We had two nights in Amsterdam and decided not to go into the city, but stay at Schiphol Airport. If we wanted to go into Amsterdam or somewhere else we could still do that.
We arrived again with the Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus. Of course we could have used the free shuttle to the hotel, but we were travelling light, so we went to the Schiphol Plaza (Train and Bus Station of the airport) and followed the signs for Hotels. We had to go to the very end of the Plaza and take an escalator one floor higher. It's the parking garage of the airport and contains the Sheraton Hotel and the WTC. The Citizen M Hotel has a different exit.
In the complex the Hilton Hotel is signed out. The way stretches the entire building, and it takes around ten minutes. The hotel is visible from the floor to ceiling windows. We turned right at the end of the building; there is a door that leads outside. We used the stairs, but there is also an elevator in case you have heavy luggage or a disability. From there it is maybe 50 meters to the hotel entrance.
The hotel has an open car park and a drive way with a round about. The roundabout is covered with a lawn. The Hilton hotel has won a colorful bull and a cow at a charity auction. The two are "grazing" peacefully on the lawn.
The building is Y-shaped.
A blue carpet leads to the entrance. Because it is an older hotel the lobby area is small. Most of the space is taken up by the Greenhouse restaurant and the Stopover bar to the left. The restaurant offers Asian and Western cuisine, including a Tepanyaki corner, buffet and a la carte. On Wednesday evening’s guests have the chance to enjoy a Reijstafel, a specialty.
To the right is the reception and a little bit hidden the bell man's desk.
Check in was a breeze. Our room was ready, even if it wasn't check in time yet. We achieved Hilton Honors Diamond status with our stay at the Hilton Charles de Gaulle. To be a Diamond member you must stay either 28 times with any Hilton brand worldwide or achieve 100.000 base points. Because of our status we were immediately upgraded to a club room with club lounge access. Even if we wouldn't have been upgraded, we would have been able to use the club lounge.
The elevator is located at the end of the corridor, and we were impressed when we reached our floor (The 7th). The carpet was most beautiful and lavish as was the flower display.
Our room was non smoking, medium sized and very comfortable. The room was held mostly in signature Hilton browns and was modern. The walls were a light yellow and the lamps provided an interesting play with light and shadow. There was a large standing lamp, a chair, coffee table, writing desk, a flat screen TV with international channels and a fully stocked mini bar. As amenity we received daily a large bottle of water, which is unusual. There was also a cupboard and a wardrobe. Our view was over the training plane of Schiphol's fire fighters. Once a month or so, it is set ablaze and the fire fighters battle the flames. When we were there nothing like this happened.
There is also 24 hours in room dining available. The selection is small, but high quality.
The bathroom was compact, but again very comfortable. There was a toilet, a bath tub and overhead shower and a sink with Peter Thomas Roth amenities. It left enough space to store our toiletries
In the room were also magazines and information provided by the hotel what was going on in Amsterdam, for example there was the Brazilian Festival.
On each floor is also an ice machine (Usable from ca. 07.00 am to ca. 22.00 hours to not inconvenience other hotel guests in nearby rooms. In room service provides ice during the night.) and a shoe shine machine.
The club lounge is located on the highest (8th) floor and interesting shaped, because it is located in the one of the corners, so there are a few nooks and crannies to explore. Sometimes the door to the club lounge is open. If not, guests can gain entry by inserting their room key into the slot on the right side.
Breakfast is served until 10.30 hours during weekdays and 11.00 on weekends. During the day there are cakes, chocolates with edible gold and silver, cheese and much more. Coffee, tea and alcohol free beverages as well as Port are through out the day available. In the evening there were appetizers, wine and liqueur on offer. The quality was very high and we enjoyed spending time in the lounge.
There is a flat screen TV available. For those, who care for playing games, there are a few board games to your disposal. The library is very small and the choice wasn't to my liking. What I liked was the bowl containing two gold fish on the writing desk of the hostess. There are at least four hostesses. Each one asked us for our room number, so security is high and cheating is as good as impossible. That's for the Flyer Talkers out there. Unlike at the Hilton Charles de Gaulle, where the club lounge is not always manned, at the Hilton Amsterdam Schiphol we always encountered a member of staff.
Views were over one of the runways, and take offs got especially busy during the morning and late afternoon. Most planes were from KLM, which makes sense, because Schiphol is the home of the airline.
On one of the evenings we had in room dining. My better half is a big fan of burgers. He has tried a few Hilton Burgers by now and this is what he ordered. I had the salmon with piri piri sauce. It was mild and not too spicy. Both dishes were very good.
We also used the wake up call service. It was always punctual, which was positive. The bed was so comfortable, it was difficult to get out of it.
The Hilton Amsterdam Schiphol is also taking part in Ducks for Change, all donations are going to the Hilton Foundation, helping young people to get a better life. We have already a little collection of ducks. One pack contains three ducks in different outfits. We have the Christmas edition, the sports edition and the adventure/safari edition, at least I call them so... :) Two of them are from Amsterdam (adventure/safari and Christmas).
Of course staying at the Hilton wasn't the only thing we did. Please look out for another part of our travel.
©2011
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