Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam review: Choose your room wisely!

Sometimes, picking the most picturesque and centrally located hotel is the best thing to do when visiting a city that you’re not all that familiar with. That’s exactly how and why I chose to stay at the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel in Amsterdam.

The Park Plaza is perfectly located, rich in history, and very well maintained. It also offers some of the best views of central Amsterdam from any hotel in the city. It’s basically the “like, duh” choice.

A full review of my one night stay at the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel in Amsterdam

I’ll admit that I was skeptical choosing to stay at one of the oldest hotels in town. Honestly? Staying in a hotel that’s been around for hundreds of years (and possibly infested with ghosts who are total a**holes to travel bloggers like me) is never my first choice.

Location

You’ll find the Park Plaza Victoria without even trying. I promise. It’s the first thing you’ll see when exiting Centraal Station in Amsterdam. It’s right across the river and will take approximately 5 minutes to reach (by walking). Probably 10 minutes if you have a lot of luggage (or an ornery travel companion).

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel in Amsterdam — Although this is a picture of the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel, I technically haven’t even started the review yet. This is simply a pic of first thing I saw upon exiting the main train station.

Scott walking from the central train station in Amsterdam to the park plaza Victoria hotel — *“I think I’ll walk.”* (The review has officially started BTW)

Walking to the Park plaza Victoria hotel in Amsterdam from the train station — Walking to this hotel from the train station (which is just behind me in this pic) is extremely easy (and highly recommend). Yeah, you *could* hail a taxi or an Uber, but you’d risk being cursed at by an angry driver for the entire 45 second ride.

Crossing the street to reach the park plaza Victoria hotel in Amsterdam — See? That wasn’t so bad. We’re almost there.

Entrance to the park plaza Victoria hotel in Amsterdam — I know! I thought the main entrance was on the corner (as seen in the previous pic) as well. It turns out that it’s actually located down the side of the building (to the right). Just where you wouldn’t expect it to be.

Revolving doorway of the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam

Glass doors leading into the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam

The lobby (and checking in)

You’d never know that this is a 140 year-old hotel upon walking through the main entrance. Yeah, there are hints of nostalgia scattered about, but for the most part, it looks like any other modern hotel.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam lobby — Yup. So far this is every bit as dark and moody as my Park Plaza Westminster Bridge experience in London. I think they do this so it’s harder to see the what the nightly rate is on the bill. Genius!

Checking in was fast and easy, though it did take me a moment to find the reception desk. It’s located in a separate room to the left of the main lobby.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam reception desk — The very hidden closet / reception desk area. This was probably a really good idea in the 1890s, but it’s a bit confusing by current day standards. Either that or we’ve become stupider as a society since then.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam lobby restaurant and lounge — BTW, this lounge area in the lobby looks pretty nice. Not all that enticing for a wickedly introverted wierdo such as myself, but nice nonetheless.

Getting to my room

The process of finding my room wasn’t easy. The amount of instructions I was given by the guy who checked me in concerned me, as I’m basically the kind of idiot who gets lost in his own home.

Long story short, it involved going up and down elevators, through tight corridors (and backtracking every now and then to reset my bearings).

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam floor descriptions — Yada yada yada. The guy at the reception desk actually had to draw me a map to my room. I’m that much of an idiot.

Scott riding the elevator up to his room at the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam — I may be an idiot, but boy do I ever feel lucky. This is a nice hotel! So far.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam guest room hallway — This is probably where the ghosts live. I may or may not have walked down this hallway a little faster than I normally do at other hotels.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam room 263 — Room 263 is mine for the night. Whether or not I have to share it with a ghost who may or may not be sympathetic to travel bloggers is yet to be seen…

Room overview

I booked a canal view room, and honestly, walking into it for the very first time was disappointing. At least until I saw the view. But then I realized that the main power switch to the room (which is activated by a card key slot) was broken. They couldn’t fix it immediately, so I had to switch to a separate room.

