Kelley loved Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht. She specifically wanted me to mention how friendly the hotel staff were for our stay. They were so friendly when we were leaving that I considered asking the staffer to wheel Kelley’s luggage to the #197 airport express bus stop at Leidseplein while we talked. Seriously though, the staff at the hotel were exceptionally kind and welcoming to us.
Andaz Amsterdam is a relatively new hotel for Amsterdam with its grand opening November 29, 2012. The former public library building on Prinsengracht is located in the historic canal district of Amsterdam in close proximity to Leidsestraat, one of the central shopping and entertainment districts of the city. The location is about as central as one can be in Amsterdam.
The entrance to the Andaz is rather non-descript, except for the blue Andaz flag outside the hotel. One of the features of being in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the 17th century Amsterdam canal ring of the Prinsengracht is limited signage. Many of the buildings in the canal ring are 17th century houses. Hotel Pulitzer, a few blocks north on Prinsengracht is Starwood’s Luxury Collection Hotel designed from a series of historic houses. Andaz Amsterdam was redesigned from a more recently built public library that was open from 1977 to 2007.
The design elements of the public spaces and rooms are detailed on this page from Marcel Wanders, the hotel’s interior designer with high resolution photos. Check out the page for rationale on why each room features a fish head spoon.
Andaz Amsterdam has 122 rooms. Our room 111 faced the Prinsengracht, almost directly over the hotel entrance.
A canal view is one of the most desirable locations in an Amsterdam hotel. Word of warning though. Much of the business traffic for hotel deliveries and waste management occurs in the morning hours when trucks deliver and pick-up at the least congested time of day on the narrow canal roads. I am typically awakened around 6 to 7am by trucks and canal street noise when staying in canal ring hotels of Amsterdam.
One of the Andaz Amsterdam hotel room features is the bathroom sink and vanity mirror in the center of the room. The toilet has its own door. The walk-in shower is a treat for people across the canal if the window curtains are open.
This photo was taken by the room window. The plate on the shelf is glued down. There were about two dozen books in the room. The reflection of the fish spoon is seen on the shower mirror and the shower stall door is open to the left. The open white door is the toilet room.
A closet beside the toilet was large enough to store all our luggage inside.
The space is probably large enough to be made into a child’s bed space.
The Andaz bathroom toilet offered plenty of hands-free reading material.
The vanity area in the center of the floor allowed both of us to use the mirrors at the same time when seated on opposite sides.
Zenology bath products were in the shower.
Books in the room would have kept us occupied for days if the weather had been lousy during our winter stay. Blue skies for the week kept us wandering the canals most of the daylight hours taking in the sights and sounds and beauty of Amsterdam.
The mini-bar at Andaz is free for guests, except for alcohol beverages. The minibar in Room 111 is a sliding cabinet under the desk. A Nespresso coffee maker is also on the desk. Kelley was astounded at the loudness of the Nespresso and Keurig coffee machines in the hotels during our trip. She would love a simple quiet drip coffee maker in the morning making coffee while I work on my laptop. Kelley does not drink coffee.
Breakfast at Andaz was complimentary for us with my Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond status. I went to the restaurant early to drink coffee while Kelley slept. My one complaint about the restaurant is coffee drinks were made to order while most diners had a pot of tea on their table. I would have preferred a pot of coffee. That may have been possible, but I did not ask.
The dining room at Andaz has an open space design concept with grills and chefs working around one counter and food on an adjacent counter. The breakfast price was 20 EUR for buffet and 30 EUR for buffet and cooked to order menu items. The food was excellent.
Andaz Amsterdam has five room floors and the ground floor with reception, restaurant, bar and library.
We were in the Andaz bar on a Sunday afternoon and on a couple of weekday nights. The place was generally doing good business. There is a 5 to 7pm wine reception in the library. The wine was good. No camera with me at the time and I don’t recall the vintages.
This was one of those hotel stays where I did not wander around the hotel checking out all the nooks and spaces. There is a courtyard that I entered once, but did not take any photos.
This Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht hotel stay was where we splurged on our Amsterdam trip by burning 20,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points per night for the category 5 hotel before it increased to 25,000 points per night as a Hyatt category 6 reward on January 22, 2015.
Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht hotel room rates typically start around 400 EUR per night.
Related Loyalty traveler posts:
Words and pictures of Andaz Amsterdam (Feb 20, 2015)
Get lost walking Amsterdam canals (Feb 25, 2015)
