When Kenny booked our room at the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam he asked me if I was up for something unusual. I said sure but I didn't know what the surprise would be.
I was confused when we entered because it had a youth hostel vibe but there were also men in suits in the lobby looking at their phones. It turns out you can pick your level of accommodations, from one to five stars. The one star rooms get pretty terrible reviews. Imagine a tiled basement room with a shared bathroom. Each of the five star rooms offers an unusual surprise. Our room came with a bed that sleeps eight.
The location of the hotel is nice. It is three tram stops away from the main train station and it is walkable in a pinch. Those three stops make all the difference in atmosphere. Streets close to the train station are full and bustling with pedestrians and bicycles. It is pretty quiet around the hotel.
We enjoyed a nice walk along the docks to and from our dinner at Restaurant Fifteen. The concept for this restaurant was based on Jamie Oliver's Restaurant Fifteen in London. Highly motivated but disadvantaged young people are given the opportunity to train and work in the restaurant so they can then go out and find jobs in the community after gaining a year of experience. I think it's a great way to give people a fresh start. And, we were pleased to find several vegetarian dishes on the menu. In fact, there is a daily vegetarian special.
We look forward to seeing what other surprises Amsterdam has to offer.
This is my kind of adventure! I'm sure it created some awesome memories.
ReplyDeleteAs we checked out my daughter wrote, "The eight person bed is cool," in the guest book. We travel so much it was neat to see something unusual.
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