I stayed at the Bilderberg Garden Hotel for 4 nights on business. Overall, it was very clean and comfortable. The decor was modern and the furnishings seemed pretty new. I'm a stickler for cleanliness and felt good about this place. It was a very functional hotel for the business traveler. The staff was nice and helpful enough when I had questions or concerns. For example, my room was a bit chilly and they made sure to have a portable heater set up in my room by the time I returned in the evening. The hotel is located in a quieter part of the city so it may not be as convenient for the tourist looking to stay in the heart of amsterdam...however, it is close to some good museums and it's maybe a 10-15 minute tram ride to the city center. I would definitely recommend this hotel for a comfortable, pleasant stay.

The hotel is beautifully located adjacent to the Museum District and in a very tasteful residential neighborhood. However, this is not the five-star hotel they claim. We had numerous problems booking with two children; they did not understand how to place us. We ended up with two adjoining rooms. Furnishings were old and generic -- nothing indicated we were in Amsterdam and not a soulless business hotel in the US some 20 years ago. The second bedroom with the children had no window that could open to bring in fresh air and inadequate ventilation for three out of the four nights we stayed there. They did not correct it until the weekend ended on Monday. Then they claimed it was about air temperature and they could not understand the concept of ventilation. We had a long polite conversation with the general manager that has changed my mind about international traveling -- next time we will be the loud obnoxious Americans demanding to receive services that we paid for. I just don't think they got the concept of five-star. For example, the toiletries did not offer hair conditioner. We mentioned this to the hotel but they said five-star hotels don't offer hair conditioner. This is untrue as most travelers have a stash in their bathrooms at home from hotels in Europe and the U. S. which offer hair conditioner. The general manager kept us waiting 15 minutes before he permitted us to talk to him. We had to threaten to leave before he showed up and then there was no apology. I'm sure he already has a new position.

We were lucky enough to stay 3 nights in this wonderful hotel in August. It was a little further out of the centre than we expected but in easy reach of tram stops in 2 directions, one of which was over a bridge and a lovely 5 minute stroll alongside a beautiful canal lined with extremely grand houses (where I would love to live if lucky enough to win the lottery and buy property in Amsterdam). The distance in some ways was a good thing, you could get away from the bustle of the centre and see a part of Amsterdam you would never visit, a small village type area was a few minutes away with lovely shops and busy restaurants full of Amsterdams rich people, also an organic deli (Van Dams)and some wonderful shops for window shopping or maxing out the credit card.
Check in was fast efficient and friendly and we upgraded to a room on the executive floor for 30 extra euros a night, we were extremely pleased with our room which had a huge bed with heaps of quality cushions and crisp linen which was changed daily and if you were out in the evening the bed was remade, pillows fluffed and a crisp green apple left on a black napkin next to each side of the bed. The jaquzzi bath was most welcome after a day of sight seeing and the option of a power shower to freshen up too. We had a wonderful bay window with tub chairs overlooking amazing rooftops of probably one of the most expensive areas in Amsterdam.
Breakfast was great, so much choice given, and we were lucky enough to have this included in the room price when booking with thomson. We ate enough to skip lunch !
Reception were so helpful and well informed, we got our Van Gogh tickets straight from them and it allowed us to skip a hugh queue at the museum leaving many poor people behind us standing in the rain, would definately recommend getting pre paid tickets. You can also borrow lovely umbrellas from reception if you are unlucky enough to have rain.
My only quibble would be the fact we had no opening windows, air conditioning which you could adjust was great, but after a few days I just felt the need for 'real' fresh air
All in all a wonderful stay in a fabulous hotel, which feels luxurious and relaxed without being at all stuffy.

While planning a two week trip to Spain, I kept coming across the best airfare deals connecting through Amsterdam. Having never been to Ams. before, we thought we might take advantage of the cheap airfare and add a few extra days to our trip and visit there. After completing our airfare purchase, we went on Hotwire to find a hotel. As we all know, Hotwire doesn't display the Hotel name until after you complete your purchase, so there's always that element of a crapshoot as you push the go button. Went ahead with the purchase, which was in the $150/night range. Sure enough, up came the confirmation that we were booked in the Bilderberg Garden. I immediately came to Trip Advisor to see what I had gotten myself into. After reading a few negative reviews regarding the location, I thought the hotel was located in Timbuktu and that I had made a big mistake. Let me set you straight. Unless you are a college student or twenty-something looking for endless partying, why would you want to stay in the middle of a busy street with thousands of tourists streaming by night and day. The Bilderberg Garden is located in one of the most posh neighborhoods on Earth. The homes along the 2 block stretch (all 8 of them) to the tram station are some of the most amazing homes I've ever seen. Talk about elegant. There are two tram stations, each about 5 minutes walk away and it's two stops to the museum district, another two or three to leidseplein, a few more to Dam Square and a few more to Centraal Station. All told you can get wherever you want to go in 20 minutes or less, with plenty of interesting things to view along the way. The Hilton hotel is across the street and there is the Best Western Delphi down the block and at least one other small boutique hotel on the same block. I honestly feel the location is one of the major plusses of this hotel. It's safe and quiet at night, easy to get to and from and quite elegant in a understated, European way. Every inch of the hotel is absolutely spotless. The rooms are beautiful and the bathrooms are all marble with high-tech European fixtures. The staff was extremely helpful and took as much time as needed to help us with directions, recommendations and answers to our many questions. We were made to feel welcomed and everyone went out of their way to make sure all of our needs were met. Many of the positive attributes stated here are consistent with Amsterdam in general, such as safety and cleanliness, however, we could not find a single thing wrong with this hotel. It's sad how a few bad reviews can really cause a person to look elsewhere, but we feel lucky that we had an opportunity to stay in such a well-run establishment and would most definitely do so again.