Amsterdam - Amsterdam Bruges and Brussels - page 174

2-night minimum, reserve with credit card but pay with cash; tram
#16, #24, or #25 from Central Station, Keizersgracht 618, where
Keizers canal crosses Nieuwe Spiegelstraat; tel. [phone],
www.hotelkeizershof.nl, [e-mail]).
Near Vondelpark and Museumplein
These options cluster around Vondelpark in a safe neighborhood.
Though they don't have a hint of Old Dutch or romantic canalside
flavor, they're reasonable values and only a short walk from the
action. Many are in a pleasant nook between rollicking Leidseplein
and the park, and most are a 5- to 15-minute walk to the Rijks
and Van Gogh museums. They are easily connected with Central
Station by trams #1, #2, and #5.
$$$ Hotel Fita has 16 bright, fresh rooms located 100 yards
from the Van Gogh Museum (Sb-€100, two small ground-floor
Db-€135, Db-€145-165, Tb-€195, discounts for multiple nights—
ask when you book, free laundry service, free Wi-Fi and Internet
access in lobby, elevator, Jan Luijkenstraat 37, tel. [phone],
fax [phone], www.fita.nl, [e-mail], joking and colorful
owner Hans).
$$$ Hotel Piet Hein offers 81 comfortable renovated rooms
with a swanky nautical atmosphere (Sb-€105, Db-€165, extra bed-
€30, specials on website, quiet garden, air-con, Wi-Fi, Vossiusstraat
52-53, tel. [phone], www.hotelpiethein.nl, info@hotelpiet
hein.nl).
$$$ Hotel Filosoof greets you with Aristotle and Plato in
the foyer and classical music in its generous lobby. Its 38 rooms are
decorated with themes; the Egyptian room has a frieze of hiero-
glyphics. Philosophers' sayings hang on the walls, and thoughtful
travelers wander down the halls or sit in the garden, rooted in deep
discussion. The rooms are small, but the hotel is endearing (Db-
€130 weeknights, €150 Fri-Sat; elevator, 3-min walk from tram
line #1, get off at Jan Pieter Heijestraat, Anna Vondelstraat 6, tel.
020/683-3013, fax [phone], www.hotelfilosoof.nl, reservations
@hotelfilosoof.nl).
$$ Hotel Alexander is a modern, newly renovated, 32-room
hotel on a quiet street. Some of the rooms overlook the garden
patio out back (Db-€120, includes breakfast, prices soft in winter,
elevator, tel. [phone], fax [phone], www.hotelalexander
.nl, [e-mail]).
$$ Hotel Hestia, on a safe and sane street, is efficient and
family-run, with 18 clean, airy, and generally spacious rooms
(Sb-€80-90, very small Db-€98-115, standard Db-€125-145,
Tb-€155-173, Qb-€185-203, Quint/b-€215-233, elevator, Roemer
Visscherstraat 7, tel. [phone], fax [phone], www
.hotel-hestia.nl, [e-mail]).