Kevin M C.
Yelp
I stayed at Volkshotel for 6 nights along with 31 of my Washington Scandals Rugby teammates as a part of Bingham Cup 2018. We have traveled together as a team many times, and we've had experiences that ranged from smooth to nightmarish. Volkshotel was as smooth as the butter served with the croissants up in Canvas. I provided the hotel with the names for each room, and everyone was able to check themselves in without hassle. We have stayed in other hotels where this was not the case, and it really makes the trip stressful.
Most of us stayed in "L" (large) rooms, with two twin beds and one double. This allowed us to put 3 or 4 men in each room, pretty uncommon for Europe, and that kept our costs down. Half of the bed space is lofted, which leaves plenty of floor space making the room feel spacious even for 4 people. Some of the rooms have the double lofted, others have the two twins lofted. Volkshotel accommodated our requests for particular configurations at check-in. If you get the lofted double, there are stairs up to the bed and just one bathroom with a toilet and shower. If you get the lofted twins, you get two bathrooms, one with toilet/shower, the other with a bathtub and a sink/vanity.
However, in the lofted twins room, access to the twin beds is by hard metal ladder. The ladder rungs are pipe-shaped and extremely uncomfortable to climb in bare feet. This is the sole reason I have taken one star off of my rating. (Really, I would like to leave a 4.5 but Yelp doesn't allow it.) With a day full of rugby and walking putting major strain on our feet, this was not a pleasant way to end the day. I hope Volkshotel can put in ladders with flatter rungs, or perhaps add some padding to the ladders as they are. The beds themselves are foam (not memory foam) and are decently comfortable. The room does not have a clock or a phone of any kind, so be ready to use your smartphone for an alarm. Power outlets were available at bedside, even in the lofts.
There are some great amenities within the hotel. The cafe on the ground floor served some of the best espresso I've had anywhere. The front desk can sell you passes for the Metro. (Wibautstraat station is a 1 minute walk from the front door. Very convenient!) The breakfast on the 7th floor was a bit pricey, but worth it for the convenience. The food selection is what we would call "continental" in the US, consisting mainly of fruit, cereal, yogurt, and breakfast breads. (The breads are all fantastic and fresh.) The only cooked items were bacon, sausage, and scrambled eggs that I didn't much care for. The hotel encouraged us to include breakfast in our rate (12 EUR per person per day) but you can pay the same price each morning. I say decline the offer and keep your options open. On the 8th floor is the "bad plaats" spa. There are three barrel-style hot tubs and a sauna. The view up here is just beautiful. It was a nice way to relax after a long day of rugby, and it felt like a very premium amenity worthy of a much more expensive hotel. All of these things offered great opportunity for us to socialize with other hotel guests, many of whom were from other rugby teams.
All-in-all, Volkshotel took great care of us during Bingham Cup. There was never any stress about our accommodations, we were able to rest up and focus on what we were there to do, play rugby. If they can just make the ladders more comfortable, I wouldn't hesitate to upgrade this review to 5 stars. When I head back to Amsterdam, I will definitely be looking at Volkshotel again.