Review: DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal, part of the Hilton winter sale

This is our review of the DoubleTree Hotel Amsterdam Centraal.

Hilton is currently running its latest sale for hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

You can get up to 20% off participating properties for weekend stays up to 21st April 2025. You must book by 28th January 2025.  You can see full details on the Hilton website here.

To show you what sort of hotels you could book in the Hilton sale, the HfP team split up and visited three different properties in three different countries. Today we are looking at Amsterdam and coming up are reviews from Paris and London. 

Built in 2011, the DoubleTree’s hulking mass appears to sit on stilts above the water next to Centraal Station.

For the past year or so, the 557-room hotel has been undergoing a full top-to-bottom makeover and with the renovation in its final throes (and due to complete in early 2025) it seemed the perfect opportunity to take a look and review the DoubleTree Amsterdam Centraal.

Hilton arranged my stay for review purposes but Head for Points paid all other expenses. The hotel website is here.

Where is DoubleTree Amsterdam Centraal?

The hotel is in an excellent location, not just for Amsterdam but the entirety of The Netherlands thanks to its position between two canals and right next door to Amsterdam’s Centraal station.

Amsterdam’s historic canal district is just a bridge away; Museumsplein, with all its major museums is just a 30-minute walk away despite being on the opposite side of the city.

Meanwhile, access from Schiphol is a doddle with regular trains running between the airport and Centraal station, and then a five minute walk to the hotel. The same is true for Eurostar services, which terminate and depart from Centraal station, as well as regional services to other parts of the Netherlands.

Inside the DoubleTree Amsterdam Centraal hotel

Most of the hotel’s ground floor is given over to a cafe and restaurant; the lobby is comparatively small as you would expect for a DoubleTree, although it does feature a grab and go snack shop.

Check in was a breeze and I was given the classic warm DoubleTree cookie. I was pleased to hear that as a Diamond member I had been upgraded to a suite, although don’t expect too much as these start from 28 square metres in size – less than some hotel rooms!

Suites at the DoubleTree Amsterdam Centraal

The exterior of the hotel does a good job of disguising its size. Once inside, it felt like a half-mile walk to my suite door on the fifth floor from the lifts. You quickly realise this is not a small hotel!

My suite is what I would describe as a corner suite, with an unusual triangular footprint. The living space was up first, with a sofa, dining table and mini bar set up:

My suite’s north-facing aspect, and the horrendous winter weather in Amsterdam at the time, meant the room was relatively dark throughout the day: the dark green ceiling and furniture didn’t help, although I admit it might be a different story during the summer months!

A Lavazza coffee machine was available and two bottles of water were in the fridge – the latter are free if you are Hilton Honors Silver and above.

This is a DoubleTree so don’t expect luxury finishes, but the wood veneer does a good job of making it feel premium. That’s a win in my view, with the design of the hotel keeping up with higher-end hotels at a fraction of the price.

The door to the bathroom is by the front door and slightly tucked away. The bathroom itself is, again, small but they have managed to squeeze in a full-size bath tub. The shower, on the other hand, is quite tight and the temperature dial not the most intuitive!

Toiletries are the standard wall-mounted Crabtree & Evelyn which you also find in a ‘vanilla’ Hilton.

Then there’s the bedroom with a king size bed:

Floating bedside tables are fitted on both sides, as well as a European-style mains socket and USB-A and USB-C ports, which is a big tick from me.

A large flat screen TV is opposite.

My particular suite had a north-facing view across the railway tracks leading into Amsterdam Centraal and across the canal. If you’re on the southern side then you get a view of the old part of the city. I could occasionally hear trains passing but it was a very quiet rumble and didn’t disturb me.

Food and drink at the DoubleTree Amsterdam Centraal

One thing that has gone during the renovation is the hotel’s Executive Lounge. This is not standard for the DoubleTree brand so it’s no surprise that it’s disappeared, although I’m sure any regular Hilton Honors guests will mourn its absence!

The hotel now has a ground floor restaurant, a third party cafe operated by LOT61 and a rooftop bar called LuminAir.

The restaurant is called WE ARE EDN and serves food all day and is where you’ll find the breakfast buffet. As with the rest of the hotel this has now also been refurbished and now has very characterful decor:

With limited options nearby, it was buzzing at both breakfast and dinner, no doubt aided by the bad weather which made the short walk into Amsterdam’s China Town an unpleasant prospect!

I was impressed by the breakfast buffet which was more extensive than I expected for a DoubleTree. there was plenty of choice, from cereals, yoghurts and fruits all the way through to cold cuts:

The spread of hot items was equally good, ranging from hash browns and beans to deep fried fish bites (think fish and chips for breakfast!)

Eggs and pancakes could be ordered fresh from a small a la carte menu although when I tried to order some pancakes they never arrived and I never bothered following up, so perhaps some room for improvement there.

In the evenings, WE ARE EDN serves an international menu with a variety of starters, salads and main courses ranging from burgers, steaks and fish. You can see the menu on their website here; main courses range from €16 to €30.

Here is the ceviche starter, which was huge with chunks of prawn, sea bass and salmon swimming in the citrus brine:

And here the caesar salad which featured buttermilk fried chicken:

It’s decent, casual food that is elevated by the lively atmosphere in the restaurant.

After dinner I had a quick look upstairs in Luminaire, which has southfacing views across the canal towards the Scheepvaarthuis. It was lively even on a Wednesday night with signature cocktails priced between €16 and €20.

Conclusion

The new top-to-bottom refurbishment at the DoubleTree Amsterdam Centraal is almost complete, and what a glow-up it is. Whilst works will finish in early 2025, the only sign of ongoing construction was a small cordoned off section on the ground floor.

This is now a flagship DoubleTree hotel with brand new interiors. In keeping with the DoubleTree brand you won’t find a huge amount of amenities – there’s a small gym and that’s about it – but the rooms are now fresh and modern and you can’t argue with the location.

Nightly rates start at around €200 per night whilst a Hilton Honors redemption will set you back just under 60,000 points per night.

Remember that the current Hilton weekends sale runs until 28th January for stays until 21st April.

You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

PS. If you are reading this but are not a regular Head for Points visitor, please consider signing up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters. They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and deals to improve how you travel. To sign up, visit this page of the site or click any of the ‘Subscribe’ links on this page. Thank you.

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How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (January 2025)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit and debit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

There are two dedicated Hilton Honors debit cards. These are especially attractive when spending abroad due to the 0% or 0.5% FX fee, depending on card.

You also receive FREE Hilton Honors status for as long as you hold the debit cards – Gold status with the Plus card and Silver status with the basic card. This is a great reason to apply even if you rarely use it.

We reviewed the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card here and the Hilton Honors Debit Card here.

You can apply for either card here.

There is another way of getting Hilton Honors status, and earning Hilton Honors points, from a payment card.

Holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card.  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (50,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)