Pestana Amsterdam Riverside

Overall this was a four star experience in a five star hotel. The hotel itself is very nice, very clean and tidy. Our issue was the lack of personal service and attention, the staff were fine but we didn't feel any connection with them, like you get in other hotels. There was a coldness to the whole stay. For example we travelled for a special occasion and I made this clear to the hotel prior to arrival and requested, if possible, something to mark the occasion. I was told we could get a room upgrade, but for €40 a night extra, which having looked at the website was more or less the same price for the nicer room. When I asked if they could help us out because it was a special anniversary for us, I was told to upgrade for two nights and they would put us back in a normal room for third night! On arrival at the hotel at around 4pm, we were told our room was not ready, so they gave us a voucher for the bar to get a drink. They didn't tell us this was only for a small beer or a coffee. So I was charged €20 for a large vodka! When we did get our room, it was an executive river view, which was fine, if a little smaller than you would expect. The TV stations were mainly European, and I was surprised for a 5 star hotel there was no option to watch Netflix etc The location is 30 mins walk from the main city centre and at least €35/40 taxi at night. Breakfast was really good. The pool is small but it was fine for a morning swim and steam. I would suggest to anyone travelling to check the City Tax as the hotel seemed to think it was common knowledge and threw another couple of hundred euro on to the bill, without really explaining this. Amsterdam itself was fantastic, so clean and so friendly, a gorgeous place to go. I don't want to leave a bad review because that would not be fair, I do think with a little more personal attention this could have been a 5 star stay for us, but unfortunately it was not.

Stayed here before The hotel is out of the way but walking into the dam square is a scenic one and is a nice 25 min walk Or a short cab The hotel is really nice Staff very friendly And the spa facilities is defiantly great to unwind and use The duplex rooms With the bath by your bed is a really nice room and would certainly recommend The offer of a pillow choice Is worth choosing as our pillows that come standard wasn’t comfortable for our use This service was free of charge

comfortable rooms and nice pool but staff really not helpful, we were told to wait in the lobby for 2 hours for our room to be ready as it would only take '15 minutes', we went out and returned and it still wasn't ready, was given a drinks voucher but were tired and almost 4 hours wasted of our trip, we asked to settle up night before check out so we could get our cab on time and the receptionist piled on so much pressure for us not to my mum felt intimidated- it felt like the staff member just couldn't be bothered, lots of times we found no towels at the pool and a soaking wet floor, the pool was really nice but again just staffing, we ate at the restaurant on a Friday night and were the only people there 6-8:30pm. Restaurant and bar staff a lot more helpful than we experienced at the desk. Pestana is very far away from key 'tourist' spots... the riverside view is only nice if you book those rooms, the house boats block most of the view. Amazing city, nice clean rooms but really poor customer service.

Loved the sweets and Prosecco freely available in reception. Room was good size. Bed really comfy. Spa and gym pretty decent for the size and price of hotel. Walked from central Amsterdam in about 35 minutes and very easy to navigate on the tram if needed

Had a wonderful time and experience at this beautiful hotel! The building itself is so grand. The staff is wonderful. The room is spacious, modern and very clean. We loved the breakfast buffet they offer too! Loved staying at this hotel. Although it is a little outside the heart of Amsterdam we thoroughly enjoyed our time at Pestana Riverside.