Amsterdam & Paris

BoysNoize

Thinking of heading away with the missus for 5 days and taking in a bit of both these cities. On a budget as we're students so was thinkin fly into amsterdam, stay 2 nights then getting the train to Paris and 2/3 nights there and flying home.

Just looking to see if anyone has a recommendation for a cheap hotel or hostel or any recommendations at all.

Much appreciated if possible. Cheers

g5fd6ow0hseima

the train might be fairly expensive from Amsterdam to Paris. I was in Amsterdam during the summer and a french person in the hostel I was staying in said he paid something like 120e for a return ticket from Paris.

Regarding Amsterdam, if you're on a budget forget about hotels. The times I was there I myself was on a shoestring so I stayed in ****holes. Just look for hostels out of the way, perhaps Leidseplein. Its a nice area close to a lovel park, museums etc... And only a short walk to the city centre.

Civilian_Target

In Amsterdam, I hear the Flying Pig hostel is good. I stayed in "The Globe", don't go there.

The direct train from Amsterdam to Paris is called Thalys. and it's quite expensive if you don't book in advance.

If you're not in a hurry, or you don't book in advance, you can take regional trains, which should cost you less than the regular Thalys fare (probably about 70 euros unless you get student discount), you'd need to go Amsterdam -> Antwerp -> Lille Flandres -> Amiens -> Paris. Trains are frequent, so you can take a break in the towns on the way, total journey time of about 7 hours

koenig_dublin

We stayed in "Ace of spades" apartment that we found using Amsterdamstay website.

The apartment itself was good, but the service was very poor.

First of all I booked an apartment 8th of March for a trip 31st of March. I was charged 100 euro deposit online and received a confirmation email the same day. I was sure the apartment was booked. I sent another email to find out how can I collect keys 18th of March, they returned to me immediately saying:

"We were waiting for a reply to our mail of 8th March, telling you that the owner got 2 bookings for the same dates almost simultaneously and offering you this alternative a short walk away from the Gecko apartment you booked..."

It was very frustrating why did they wait for my reply if they charged me for the service? Anyway when I agree to change an apartment they returned to me saying that it is also booked. Finally I found another apartment and it was confirmed to be booked.

Please be WARNED that if AmsterdamStay send confirmation email, it doesn't mean that apartment is booked. They did their best to solve this issue, however I would never recommend them as reliable company.

Regarding apartment:
1. The sofa was broken and I sent picture but no action was taken.
2. The toilet was broken on the second day of staying and they fixed it the same day.
3. Few builders knocked the doors on Sunday at 9am, we didn't answer because we were sleeping. They waited for 5 minutes, unlocked the door and entered the apartment without permission. They came in the bedroom and told that we could stay in the beds as they wanted to pass to the garden to get to the roof to fix something. I don't know why it was so important to do it in the morning while we were sleeping and they ignored our privacy. I have been traveling for 7 years in Europe and stayed in different apartments but I have never faced such terrible service.

UPDATE:
Amsterdamstay.com contacted me regarding the issue and it is worth of mentioning that I did not contact the agent regarding apartment issues.

Instead I called directly landlord company Directhousing BV to solve it, with very little success.

Directhousing B.V.

Nieuwe Nieuwstraat 21; 1012 NG Amsterdam
bookings@directhousing.nl
Reservations: +31 6 8581 4920
Check-ins & service: +31 6 8581 6440
AmsterdamStay removed the apartment from the listing and credited the deposit to my online account.

I highly appreciate quick response and the action. I wish I contacted them immediately to solve the issues.