Consisting of 25 historical canal houses \u2013 some dating back to the 1600s \u2013 the original houses were built more than 400 years ago.\u00a0 In the late 1960s, Herbert Pulitzer, a businessman, purchased the first 10 canal houses that would become the hotel. Over the years, additional canal houses are purchased.\u00a0 In the early 90s, Pulitzer decides to sell the hotel and it is first bought by an Italian chain and then in 1995 purchased by Starwood as a Sheraton hotel.<\/p>\n
Between 1998 and 2000, the hotel was completely renovated and upon the completion, joined the Luxury Collection. \u00a0The hotel fills several blocks and is in-between Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht with the entrance facing Prinsengracht and the restaurant on the backside facing Keizersgracht.\u00a0 The canal houses that face Prinsengracht were originally shops, warehouses and doubled as homes (the Anne Frank house is on Prinsengracht.)\u00a0 The canal houses on Keizersgracht were more grand and imposing as they were considered upscale when they were built.<\/p>\n
The first houses were built in 1615 and today house the restaurant, bar and bedrooms ending with numbers 60 & 79. The imposing mansion at 224 Keizersgracht was built in 1620, and named De Saxenburg by its owner, Hans Lenaertsz.\u00a0 You can still see the name on the building today.\u00a0 In 1630, the Lenaertz bought several more houses today those are guestrooms ending in 12 \u2013 19 and 31-57.\u00a0 I stayed in room 312 \u2013 pretty amazing to know that I was in a room dating back to the early 1600s.<\/p>\n
In 1796 the estate is sold to Pieter van Winter and he adds Prinsengracht 323 and rebuilds it into a coach house today is contains guest rooms ending in 10 and 30 and the ground floor holds the lobby.\u00a0 After Winter\u2019s death in 1807, the De Saxenburg mansion is turned into a chocolate factory and the rest is renovated into office and factory space.\u00a0 The residence was finally purchased in 1986 and became part of the Hotel Pulitzer.<\/p>\n
The hotel retains much of its original charm.\u00a0 There are original hard-wood floors in some of the rooms, Delft tiles in the bathtubs and the hotel is a virtual maze connecting all of the canal houses that today make up the hotel.<\/p>\n
The Hotel<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The hotel is very conveniently located \u2013 about a 5-10 minute ride from Central Amsterdam Station or about a 20 minute walk, a 2-5 minute walk to the Anne Frank House, a 10 minute walk to the Dag Square and provides easy access to all other areas of the historic city.<\/p>\n The hotel offers a canal cruise on a historic canal boat that is more than 103 years old. The Tourist as it\u2019s called, has carried hotel guests, celebrities and dignitaries \u2013 including Winston Churchill and the Queen of England.\u00a0\u00a0 The cruise will cost \u20ac35 per person and takes about 1 hour.\u00a0\u00a0 The group size is limited to around 10 -12 guests and children are welcome.\u00a0\u00a0 I was very disappointed in the cruise \u2013 there were many other longer, less expensive cruise options that departed from in front of the hotel.\u00a0 In addition, the captain of the cruise was supposed to provide commentary throughout the cruise.\u00a0 Twice he stopped to talk on his cell phone.\u00a0\u00a0 In addition, he let two young children (7\/8 years old) steer the boat and then stand in the front of the boat blocking views for others.\u00a0\u00a0 There was also a group \u2013 one man and his two teenage sons \u2013 who stood up the whole time blocking the windows on the left side of the boat for the entire cruise.\u00a0\u00a0 Not one time did the captain ask them to sit down \u2013 I don\u2019t think he could since he was so busy with the kids and his phone.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As a result \u2013 I would recommend that you save money and take one of the non-hotel cruises.<\/p>\n The hotel has a restaurant, a Bar, an espresso Bar, a gym and several gardens.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t visit the espresso bar, but they did offer take-away breakfast options (like muffins, rolls, fruits, etc\u2026)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Check-in<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Check-in was quick and easy \u2013 however, as a Platinum member there were no room upgrades available.\u00a0 The receptionist told me that since it was Easter weekend they were at capacity.\u00a0\u00a0 I was also informed that breakfast was included, so for my Platinum check-in amenity I selected the points.\u00a0\u00a0 I headed up to my room and quickly discovered some of the hotels charm – small elevators and sets of stairs that lead up and down through the corridors of the old canal houses that have been pieced together into the hotel.\u00a0\u00a0 My room was only down one set of stairs \u2013 which was nice since I had luggage to carry.<\/p>\n The Room<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Upon entering my room, I noticed immediately that it was small \u2013 and by small I mean like a shoebox.\u00a0 The room had a king-sized bed \u2013 you couldn\u2019t stand two-by-two on either side of the bed and there probably wasn\u2019t enough room to pass someone next to the bed.\u00a0 There was a very small desk \u2013 not enough room for my computer (a 13 inch laptop) and a tray from room service \u2013 with a small desk lamp and phone.\u00a0 There was a dresser with robe and slippers and safe \u2013 and some room for hanging and folded items as well.<\/p>\n There was also a mini-bar in the room.\u00a0 I opened the mini-bar \u2013 which I\u2019ve now named the lamest mini-bar ever \u2013 to discover 1 bottle of wine, a can of beer, flavored water and an energy drink.\u00a0 On top of the min-bar were some peanuts and tic-tacs.\u00a0\u00a0 The mini-bar menu was much more extensive and so I called the front desk to enquire.\u00a0 They said it should have been replenished and offered to have someone come and fill it.\u00a0 Friday went by, Saturday went by and Sunday went by and when I checked out Monday the mini-bar still contained the exact same items \u2013 no one came to refill it.