Bad news: there were no more canal view rooms available. Good news: they upgraded me to a mini-suite instead.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite fold out bed — Not only is this the second time that I’ve ever stayed in a Park Plaza hotel, this is the second time that I’ve walked into a room at a Park Plaza hotel with a fold out bed ready and waiting. How many times do I need to tell them that I am not the kind a guy who travels with an entourage?

This was a much nicer (and far more modern) room than the first one, but I would have much preferred to have a room with a view of the canal. Just sayin’.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite main room — Yeah, I know. It doesn’t look like much at first glance, but trust me. It gets better.

It’s worth noting that the card key activated main power switch in this room was slightly broken as well. I almost couldn’t even get it to work at all.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite second room — This is ~~basically~~ a two room suite. One room for you and the Mrs., one room for the ~~goblins and ghosts~~ kids.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite entrance — The fact that this room has a huge double doors is kinda interesting. You could pull a Vauxhall Corsa through there with room to spare.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite TV and work desk — *“JFC Scott, enough with the pictures of this room – just show me the rest of the F’n suite!”*

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite bedroom — And now we move on to the “rest of the F’n suite” portion of this review…

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite king size bed — A bed so wide that they couldn’t find enough pillows for full coverage. The “gap tooth” spacing amuses me.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite bedroom with TV — The bedroom is a lot nicer than the other room, isn’t it? I told you it was gonna get better!

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite bedroom dresser drawers and black out curtains

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite chairs hand side table

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite foldaway couch bed — Nope. There was no door to separate the two rooms. They’re going to see you, and you’re going to see them (hopefully not doing nasty things).

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite closet — Closet space is minimal. Pack lightly. Or keep all of your clothes wadded up in your tiny little backpack like I do. It’s easier that way.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite Nespresso machine

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite minibar

The view

My originally-booked canal view room had pretty much one of the best views that I’ve ever had from a hotel room anywhere. Yes, the windows were small, a bit scuffed up, and multi-paneled. But it was kind of a thrill to have such a commanding view of central Amsterdam right from my room.

View of the central train station from my room at the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam — That’s the main train station over there BTW. I say again: you can walk to this hotel without dying. I promise.

The suite that I switched to had a much less exciting view. It was very European of course, but calling it a “view” is a bit of a stretch.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam city view — This is the view from my suite. ***womp womp***

The bathroom

I didn’t get the chance to see the bathroom in my originally booked canal view room, but the one in the suite was pretty darn ~~sweet~~ fancy.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam suite bathroom — The bathroom is nice (and pretty obvious that it’s been updated since 1890 – at least once).

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam bathroom shower and toilet — The shower. The toilet. Some toilet paper. And a lot of towels.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam bathroom tub — The tub! Not a bad place to drown out the sorrows of losing out on that pretty sweet view of the canal if you ask me.

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam toilet

Park Plaza Victoria Hotel Amsterdam soap and shampoo

Pros and cons of staying at the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel in Amsterdam

There are a lot of really good hotels in central Amsterdam, but very few with the kinds of views that the Park Plaza offers. It’s a nice property, but I think I would only stay here again if I could be guaranteed a room with a view of the canal.

Pros

Did I mention the awesome views of the canal yet? Just checking.
Even though it’s a very large hotel, it looks and feels like a small boutique property.
There’s something for everyone here. If you’re in the mood for vintage style historic room, they got that. If modern style and design is what you want, they got that too.
Location location location! You’re not going to find a more centrally located hotel in all of Amsterdam.

Cons

There’s a chance you might not like this hotel if what you like is ultra luxurious 5-star (modern) properties.
It’s an old hotel, and stuff is going to break. Both card key slots in both of my rooms were not working properly.
The vibe is dark and moody if I’m being honest. There’s not a lot of bright natural light once you’re inside.

Park Plaza Victoria Amsterdam review: Choose your room wisely!