Hans Brinker Budget Hotel is basically a nice, chilled out place to start and end any day in Amsterdam. It is run by a handful of international staff members, who are very nice and helpful.
The Location
Amsterdam's streets promise any walk to be a great experience, so the one-and-a-half kilometers it'll take you to get from the hostel to the city center is not a problem, as it would be in most cities. There are other options of travel for more budgeted travelers such as the tram system, that will take you to most hot spots in the city for a few Euros. There is a tram stop five minutes from the hostel. Another option is renting a bike from the different rentals around town (there is also a good bike rental two doors from the hostel). As for nightlife, most of the surrounding streets host endless pubs and eating establishment of all sorts. This is especially true for the southern streets and the main streets connecting the southern area to the city center.
Rooms and Bathrooms
The dorm rooms are pretty simple with different numbers of beds in the different rooms. Each bedroom has a toilet and shower room attached to it. The quality of the showers are questionable, but they do normally work.
The rooms have lockers for each bed, so when you receive a key, the letter on it points to what locker you are assigned. In comparison to other hostels, the beds are not as good, you may wake up to a new day in Amsterdam with a nice back pain.
Common Spaces
The ground floor of the hostel consists of different common spaces, such as the lobby desk that doubles as an information desk, a luggage storage room, the main lounge doubling as the eating area, and the bar. There is also the basement area that has the internet room and a second small lounge. Although all these common areas sound very promising, you couldn't really describe the hostel as a very social one -- everyone pretty much keeps to themselves.
The is a smoking outside area inside the hostel -- a patio of sorts for all the morning smokers -- but never try taking your cup of coffee out with you just to keep tensions low with the staff. There are no kitchens for personal cooking, but the hostel kitchen offers meals for a normal price -- but why eat in when you're surrounded by Amsterdam?
Summary
In short, this is a very good money for value hostel, and promises a very pleasant stay and a good and happy feeling for the duration of your stay. We would happily recommend it to anyone.
— Exklusive Hostelz.com Übersicht
September 2007
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