Hotel Arena

, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Hotel Arena

, Amsterdam
s-Gravesandestraat 51 - Amsterdam - 5401 BB - Netherlands Hotel Website | | (+31) (0)20 850 24 00
408 Traveller

Reviews - Hotel Arena

Historical Traveller Reviews of Hotel Arena

ToStay is great

from A TripAdvisor Member
We arrived in the Arena on Sunday with great expectations of a fun packed four day trip to Amsterdam. On our first night in the hotel we noticed a bad smell in the shower area in our room. We asked to be moved and found the staff to be very friendly and upgraded us to room D-247 for our trouble. Room D-247 is a realy funky room. There is a seated area as you walk in and to the right there is a stair way leading to the bedroom. The bedroom is located in one of the Turrets in the building and the oval shaped room adds real character to yopur stay. We loved the novelty of it all. Yes the hotel is situated a few miles from the centre, but, once you get a hang of the tram numbers and stops it all becomes part of the holiday.

Fantastic - basic rooms

from boutique_chic,Leeds
The bar, the retaurant and the club are fab as are the staff. We had trouble with our booking as did everyone else booking in that day but the staff kept in good spirits and were very apologetic.

We had booked a double room but the first room they gave us was a twin - the second room had guests staying in it! whoops and the third was over a busy road. We gave up - they gave us free drinks at the bar and food vouchers so they were forgiven.

The rooms are Ikea hostel style and not as lovely as they look on the web. It was really hot when we were there and staying in a twin level room meant you were even hotter. Getting up in the night to go to the toilet was an experience - balancing down an open staircase while half asleep. Would go again - loved the bar and the atmosphere would pay the extra and get a bigger room in future.

Not bad for the price

from gvaguy
Got a good price for the place (November 2004) on an online travel site and thought I would check it out, as I appreciate it when a hotel makes a bit of an effort on the design side of things. Overall, I have a mixed view of the Arena-- we found the staff friendly, food in the cafe was good, and the building itself was pretty funky/interesting, although they perhaps carry the 'theme' a bit far (everything is labeled 'to dine', 'to sleep', 'to fill-in-the-blank'). That said, the overall upkeep on the place was pretty shabby, and our floor was very loud with people I assume were somehow associated with the club, scurrying in and out and slamming doors/shouting. If you can get a good price on the place and are up for a sort of 'design hostel' experience, I would recommend this place, although don't expect to be blown away, by any means.

Major disappointment!

from Maya4242
Thought I'd take the time to share our experience with all of you, since our visit to the Hotel Arena was a real disappointment. The hotel is far from what it looks like on the website, where you would think it's a really hip hotel...Upon our arrival, we were informed that the parking costs around 20 euros day (not mentioned anywhere on the website), and also that the club is actually not managed by the hotel, meaning there are another 20 euros per person to pay for the entrance. Most of the staff was very unfriendly and even rude (waiters at the restaurant told us "do it yourself " when we asked them to put our lunch on the room bill, cleaning maids, when asked to be more quiet since they were shouting and slamming doors, told us "it's no night"). The so-called large room was cold, both in temperature and style: they tried to make the furniture minimalist chic, but it just looks cheap Ikea. The mirror inside the room was broken, the sheets were scratchy and the room was excessively noisy (from the upper floor and also the corridor). There was just a shower, that looked like it hadn't been changed since the hotel was an orphanage or a hostel. To put it in a nutshell, the public areas (reception, bar, restaurant, club) are fooling you, making the hotel look nice and hip, when the rooms are just upscale hostel, but far from what you would expect from a 3*, for 100€ a night. I would definitely not advise my friends to visit this hotel. It was so bad that we checked out just after 2 hours in the hotel, which really wasted our weekend in Amsterdam. Other advice: don't take your car to Amsterdam, the parking is too expensive (30€ a day) and, cherry on the cake, someone broke into our car!

A great hotel

from A TripAdvisor Member
My boyfriend and I stayed at the Arena in the spring of 2003 and we throughly enjoyed it. It's a hotel with a difference- decorated in a "Ikea" style which makes it feel very clean and trendy. The building is a former church and you can really feel a sense of history despite the modern decor.
We stayed in a twin room which was basic but had storage space for our suitcases, two single beds, a tv and a shower & toilet. It was in the same minimal style as the rest of the hotel but was still quite cosy with a nice skylight looking over their pretty gardens.
The staff were friendly and willing to answer any questions you might have. At breakfast the atmosphere is gentle and the buffet provided is of good quality. The club in the hotel is only open on Friday and Saturday nights, and even then you don't have to worry about noise- we didn't hear a thing.
The location is not strictly central but I enjoyed the 10 minute walk into the city centre, Amsterdam is one of the best cities in the world to wander around in. Just watch out for those cyclists!
Hopefully I will be returning to Amsterdam soon, and when I do I'll definately be staying at the Hotel Arena.

