Mercure Amsterdam Centre Canal District for two nights starting Christmas Day was my second stay for Le Club Accorhotels, now rebranded as ALL-Accor Live Limitless, September 2019 promotion for 6,000 bonus points after 3 two-night stays. The advance purchase rate I booked in September came to 207.10 EUR with 13.30 EUR tax for a total 220.40 EUR ($244.72).
Location: Loved the location of this hotel on a residential block between the Amstel River and Rijksmuseum (9 minutes walk) and about 12 minutes walk to Leidseplein. The hotel address is listed as Noorderstraat 46, although the entrance to the hotel can also be accessed from the parallel street Nieuwe Looiersstraat. A passageway to the hotel entrance in the interior courtyard connects both streets.
Our room faced Nieuwe Looiersstraat directly across from Walkart School building (1844). There was nobody around to be seen in the large windows of the dark building across the street for the two nights we stayed at Mercure hotel and we kept our curtains wide open. These days I think the building houses a business and not a school. Nieuwe Looiersstraat was noticeably quiet on the two ‘Kerstdagen‘ Christmas holidays of Dec 25-26. Then about 3am on Friday Dec 27, I woke up with a bank of lights shining onto the bed and in my eyes as every light in the Walkart School building was turned on, apparently for a cleaning crew. I finally closed the curtains for our last hours of sleep.
My street preference when walking to and from the hotel was the direction to Nieuwe Looiersstraat by the colorful Amsterdam mural outside the Mercure lobby entrance on the wall of the passageway.
Mercure Amsterdam Centre Canal District lobby
The lobby entrance wall display of 17th century Dutch paintings offers some art culture to guests in the form of Rembrandt and Vermeer.
There are only 34 Vermeer paintings scholars generally agree are authentic and they are scattered across museum collections around the world. Four of these paintings, including The Milkmaid, are property of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. A few more are found in The Hague, Vienna, Berlin, Dresden, and London. The largest share of Vermeer paintings are found in New York at Metropolitan Museum of Art and Frick Collection, along with four more at Washington D.C. National Gallery of Art.
The past couple of years I have spent many hours reading texts on 17th century European history. One of the pivotal events in Dutch history was the 1648 Peace of Munster treaty ending the 80 Years’ War between the Netherlands and Spain, with recognition of the Dutch Republic as a sovereign country of Europe. This was also part of the Peace of Westphalia (1648), ending the Thirty Years’ War, one of the most destructive periods of warfare in Europe. Recognition of the Dutch Republic essentially marks the foundational beginning of modern Europe based on nation-states. This period in history is also known as the ‘Dutch Golden Age‘.
Mercure Amsterdam check-inÂ
We had to wait for our room since we arrived around 12:30 and official check-in time is 14:00. We dropped off our luggage and walked over to the Rijksmuseum where there was a Christmas Market and hot food booths on the Museumplein near the outdoor ice skating rink.
Mercure Amsterdam Centre Canal District – Room 224
I did find the room desk too cluttered to set up my computer. I moved the telephone, coffee maker, and hot water tray setup to the floor to clear the space.
After our two night stay at Ibis Amsterdam Centre Stopera without a room frig, this was a welcome sight as I had purchased some turkey, cheese and yogurt at the Albert Heijn market while we were out. One of the great benefits of Amsterdam as a tourist on Christmas Day were many markets, most museums and restaurants in the city center remained open for business.
Le Club Accorhotels has gifted me Platinum elite status for several years, yet these stays in Amsterdam were the first time I had stayed with Accor Hotels. All three stays included welcome gifts and a voucher for two free drinks in the hotel bar. Mercure Amsterdam gifted me a couple of stroopwaffles and an Amstel coffee cup.
Ironically, after my three December 2019 stays for six nights, I was downgraded to ALL Gold elite for 2020. Still, that comes with some benefits that are a generous bonus considering my actual stay pattern with Accor Hotels. I plan to include Accor Hotels in my summer 2020 trip to burn the 8,000 ALL points worth 160 EUR I earned from these three December stays.
Seemed odd to only have two hangars in closet.
One of my favorite aspects of the room was the high ceiling.
I enjoyed this hotel stay. We never made it to the basement level restaurant or bar during our stay. The streets around the hotel were so quiet. Walking over to Leidseplein for Wok to Walk takeaway, walking down to the Amstel River to see Amsterdam Light Festival exhibits and the close proximity to the Rijksmuseum and Leidseplein made this one of my favorite hotel locations I have stayed in Amsterdam.
Christmas week may have been the lowest rates of the year for this hotel. Rate checks show the hotel rates tend to start at over $175 per night for most dates. Some weekends this January have rates starting at $400 USD per night.
Related Loyalty Traveler articles:
Trip Report Overview – Amsterdam Christmas, Krakow New Year
Hotel Ibis Amsterdam Centre Stopera in convenient location
How I managed 65 hotel nights in 2019 at $53 per night.
Forget IHG Accelerate, Le Club Accorhotels 6,000 points for 3 stays is current deal for me (Sep 23, 2019).
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