Amsterdam Hostel Uptown, Amsterdam

Amsterdam Hostel Uptown is a basic hostel with a limited free breakfast and shoddy layout, but it is in a prime location. Be warned, they don't accept cards.

The friendliness of staff depends upon which staff member you meet. Our experience with Andy was uninspired, despite him doing his job well; his energy is low and he is not overly friendly and is certainly not a people person at all. However, Helen is the complete opposite. She is shy but friendly and when you get to know her she opens up and converses more.

The Location

The location is the best thing about the hostel, as it's within walking distance of many tourist attractions like Rijkmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Heineken Experience, and Bulldog Coffee Shop.

Rooms and Bathrooms

They have bunk beds with no ladder to the top bunk, which means you have to use the end of the bed frame or a frame from another of the bunk beds to help hoist you up. They give you bed linen when you arrive, and you make up the bed yourself. If you're arriving late at night, doing this with the light off can prove frustratingly difficult. The shape of their pillows are large and bumpy, making sleep not overly comfortable.

A positive element is that each room has a private bathroom. They have an open-plan bathroom, meaning that shower water covers most of the floor, making going to the toilet and using the sink a wetter experience then it should be. The light from the bathroom stopped working on the last day of our stay, so guests would have to use the light from their phone at night. As we left the following day, it's impossible to know when it was fixed.

Getting to the bedroom on the third floor can be rather precarious, as there is no lift -- only a steep, winding staircase. This is not ideal, and is a future hazard, especially at night when the lighting is atrociously dim. It really is an accident waiting to happen.

Common Spaces

This is a limited hostel. There is no common area, other than the breakfast room, which is at another hostel a three-minute walk away. This hostel has no kitchen, only a tiny reception with a small luggage room and a toilet. The positive about the breakfast room is that you can stay there if you want to meet other guests and they are not too regimental with the free breakfast. They don't remove the bread from beneath your nose at breakfast's finishing time. The breakfast itself is very limited -- bread, jam, peanut butter, chocolate spread, and tea and coffee. That’s it; it’s not the healthiest start to the day, but it’s free and it’s up to you to decide whether you want it.

Summary

It is a low-cost hostel for a good reason -- you really get what you pay for with this cramped and rudimentary hostel.