<\/p>\n The bathroom was small but sufficient and had a shower inside the bath tub.\u00a0 After my first shower, I noticed that the shower head was broken.\u00a0 It couldn\u2019t be positioned at all \u2013 it would just dangle straight down towards the wall.\u00a0 This made it awkward to shower since the bathtub had a curve to it and you had to stand as close to the wall as possible to get under the water stream.\u00a0 I called Saturday about getting that fixed and when I checked out on Monday it still hadn\u2019t been fixed.\u00a0\u00a0 The water temperature was also erratic \u2013 sometimes it would turn scalding hot or freezing cold without warning.\u00a0 This seems to happen in old hotels (I experienced the same thing in London and Brussels in historic hotels.)<\/p>\n The room was very clean and I could always smell cleaning products used by housekeeping for several hours after they cleaned.\u00a0\u00a0 The wood floors creaked in some areas and definitely showed wear and tear.<\/p>\n The view from my room was of a cement wall.\u00a0\u00a0 I called the front desk to ask about changing rooms to one with a better view \u2013 I told them I understood that no upgrades were available \u2013 but could I get a room with a view of something?\u00a0 I was told by the person who answered the room that because of the rate type I booked I couldn\u2019t change rooms.\u00a0 Disappointed with that answer, I tweeted @SPGInsider and they called the hotel.\u00a0 Shortly after, I talked with the duty manager who explained that the hotel was full for Saturday night, but that on Sunday she\u2019d be more than happy to move me to a room with a better view.\u00a0\u00a0 So was the other person at the front desk that I spoke with earlier wrong when she told me it was based on my rate type?\u00a0\u00a0 I certainly felt like I got a bit of a run-around and conflicting information.\u00a0\u00a0 In the end, I declined the move because it would have been a bit challenging to move all my things and I had gotten used to looking at the wall.<\/p>\n The last thing I will mention about the rooms is that you can hear absolutely everything that occurs in the halls and adjacent rooms.\u00a0 I mean you can literally hear conversations \u2013 and other things – people are having.\u00a0 It\u2019s awkward at times.\u00a0 \u00a0You can also hear housekeeping in the mornings\u00a0 – someone knocked on my door at 8:23 am Saturday morning and when I asked that she come back later, I could hear her talk for 5 minutes or so outside my door.\u00a0\u00a0 I also heard her (or another housekeeper) knock on an adjacent room and literally heard the guy scream \u2018go-away\u2019 and I mean he screamed!\u00a0 Why is housekeeping knocking on doors at 8:23 am on a Saturday morning anyway?<\/p>\n The Restaurant<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The restaurant – Grill 223 \u2013 is a Michelin Star rated restaurant and having enjoyed dinner there myself, I can see why.\u00a0\u00a0 When I arrived for dinner the restaurant was pretty empty \u2013 granted it was Good Friday \u2013 and it took a few minutes for someone to greet me.\u00a0 Once seated, it took another 12 minutes before someone came over with a menu and then 7 more minutes before my waiter greeted me.\u00a0 Based on that start, I was a little worried, but once my waiter finally came over, thing turned around.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I was served bread with three spreads \u2013 an olive tapenade, butter and a garlic spread.\u00a0 They were all good.\u00a0 I started with a traditional Caesar salad that was very good and had the perfect amount of dressing.\u00a0 The salad was topped with two soft boiled eggs and a crouton.\u00a0 For dinner, I had the burger duo.\u00a0 Two sliders \u2013 one with Gouda and one with cheddar and bacon.\u00a0 They were delicious and reasonably priced.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I really enjoyed the meal and would go back again. I do have to note that not everything on the menu was reasonably priced.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Check-out<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Upon checking out, I told the receptionist that of the two issues in the room (the mini-bar and the shower head) she apologized and said, \u201cOh, I see you\u2019ve had breakfast in the restaurant, I\u2019ll remove that for your inconvenience.\u201d I responded by saying that I thought breakfast was included.\u00a0 She checked and in fact, breakfast was included \u2013 so she removed that charge from my bill.\u00a0 It was a lovely offer and in the end, since the charge was removed from my bill because it was in error, she didn\u2019t offer anything else for the inconveniences.\u00a0 \u00a0Checkout was speedy and I was on my way to the train station very quickly.<\/p>\n Overall<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The Pulitzer bills itself as a 5 star hotel.\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid I don\u2019t agree with the 5 star rating.\u00a0 If you look online at Trip Advisor, Orbitz and Kayak the hotel is rated with 4 stars, Frommer\u2019s rates the hotel 1 star (1 Frommer star means highly recommended (they go from 1-3 stars with 3 stars being exceptional), Hotels.com rates the hotel 3 stars.\u00a0 The only 5 star rating comes from the hotel itself as far as I can see. I would rate the hotel a 4 star hotel by most standards.<\/p>\n The rooms are quaint, the hotel has charm and the restaurant is excellent \u2013 so there are many positive things about the hotel in addition to the drawbacks.<\/p>\n The Pulitzer is the only Starwood Property in Amsterdam \u2013 so if you\u2019re trying to stick with Starwood, it\u2019s your only choice.\u00a0 If I was to return to Amsterdam \u2013 which I currently have no plans to \u2013 I am not sure if I would stay at the Pulitzer again based on this experience.\u00a0 I would either go with the Intercontinental (It is one of the 5 star hotels in Amsterdam) or one of the Marriott\u2019s because I like earning points there as a backup.<\/p>\n
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