Sometimes when you really love a hotel, it’s just a feeling. That’s what I had when I walked into Park Plaza Amsterdam. It wouldn’t necessarily suit every kind of traveller: it’s not fancy, and a concierge doesn’t usher your bags into the lift – but staff are, well, lovely, and a laugh – and they’ll hand you an individually wrapped stroopwafel when you leave. One of three Park Plazas in Amsterdam, it’s a relatively small hotel – 102 rooms total – but it feels like it could have 30, and there’s a sort of ‘secret garden’ vibe to the whole thing: entrances are hidden just below ground level, and you snake through a glass corridor to get to the lifts and rooms.
Why stay at Park Plaza Vondelpark?
Well you’re looking out over Vondelpark, for starters – Amsterdam’s biggest and best park – but the surrounding area and street itself is lovely too, all quiet and leafy with bikes cycling past. Though the hotel’s facilities are minimal, it includes a number of nice touches, like well-priced bike hire, free fizzy water refills in the lobby, free umbrella rental for 48 hours, and even a singularly-wrapped stroopwafel handed to you when you leave. Part of their sustainability pact also means if you opt out of your room clean you can get a €10 food voucher (which can be used in their restaurant) or a bottle of house wine to have in your room. If you’re anything like me, that’s a mighty good deal just to make your own bed in the morning.
What are the rooms like at Park Plaza Vondelpark?
There are a whole range of rooms here, ranging from Cosy and Deluxe and Studios and Suites. The garden view rooms have a leafy street view or a view of Vondelpark, and suites have an outdoor terrace. If you can afford it, it’s well worth booking a junior suite (we stayed in the Deluxe Room with a garden view) – it feels like owning your own apartment in Amsterdam, and is a lovely spot for a pre-dinner glass of wine. The rooms at Park Plaza strike a great balance between functionality and luxury – all are slick, clean and quite techy (black-out curtains are operated with a remote control), and mostly quite compact – nothing out of the ordinary in Amsterdam. All come with a rainfall shower, Nespresso machine, large telly and incredibly soft cotton bedding (the kind that somehow feels like it stays cool all night long), atop a nice firm mattress.
What is the food like at Park Plaza Vondelpark?
There‘s just one restaurant, Tozi Amsterdam, which serves up an Italian menu split into raw, fritti, counter bits, pastas, grilled meats, large sharing plates and sides. Almost every table was full on a Friday night, a mixture of hotel guests and locals out for dinner. Having eaten at a number of Tozi’s I’d say classic is best here – meats and cheeses, ragu, burrata, aubergine parmigiana and the infamous Cacio e Pepe for two (served in, yes, a giant tableside cheese wheel) are fail-safe bets. Order too widely and imaginatively and you might be disappointed, especially for the price (€13-22 for most starters). That said, being able to order pastas in a small and main size (€15/28) is great, and the €89 per person Tozi Feast Menu would probably be a great time, especially if you take your leftovers in a doggy bag for a hotel room midnight snack.
Breakfast is served here too, bright and early from 6am-10am – it’s €23 per person unless it’s included in your room, and does a good spread of hot cooked bits (including some very sweet mini pancakes), and yoghurts, pastries, juices and smoothies – as well as a rather spectacular fresh tea section. The space is bright and homely, just below ground level with a curved glass wall looking out onto Dutch buildings and the leafy street above.
What’s the service like at Park Plaza Vondelpark?
Consistently excellent, in a friendly, low-key sort of way. Staff here are available to help with whatever you need but aren’t overbearing – we had a laugh with the staff member who checked us into our room (which was unexpectedly ready to go when we arrived three hours early), and they were on hand for all the questions we had.
What are the pools and facilities like at Park Plaza Vondelpark?
If it’s a chilled-out, bathrobe-clad spa holiday you seek, Park Plaza ain’t the place. There’s no pool and no spa facilities here – though you can get spa treatments in your room if you’re desperate for a facial. There is, however, a decked-out gym and fitness centre complete with cross trainers, bikes, weights and more. But in general, other than the small speakeasy-style bar on the ground floor, Park Plaza is really pretty compact, and there isn’t a whole lot going on. There’s also nowhere to sit outdoors, which can feel like a shame since the design is so green – but the light pouring from the leafy street above in the restaurant more than makes up for it. Instead, Park Plaza is a great base for exploring. Take advantage of the extremely well-priced bike rental for your entire trip and get out for the day – you’re perfectly placed for it anyway.
What’s the area like around Park Plaza Vondelpark?
I don’t need to bang on about Vondelpark since it’s in the hotel’s name, but it’s hard to stress quite enough how lovely it is to have it on your doorstep. If you walk all the way through it, you can walk to Jordaan, home to a long list of brilliant bars like Café De Nieuwe Lelie and Waterkant. Closer to home it’s pretty upmarket – there’s a wonderful cheese shop named Kobunder Kaas which is much less touristy than the ones in the Red Light District, but will still vacuum-seal your cheese for you for the flight home (don’t worry, Dutch cheeses are mostly hard cheeses anyway) – take home a wedge of cumin manchego for a mean toastie. To get into central, either bike or take the tram. Best of all? To get to the airport and fly home, it’s only a 20-minute bus ride.
Why you should book a stay at Park Plaza Vondelpark
Need I say it again? Vondelpark, Vondelpark, Vondelpark. There, I said it thrice. If the sun’s shining, the whole experience is idyllic – central Amsterdam is chaotic at best, but the streets surrounding Park Plaza are utterly silent, and filled with chirping birds as the light pours through the trees. Cheaper rooms are really quite affordable here too, so if you just want somewhere to pitch up for a few nights it’s a great base, and particularly suited to younger travellers with its focus on sustainability and tech. If you want your hotel to be a bigger part of your experience, consider a room with a terrace for late afternoons and early evening drinking and charcuterie. And don’t miss Tozi, for that enourmous cheese wheel.
DETAILS
Address: Koningslaan 3, 1075 AA Amsterdam, Netherlands
Price: Starting at around €100 per night
Closest transport: Valeriusplein tram stop is a three-minute walk, Emmastraat bus stop is five minutes, and has a direct 20-minute bus (397) to Schiphol Airport.