s a rip off, trust me!

from FrancescoToronto
I stayed at the Arena for one night a while back. Their website is cool, the pictures are attractive but they are highly misleading. This is not a funky boutique hotel, it is a substandard two-star property. It looks, sounds, and smells like the cheap youth hostel it once was. The website presentation and the rate charged suggest a "cheap chic" property with character and style. There is no style here, just a cheap-looking place at 4-star rates. I travel a lot for work and I have stayed in a variety of different hotels. The Arena is not the worst of them but I never felt as ripped off as I did when I stayed there.

Impractical

from A TripAdvisor Member
We were given a 2-story room here, with the bed at the top of a scary open staircase - not one for the kids!

The room was quite impressive when we entered. The bathroom was good.

There was nowhere to put our bags. There was a revolving mini-wardrobe (Ikea??) with two hangers. There was no bin. As there was no ashtray, some enterprising previous visitor had used a nice designer
vase instead. In front of the large TV is a single chair, so we couldn't watch together.

By the time our bags and clothes had been sprawled across the floor, it didn't look impressive at all.

We checked out early for a real hotel.

Friendly staff and modern hotel.

from A TripAdvisor Member
I've been to the hotel twice and the first time was amazing. A fantastic room, great food, great staff, but it is quite expensive to stay for drink in the hotel bar.

The second time, the room was not as good as the first time, but the friendly staff and very nice food (Lunch & Dinner very nice, but breakfast a bit boring) made up for it.

The hotel it self is very nice and modern and I will return.

Fine..!!!

from A TripAdvisor Member
Have just returned from Amsterdam and stayed at the Arena Hotel. The hotel building itself is beautiful, loved the bar and dining room. The staff were very curteous and obliging, however, the room we were in was fine, maybe needed a fresh lick of paint and more attention to detail oh! and tea and coffee making facilities would be good.
The breakfast was very, very good. If the hotel was more central we would probably stay there again. Fell in love with Amsterdam, how pretty it is and the people are friendly. We are going back in January so looking forward to that.

Rip off

from Jen1978
Stayed here for 3 nights over new year - paid £300 for a so called "large" double room which was tiny. We were travelling light so I called the hotel the day before we arrived, asking if they had hairdryers in ALL the rooms. I was told they did. When we arrived, there was no hairdryer in our room. I went to the reception where I was told they rent them out. I tried to rent one but was told that as it was so busy, they had none left. The male receptionist (who was, incidentally, the only unfriendly person I met in Amsterdam) helpfully suggested I go and buy a hairdryer (it was 7pm on New Year's eve and the hotel is miles from the shops) or else run around in the garden to dry my hair (it was snowing and I have waistlength hair).

Added to all this, it was freezing in our room, there was nowhere to drink or eat within a 20minute walk (it was even further to the main centre of town) and the wooden floors may look pretty but noise travels a LOT!

Yes, it's a cool hotel and a gorgeous building but it's quite stark and a very long walk from the vibrant centre. We managed to have a good time as it's such a great city but I had a much better time on my next visit when I stayed at The Amstel Botel which is a bit poky and grubby but cheap, friendly and central.

Top Local Tips for Amsterdam

Tram 'scam' While waiting at a tram stop, two men came and stood near us. When the tram pulled up, they said that they had spare tickets and so they would get us on. They said the tickets would go to waste otherwise. We were swept along by the quickness of the tram's stop and before we knew it, they had used their strip of tickets to get us four on the tram. We thanked them and they followed us to our seats and said we owed them 1.60 euros each (the maximum one way price). We inevitable paid them. Afterwards, it was clear these people buy strips of tickets at a discount price and then make money off them by lying and then charging people the full amount of a one way trip. They weren't particularly nice people until we paid up....

abraxas coffeeshop. good. go.milkshake yum!

Trams are the way to go Unless you are willing to brave the bike lanes, be sure to purchase either an iAmsterdam tourist tram card at the tourist info station by Centraal Station OR purchase a strippenkaart from a convenience/tobacconist store. To travel within the center of Amsterdam you need to count 2 boxes on the strippenkaart and stamp it on the 2ND box; and the stamp is valid for ONE full hour no matter how many trams your board within that hour.

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Other names for Hotel Arena

  • hotel arena amsterdam
  • arena hotel amsterdam
  • Address: s-Gravesandestraat 51 - Amsterdam - 5401 BB - Netherlands
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