The Mint Hotel

There were a number of locations discussed when planning the second “I Have a Dream” weekend.  We landed on Amsterdam after coming across a Living Social Adventures deal.  We scored four nights in the the Mint Hotel which included breakfast every morning (I made it once – barely), a canal tour and bike rentals – all for under $600, for two!!! Some of us had been there back in college but it was a new city for the rest of us so we jumped on the offer.

The Mint was a newly branded UK hotel chain (formerly City Inn) and the Amsterdam location was their first foray outside of the UK. We arrived, however, to learn that it had been taken over by the Doubletree just days before (after the Blackstone Group, owners of the Hilton chain in the US purchased the Mint Hotel group).  Not a place I would normally choose to stay, but I figured they couldn’t have messed it up that quickly, and they didn’t.  The hotel is situated right by Centraal Station. The location is somewhat away from the city centre, but it’s right by all of the tram lines so there was no problem.

You enter into the hotel’s modern reception area.  The decor is sleek, minimalistic and the cool music in the background tells you that you are (or you want to be) in the trendy spot in town.  While there was a slight confusion around our reservation, they seemed to only have one of the three Living Social packages reserved, it was quickly resolved and we were all settled into our rooms quickly.

The hotel has a lobby bar, a cafe and the Sky Lounge which provides some of the best views of the city.  There is an outdoor terrace off of the Sky Lounge but it was too cold for us to enjoy.

There seemed to always be some action in the bar, one afternoon there was a band hanging out after what was clearly a late night.  The restaurant was acceptable, but I think I mentioned, having only managed breakfast there one morning my experience was limited. Our first attempt to visit the SkyLounge was aborted when we tried to get into one night and were turned away. A bit strange to turn away your hotel guests, but we did manage to return later that night to a much quieter scene and again, beautiful views of Amsterdam.

The rooms are small but clean (except for the accent pillow on the bed which was stained and oddly enough was never switched out).  The rooms all have Macs in them which conveniently operate as a computer, your TV and a radio.  The bathrooms were very modern with slate flooring and Groehe faucets.

With any luck Hilton will maintain the level of service and amenities that were introduced by the Mint and it will remain an exceptional value in the city.