The Exchange

European hotels can be quite pricy and hostels lack privacy. Exactly in the middle is The Exchange! There isn’t much to it (at least not in the 1 star rooms), but it’s under € 100 nightly. My room was quite quaint with white walls, white linens and white furniture. Small, but actually larger than I had anticipated. Who spends all their time in the room anyways? Get out there and explore.
The bed was amazingly comfortable and that alone makes The Exchange worth it for me. The bathroom is spacious and fully stocked with everything you need. They’ll even provide a hair dryer if you ask. Paid tv is available, but again, get out of the room! One of the best amenities is the free wifi! Thank goodness! I turned off my data before traveling; so, each morning I google mapped my route and snapped screenshots to get around. Plus, I was able to check in with family and friends back home without incurring huge international charges.
Another plus, The Exchange is 5 minutes from Centraal Station. It’s definitely in a touristy area, but it makes orienting yourself so much easier. Within 1 day, I was able to move around in the city and still find my way back to the hotel easily.
The only big negative I have is that you can hear everything: the street, the people above, below and next to you, the vending machine and the staff at Stock prepping. Make sure you bring earplugs.
The Stock, next door, is a bit pricey but really convenient. Despite the extra euro it cost, I’ve popped in every morning for a cheese sandwich. They’re open as early as 7 am which is great, because even though Holland doesn’t get moving till around 10am, I’m stuck on America time.
All in all, pleasant stay. It isn’t fancy, but it’s clean, convenient and inexpensive.

Loved this place. Stayed one night on a layover in Amsterdam. Easy to get to, clean, chic. Loved that the décor in each room is uniquely designed by a different art student! And the BED WAS AMAZING! so comfortable, had the best sleep. Rooms are on the small size but only because the king size took up the place. Seriously considering canceling my reservation for later this week at a different hotel and losing my payment to stay here again. Loved it.

It was fun. The elevator was impossible to figure out. the layout is odd. The décor is cute. more kitschy than «avant-​garde» as it is billed. My main issue with the place was how hot my room was and the fact that the window only opened a sliver. i am sure it had to do with the no-​smoking policy but come on. it was august and it was warm outside. The fan that was provided helped a bit but was VERY loud. I will say i left Amsterdam quite clean as I took like four cold showers in one day. I did love the bathroom. Also the vending machines had really good cheap beer/​wine. I wish we had things like that in the US.

This hotel is really hip. It is decorated in a really interesting way.
It is really clean. The bed was comfortable. The room was tiny though, it only had the bed, a television, a table, and a (really uncomfortable) chair. It also had a safe.
The bathroom was pretty strange. Just a shower head next to the toilet, no enclosure around it. It just kind of flooded the bathroom for a bit too, the only remedy was the squeegee supplied.

good location, right on the damrak street. but it has the smallest door, so easy to miss it when passing by.
our room was just as big as the bed and maybe one more chair. i read each room is unique in terms of decorations but our room had… none. it was white walls, white sheets, white chair, white lamp, with no shapes or anything. not as artsy as i would expect.
i liked the bathroom very much. coming from a crowded city myself, i wish toronto condos can adopt the bathroom styles where a shower head is shared in the room with the toilet and sink.
over all it made me a bit claustrophobic and expensive.

I stayed here for Queen’s night and Queen’s Day Amsterdam 2012. What an unbelievable party. Akin to Mardi Gras in the States. Anyway, about the hotel:
The non-​smoking room I booked smelled of smoke, a non-​starter for me. The receptionist told me that housekeeping took are of it with a spray and that it was impossible to move me, no manager to talk to, no refund possible yadda yadda I’m sure you have all dealt with poor customer service. Anyway, a man came to take the night shift and BAM he moved me to a new room (not as nice but at this point I didn’t care) and was very accomadating. He (and the great location) is the only reason the review is 2 stars and not 1.
Other:
0) Queensnight and Queensday total price for 2 nights: $ 572 USD.
1) The hotel was decorated by some local artists or something, so there is some weirdness/​coolness going on if you like that sort of thing. I attached some pics.
2) The rooms face the DamRak street, so you hear ambulances etc.
3) The bathroom had a bad drainage smell that came up every so often. Not like sewage, but extremely unpleasant.
4) The «king bed» is two twins pushed together without any kind of device to hold them together, so you immediately slip down and the two beds push apart. So you have to pick which twin bed you want to sleep on.
5) The shower has no curtain is just sort of sprays into the very small bathroom.