Trip Report: Amsterdam, Iceland and Munich
Review: Iberia A340-600 Business Class
Review: Kimpton DeWitt Amsterdam
A Brief Tour of Amsterdam
Review: Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
Review: Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
Review: Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
A Week in Iceland
Review: aloft Munich
Visiting Dachau
A Brief Tour of Munich
Review: Hilton Munich Airport
When IHG acquired Kimpton, that added a number of desirable properties to the IHG portfolio. One of those was the Kimpton DeWitt which has a great location near Centraal Station, the canal cruises and lots of restaurants and shops. Yet this area was quiet in the evenings and we did not have to deal with noise either inside or outside the hotel.
Hotel Exterior. The entrance is at the lighted portion halfway down the block.
As I mentioned in the initial post in this series, we use a free night certificate from the IHG credit card for one night and points for the second night. Our plans to use the free night certificate for the third night fell through because I didn’t get my new certificate until July and by the time I tried to use it the hotel was full.
The hotel is very conveniently located. Map created on Google Maps.
We arrived on a Thursday evening and had a short wait while the staff assisted others. I could not tell that there was a special line for elites and the front desk could only accommodate three staff members at a time anyway. But we were greeted warmly and our platinum status was recognized. We were assigned a room on the second floor.
Upon leaving the elevator we had a fairly long walk down the corridor and then turned a corner to find our room. The carpet in the hall did a good job of helping to keep any noise down but it did require us to use a little extra muscle when pulling our large suitcases.
Guest Room
The room had a mostly standard layout with a short entryway and the bathroom on one side. Instead of there being some kind of closet or wardrobe on the other side, there was simply a built-in cabinet with an inset shelf for the coffee and tea setup. Below that was a cabinet that held the mini-fridge and the safe on one side and a small ironing board on the other. Above the inset shelf were some shelves behind cabinet doors.
Stepping into the main part of the room there was an unusual design for hanging clothes. A full-length mirror was set out a couple of feet from the wall and there was hanging space behind it. To its right was a bar that went across the padded bench and that bar could be used for hanging items as well. The photo does this setup more justice than my words.
Our twin beds were on the left, each with its own nightstand and, yay, electrical outlets. As usual, there was the duvet for a cover with an additional light blanket stretched across the bottom of the bed. We did manage to hit Amsterdam on a few days where the high temperature was in the 70s F and even with the temperature cranked down as low as we could get it, we were still extremely warm with the duvet and too cool without it. As someone who likes a very cold room for sleeping, I struggled getting a good night’s sleep just because I was so warm.
In the corner of the room was a chair with a table. It looked kind of lonely in the corner. It also looked like a patio chair and I think if there had been two chairs with the table between them it wouldn’t have looked so odd.
Across from the beds was a single piece of furniture that acted as a desk and as a chest of drawers, not that we used the drawers. It also had a number of easily-accessible outlets on its side, which was very handy. We ended up using the hair dryer at this desk rather than in the bathroom. The large TV was mounted above this desk.
The bathroom was a little oddly-shaped but the tile work was a bit disorienting at first. The 3-D cube effect took a little getting used to but we eventually learned to ignore it. At first it seemed there was not much storage for our toiletries but that ledge above the sink actually worked quite well. Once we’d removed the towels from underneath we were also able to use that space.
The tub had one of those silly glass partitions that only covers a third of the length of the tub. Why folks think this is a good idea is beyond me. The saving grace here was the the showerhead was rainfall style which meant the water went straight down instead of back. That certainly helped but the bathmat and floor were still wet once we were done with our showers.
As seen in the photo the Marie-Stella-Maris toiletries came in refillable pumps. That’s certainly a more “green” technique than providing the small bottles but if I find toiletries I like I always prefer to be able to take them with me. I don’t recall these knocking my socks off so it was just as well that I couldn’t.
Common Areas
There were a number of different seating areas in the lobby, on a couple of different levels. In the mornings a breakfast spot served a very limited menu. We ate out both days as there were a number of restaurants in easy walking distance.
There were a couple of different bars available in the lobby as well. Each evening in the lobby there’s a free glass of wine available for guests though we were away from the hotel each evening so we missed out.
Gym
On the lower level is a small gym. It’s got a few cardio machines, some hand weights and a universal-style set.
Business Center
Also on the lower level was the business center, which was essentially a couple of desks with computers and a printer/copier.
All in all we enjoyed our stay and it’s hard to beat the location if you’re a tourist as you’re so close to so many things.
2B Traveling 
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