For our birthdays my boyfriend and I always gift each other a weekend getaway. While I selected a weekend in Paris for Sam’s 30^th birthday, I received a weekend in Amsterdam for my 36^th.  Originally Sam wanted to go to Maastricht but last-minute he changed his mind to go to Amsterdam. His reasoning being that after a heavy week at work it would be a fairly simply train trip to Amsterdam, not requiring him to drive a long distance Friday evening.

The Crowne Plaza Amsterdam – South was his hotel of choice, as the name suggests it’s located in the new high-rise South district of Amsterdam, a far-cry from the typical canals and touristy centre of Amsterdam. It’s only a short walk away from the Amsterdam-Zuid station which is currently a big construction zone as it is being turned into the new International train terminal for Amsterdam.

The hotel itself is located next to a canal in an otherwise modern typical Dutch semi high rise red-bricked building. Reminding me a bit of the style used in the Van der Valk Hotel in Hoorn. We had a a warm welcome at the reception of the hotel, in typical Amsterdam style of course in English. The clerk mentioned us there was a festival at the square in front of the hotel, which we already noticed when walking past, that would go on until deep into the night. He asked if we would mind a room facing the noisy square or one facing the quiet and picturesque canal to the side of the hotel. As he did not mention one of them being an upgraded room, we selected the canal view one.

Despite being an IHG rewards Platinum Elite which should get an upgrade according to the program rules, we just received our booked category of 1 King Bed Premium Club Floor. Which was a spacious room on the 2^nd floor, right across the corridor from the Club Lounge (including access to it). The room was nice and cool due to a good working air-conditioning (very welcome as the temperatures that weekend reached 31c and above). In the middle of the room was a big king sized bed, with plugs and switches at both sides of the bed. Against the window was a leather seat with an ottoman while opposite the bed you had a desk with a flat screen TV mounted against the wall above it. The minibar was empty but the tea and coffee facilities where well-stocked, Sam however did notice that all the little coffee milks where long-expired.

The bathroom was still a classic closed room design and very well appointed with a large walk-in shower. There were plenty of soft towels available and the products provided where of the Rituals brand. Sam actually booked this higher class room as they advertised them with his favourite Rituals products, so the advertisement worked.

Across the hallway was the club lounge, opened from 6:00 till 23:00, very royal opening hours. All-day long you could get wine, beers, soft drinks, hot drinks and small snacks like crisps, nuts chocolates and fruit.

In the evening there was a small spread with some cheese bites and typical Dutch “bitterballen”. In the morning they offered a well selected breakfast spread while anything not already put out could be provided by the attendant working the breakfast service, including eggs made to order. She really was wonderful and lifted the club experience a lot, it made us regret we went to the restaurant breakfast the first morning. The club-lounge was always very quiet and there where never more than 2 other people in it, so a nice and relaxing add-on for our stay.

Like I mentioned, the first morning we went to the downstairs main restaurant for the breakfast, anticipating it would have a larger offer. At check-in they told us that our room rate included both the lounge breakfast as well as the main restaurant breakfast, past experience told me that in such cases the restaurant breakfast is usually the better choice. However as we noticed the next day in the Crowne Plaza Amsterdam – South they are of equal quality. The main restaurant had 2 different buffet sections. The main cold section was in a room to the side of the main dining area, with hot and cold drinks as well as all cold items like cold cuts, bread and cereals.

The hot section was at the other side of the restaurant next to the kitchen where next to the usual selection of hot items there was also a window for made to order eggs.

The entire restaurant was designed in a quirky yet joyful style, serving Asian based cuisine in the evenings.

The last evening Sam really just wanted to eat at the hotel as it had a very cosy terrace at the side of the canal. This terrace was not of the main restaurant but rather from the Manhattan bar, which also offered a basic food menu. We had some very delicious cocktails but unfortunately both the burger I ordered and the Steak Sam ordered was of a rather disappointing quality. While they were not bad they were bland and uninspired, the typical neutral cuisine you would stereotypically expect from a hotel kitchen.

To work off all the calories you acquired during your stay, the hotel offered a gym on the 2^nd floor. It mostly felt like some repurposed guest rooms with a bit of equipment thrown in. while I’ve seen and hear about worse hotel gyms, it seemed like nothing out of the ordinary either.

All in all we had a solid and satisfying stay at the Crowne Plaza Amsterdam – South. Both its quiet location and general product in accordance to the good price-quality rating convinced us of the property and makes us want to stay there again.