woman assured me it would be fine but thought I should also write an email to confirm our conversation to the reservations desk. When we arrived the front desk gave us soooooooooooo much attitude about the tub. Implying that for the deal we got we would be lucky to be staying there at all. I wouldn't back down and eventually someone showed us to a room with a bathtub. I will say the lobby common areas were quite impressive. As was our room at first glance. In the dark evening light, the high ceiling, mouldings, cornices, and grand windows were quite regal. But by the light of day everything looked different. The room was filthy! The bathroom was awash in mildew and rot. The high ceilings covered in cobwebs and the furniture and walls stained and smeared, with god knows what. We asked for a late checkout of which we had to pay 40€ and we were interrupted no less than 2 times by people coming in to check the mini bar. I've stayed in a lot of hotels, inns, b&b's, from good to bad to ugly and this is the first time I have felt compelled to write a nasty review. Don't stay here unless you like dirt and being treated like it.

Over priced, cold design, the bed was put right behind the window. suffered from cold and had to move it to be able to sleep.

This is a nice and clean hotel located close to downtown Amsterdam. It is close to subway thus quite covinient.

The Arena Hotel was nice, but a little out of the way from the downtown area. The room was quite small, but enough for us. No TV provided. Breakfast was very good.

The hotel's exterior, as well as the interior, were beautiful. The rooms actually included a loft for sleeping, which was an unexpected treat. All accomodations inside the room were clean and modern. The location is in a quiet and safe part of the city, but conveniently close to tram stops and a metro station. There is a grocery store a few blocks from the hotel, which can provide meals for travellers on a budget. The hotel also rents out bikes on a daily basis at an affordable rate, so we could tour the city the way the locals do. The staff at the front desk all spoke english, and were tremendous in helping us get around the city in the most affordable way. I don't have anything bad to say about this hotel and would definitely stay there again.

The building itself is a historic orphanage that had been several things including a hostel prior to becoming a hotel with a night club. The initial room assigned to us was a loft with a tiny couch, desk and bathroom downstairs and a bed upstairs via narrow spiral staircase. Not ideal for anyone who needs to use the toilet in the night. At least there was a TV in both areas. We requested another room since we thought this floor plan wasn't mentioned in what we had originally booked. The hotel was gracious enough to allow us to move to a much more spacious room on their top floor (elevator from 2nd to 3rd floor was broken). The second room was incredibly stunning. The room had very interesting lines and angles. The walls were painted white, had archway supports and attic-style walls. The bathroom was HUGE and the walls were black shiny subway tiles. There was a soaker tub and a shower in the bathroom. The angles and arches were in the bathroom as well. Not too many places to hang a towel and the place seemed like the remodel just was completed. We didn't find the mirror light switch to shut it off until we asked the front desk (it was "invisible" as it blended into the black tile). The front desk was helpful when directing us to a place to eat - the hotel does have a restaurant but we wanted to go into the neighborhood to check out local fare.

This hotel is great if you like funky architecture and a modern, trendy feel to your room. The place was spotless and roomy for Europe with nicely apportioned space. The room comes with a tea kettle and tea bags which is a nice touch. The architecture itself was gorgeous - there was a cool contradiction between the trendy modern interiors and the old world building. I only had a drink but the bar and restaurant were nice and seemed reasonably priced. The only drawback is that you are away from the center of things and it was pricey.

This hotel is a visual knockout. The removed staircase, black and white rooms, and interesting uses of space and color made it fun to just walk around and look at the place. the restaurant had a wonderful French menu at a good price but I didn't have time to try it. Staff was courteous and helpful. The room itself had some SPACE, which is generally hard to find in Amsterdam.