The Hoxton Lloyd Amsterdam

"Oozing an understated über cool vibe, the Hoxton Lloyd has an almost canal-front location, and is just 3 stops on the Number 26 tram from Amsterdam Centraal station. The Number 1 tram will also take you directly to the Rijksmuseum and beyond. And both of these extremely useful tram lines make up for the hotel’s otherwise slightly awkward location from a tourist’s perspective. The young staff are extremely friendly, our canal-facing room (509) was very large and the king-sized bed was heavenly. The hotel restaurant was also very good, and there is a very good, large supermarket a few steps away. So why only a 3-star review? The short answer is practicality. For whatever reason, there’s no air conditioning. This means that, on warm nights, you have the option of being kept awake by nearby restaurant noise with the windows open or enduring an extremely stuffy, less noisy night, with the windows closed. The room lighting is also abysmal. This might sound like a small issue, but the ability to see things at night I would have otherwise taken as a given, and is indicative of other flaws with the room. Perhaps as a result of heritage restrictions when the hotel was renovated, the bathroom set-up is also weird. There is a separate WC, but you otherwise step directly out of the separate roomy shower recess into the bedroom itself. That didn’t bother me, but it’s not for everyone. And apart from a very small hand basin in the WC, there was no hand basin in or near the shower recess itself. Again, I would have thought that was a given. As another example, you couldn’t angle the kettle under the sole hand basin in the room (in the WC) to fill it as the hand basin was far too small to do so. All up, I think the amenity of the room, when combined with the hotel’s somewhat ordinary location, undermined what could have been an excellent experience."

"Nice roomy and comfortable. Had the “Biggy”. Very clean and close to train station. Ask for canal view. Atmosphere is great for younger couples."

"Superb room and a really friendly place. Easy access to Eurostar and town centre made it perfect for our stay The breakfast was excellent and we will definitely return !"