2022.12 German Christmas Markets (Part 2)

2022.12 German Christmas Markets (Part 2) – Doubletree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station

We are accustomed to the landmarks on our short walk from Amsterdam Centraal Station to Sea Palace from our many visits over the years. Each time, Little Miss would jokingly ask “Why don’t we stay at the Doubletree?”, as it’s the hotel that closest to the Sea Palace. For this trip I was able to make her request reality.

Location

The Doubletree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station hotel is one of the closest hotels to the train station. The directions from the station are simple. Exit to the city side of the station, turn left. After passing the plaza, complete with many tram stops, and a bus lane the hotel begins just across the street. The entrance to the hotel is at the east end of the building, facing the canal.

We arrived at the front desk and were delighted that a room was available to us. With keys in hand we headed to the bank of elevators:

The hotel has a unique roof top bar called the SkyLounge. It must be popular as there is a dedicated line where one of the elevators is dedicated to shuttling customers to the lounge when it’s open. Although I wanted to visit it, our jetlag won and we didn’t find time to visit it.

We didn’t have a special room, however given the corners of the building there are some unique shapes for select rooms:

Room

Our room was standard by my guess.

The bed was firmer than our preference, however not fashion like concrete, unlike some hotel bed we have experienced in our travels. The bathroom had a ledge behind the toilet useful for storage.

Not pictured were the floor-to-ceiling windows giving us an excellent view of the canal and city. On one side of the room was a wardrobe, and the other side had a desk and chair. There was a window that could be opened.

Exploring the Hotel

After lunch, she decided to have a short nap, and I struggled to stay awake so I walked around the hotel. Some hallways definitely felt more narrow than others:

There were large windows to let natural light in at the end of the corridors:

At the west-end of the third floor was a meeting room:

The view from the meeting room faced the train station and the walking route between the hotel and train station.

This covered area is more of the hotel above. I liked how this hotel was not a typical square or rectangular hotel that had the same floor layout on each level.

The courtyard is exactly as billed. There is a walkway that starts on the 3rd floor and moves up to the 4th floor. There are rooms starting on the 4th floor that have windows facing this courtyard. If you get one of these on these rooms you might have other hotel guests walking past your windows.

I could only imagine how calming this space must be, as it would be extremely different from the bustle of Amsterdam, especially in the summer when tourism is most popular.

There is a gym in the basement, however with other guests using the equipment I didn’t take any pictures.

Dining Options

With us both tired, we had dinner at the main restaurant, Eastwood. It’s located on the main level just past the elevator lobby. This is the same space that is used for the morning breakfast.

An example of how tired we were as that this is the only picture I from dinner:

I didn’t take any pictures of our food, where had steak and fries, I had a Cesar salad with chicken. Both of us enjoyed our meals, and soon after returning to our room, jetlag had won and we fell quickly asleep.

Breakfast

The following morning we had breakfast in the same area. This time, our table faced the windows. While we had breakfast, we had a view to people commuting to work on foot and by bicycle.

The breakfast buffet was extensive. Below are the pictures from it, there were separate sections that had vegan, and gluten free options. I joked to Little Miss after seeing the spread of buns and breads. In addition to the buffet items, it was possible to order a few additional items. From the sign above the hot food the options were fried eggs, poached eggs, omelette, or pancakes. There might have been more, but I cannot recall if there were more items.

Breakfast was excellent, and with a solid amount of sleep we were ready for our first full day in Europe. Our check-out was effortless, and we returned to the train station for our International InterCityExpress Deutsche Bahn train to Dusseldorf.

Explore other parts of this trip:

Part 1 – Air Canada Signature Class Lounge & Flight Toronto to Amsterdam

Part 2 – Doubletree Hotel by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station (this post!)

Part 3 – DB ICE Train Amsterdam to Dusseldorf

Part 4 – A Christmas market in the countryside

Part 5 – Hampton Inn by Hilton, Berlin West (Zoo Station)

Part 6 – Lego Berlin and other stores

Part 7 – Berlin Christmas Markets

Part 8 – Hilton Dresden

Part 9 – Dresden Christmas Market

Part 10 – Nuremberg Christmas Market

Part 11 – Nuremberg Hampton by Hilton