I stayed at The Conservatorium for the first time in May of 2019 for 4 nights. If I wrote this in May 2019 I would have given it a 5, everyone and everything about this hotel was perfect. I couldn’t have been happier. Mike Van Kempen was the concierge that took care of me at that time and planned every detail to perfection. We were in a junior suite that was absolutely perfect and everything about that stay went perfectly. I must say it is a tremendous loss that he is no longer part of the Concierge Team.
Now it is June 2024. I was choosing between the Waldorf and the Conservatorium, but i couldnt imagine staying anywhere else could be as perfect. This trip we were there a week. I was traveling with my adult daughter and I felt like this was the perfect place. The location couldn’t be better. And after my first stay I couldn’t imagine another hotel being any better.
Our pick up at the airport was perfect, check in was seamless. We were greeted immediately and offered drinks upon arrival. We booked the previous night so we could be guaranteed that we had a room available upon arrival after flying overnight. My travel agent mistakenly booked the night before we traveled so we actually paid for 2 nights that we weren’t there. I caught the mistake several days prior to arrival but the hotel would not cancel the one night, but did say that we could use it towards amenities. We also booked a private boat ride on the canal which was perfect. We did that after resting a few hours, we were originally in a king room but realized after a few hours that we needed a room with 2 bathrooms so we moved to a junior suite, our luggage was moved while we were on the canal tour. So that was perfect. The only issue I had was that I am a platinum Amex cardholder and I realized after we checked we were nit offered or explained regarding the benefits and we did not receive any benefits. The front desk staff did not have any euros to exchange our dollars and sent us to the supermarket ATM across the street. That was the first issue.
The concierge was inept. Aside from booking the canal boat and a private guide to the countryside they pretty much failed us in every way. Our private car and guide Matin was amazing. But the concierge missed the boat when it came to making dinner reservations. When they did make a reservation and we arrived at the restaurant we were told consistently that we didn’t have a reservation, it seemed that they were booking it under my email address or phone number and had no clue when I said my name at the restaurants, with the exception of 3 of the 7 nights we stayed. We requested several restaurants, one they never made a reservation at so we did it on our own, one they said wasn’t available any of the 7 nights but did not try to see if there were cancellations throughout the week. On our last night we requested one restaurant , they made it a one down the street, we waled in, the restaurant was empty and filthy and they were getting ready to close. We ordered a bottle of water and decided to leave and go back to the hotel and chose another restaurant. Based on the our list of restaurants, they should never have booked us at the one we left. I did tell them to take it off their list.
The housekeeping staff, the room service was excellent. When we ordered room service for breakfast our food was in our room within 20 minutes, water and fruit was replenished daily. It took longer to get our breakfast when we actually went into the restaurant to eat. I have zero complaints about the room except for the fact that the makeup mirror was way too high to use it, the lighting was in the room as a whole could be better. One night we were sleeping and the lights went on , on their own. I forgot to mention this upon checkout. The air conditioning is not efficient and the room was never cool enough for the few 88 degree days we had. Our converters didn’t work for our blow dryer and the hotel blow dryers were old and heavy. I don’t have thick hair yet it took me an hour to dry it when it should have taken 15 minutes tops.
The icing on the cake was when I received a letter in ny room for our ride to the airport and the airport concierge to greet us and take us through tax free and security. I stated early in the week that I am a nervous flyer and wanted to arrive early for my 2:35 PM flight home, a flight that was being boarded at 1:40 PM. I did not receive confirmation of these services until late in the afternoon the day before departure. They booked a car for 12PM to arrive at 12:35PM and the airport concierge to be there at that time. Schipol is a large airport, It was a Monday, a very busy travel day and we were told by our airline to arrive at least 2.5 hours early. I went down to the concierge and he said there was nothing he could do at that time, I should come down in the morning and resolve it with one of his colleagues. At 8AM I went down to the concierge and they did try to change things, but the most important thing, the airport concierge couldn’t be changed. I will say I was quite upset and nervous and they did nothing to assist except offer me coffee or tea. At that point I was so nervous I didn’t want anything more. I did find out that most of their concierge are interns and they have no idea what they are doing. We only saw the head concierge one time at the beginning of our stay. Also that morning the front desk staff said they couldn’t give me smaller change of my 50 euro bills. Finally before we departed they could change it, I needed it changed for tips. Apparently they don’t care about tips, I do tip the housekeeping staff everyday and tip for any service generously. However I only tipped one member of the concierge staff. We did make it on our flight by the skin of our teeth and we were lucky that we only fly first class because by the time we boarded there was no overhead space left for anyone that was not flying first class.
I really wish I could have given this review a perfect rating, but that last day really ruined everything. I am planning another trip to Amsterdam with my husband in April 2025, and I am not sure if I will choose The Conservatorium again. However the hotel location is perfect, especially for shopping at designer store and going to museums. They have the best pancakes I have ever had. Rooms are very clean, beds are comfortable. I never heard anyone in the hallways or noise from outside. Kudos to housekeeping and room service staff for an excellent job. The failure of the concierge was my biggest disappointment. And please lower the makeup mirrors and put new blowdryers in the bathrooms. And do a better job of training your very young concierge staff. Try rehiring Mike Van Kempen wherever he may be. He made my first stay perfection. Not sure where I will be staying next spring in one of my favorite cities. I love Amsterdam.
