I should start by saying that I have both very fond and very furious memories of my past stays at CitizenM hotels. And very little of it has to do with the actual rooms.
During the Covid pandemic, after months of lockdown, my first flight in over a year left out of Amsterdam Schiphol. It was an early morning flight and instead of worrying about taking the train to Amsterdam so early in the morning, I just stayed overnight at the airport at the CitizenM Amsterdam Schiphol, which was actually the first CitizenM in the world. The restaurant was closed but I ordered room service green curry and beers and played around with the iPad, marveling at being able to change the colors of the light in the room. Even in an airport hotel, it was like discovering travel all over again after such a tough dry spell.
A few years later, at a CitizenM in Taipei, my wife and I were packing up to check out. She is a morning person and was kind enough to have gotten up early to get me a Starbucks. As I was putting clothes in my suitcase, I put my 16-ounce drip coffee, which I’d only had one sip of, on the counter under the television, not realizing it was slightly slanted downward. I turned my back on it for one minute and then, boom, splash, it had fallen right in her backpack, soaking both her work and personal computers as well as her passports. Miraculously, the computers worked after a little drying with a hair dryer and the “sensitive electronics” in the passport continue to work at the airport.
It is with this backdrop that I came to the Citizen Amsterdam Amstel for three nights for a workation trip. It’s a well-located hotel with all the aspects of a CitizenM that most people have come to know and love.
The room at the CitizenM Amsterdam Amstel
At check in on the self-serve touch screen computers in the lobby, you are given a choice of room location. You can pick a high floor or a low floor, with a view of the street, the garden, or the atrium. I chose a low floor room with a view of the “garden,” which wasn’t quite a garden but what can you do? The room was directly across from the elevator as well, but I didn’t hear a peep from other guests.
However, the rooms are all the same on the inside and the rooms at the CitizenM Amsterdam Amstel are like the rooms at any other CitizenM. The sink is in the room itself, the lights can be changed to all sorts of crazy fluorescent colors and the electric blackout curtains work wonderfully.
I love the concept of having two types of body wash for the shower: an invigorating one to use in the morning and a relaxing one to use at night. The water pressure was great and the shower heats up in no time.
It seems that this branch is a fairly new one and the rooms are still quite new and fresh. The air conditioning works well, which is no given in European hotels. The bed is comfortable and I didn’t have to call down to get thick pillows which suit my taste, as there were four of them already stacked on the bed. The bed was comfortable and would have been wide enough to accommodate three people (my time in Amsterdam was significantly less wild) even though it could have been a bit taller. There was a safe under the bed as well as a drawer of storage space for people who like to unpack their suitcases.
As I was in Amsterdam on a work trip, I can attest that the WiFi was more than adequate for a work call, the desk was comfortable and there were plenty of charging points, even for multiple types of plugs.
The service at the CitizenM Amsterdam Amstel
One of the few drawbacks to this property is that the front door is always locked. The staff explained that this is because there is free water and fruit for guests by the bar and they don’t want people wandering in off the streets to help themselves, but to my ear this was a very odd explanation. To unlock the door, you just have to tap your room key, but before you check in and after checking out, there is a phone to call someone at the front desk to open the door for you, which is a bit obnoxious.
I don’t know if it was just me or what, but every time I did that, it sounded like the person picking up was a bit surprised and confused as well as a bit bothered to why someone would be calling them even though they must get such calls dozens of times a day. Otherwise, the staff was friendly and efficient and happily stored my luggage. Given how the hotel is very self-serve, there are not many other opportunities to interact with the staff in a substantial way, especially if you go out for breakfast, as I did.
The location of the CitizenM Amsterdam Amstel
Perched just a stone’s throw from the River Amstel, the CitizenM Amsterdam is in a picturesque and fairly quiet part of town, while still being centrally located and very well connected. The metro is just steps away from the front door and the tram stop which is even closer can bring you to parts of town that the Metro can’t. From the hotel to the Centraal Station, where all the international trains arrive and depart is just three stops on the metro. Just next door to the hotel is one of the best bakeries in town and I finished two nights with a drink at the picturesque bar on the river just down the street.
The bottom line
It is tough to find a decently priced hotel in Amsterdam in the summer. However, the CitizenM Amsterdam Amstel at just over 200 euros a night, is a very good value. The rooms are comfortable, you won’t waste too much time getting around given the central location, there are eating and drinking options in the vicinity and the staff are cheerful and helpful.