When we first arrived at Sloterdijk Station, I was a little put off by all the "characters" in the…read morearea. It seemed to me a good place to get pick-pocketed as it is a very noisy and crowded station and area right outside the hotel. My advice would be to pay close attention to your belongings as you walk from the station to the hotel.
That being said, the Holiday Inn Express Sloterdijk is like a diamond in the rough. As soon as we entered, we relaxed immediately in the quiet atmosphere. There is a grocery store on the first level of the hotel as well as a restaurant, which we didn't try. You take an elevator up one floor to get to the reception desk to check in.
We stayed at this hotel two times on our Amsterdam trip, for one night each time. Both stays were excellent. As an IHG Rewards member, I was thrilled that we were able to check in early on our first visit. On our second visit, we had to wait a couple hours to check in. We went to the nearby Starbucks to wait as the hotel lobby was very crowded with people waiting to check in.
On both stays, we were given a room with an odd number. I was glad, because I had read in another Yelp review that the odd numbered rooms were quieter. The odd numbered rooms face the trains but the train noise did not bother us. We had rooms pretty high up, which probably helped in that regard.
The rooms were clean, modern, and comfortable. I liked the toiletries in the bathroom. They had my second favorite hotel breakfast on the trip, and the cool thing is the breakfast is included with the room, which is pretty rare in Europe. You had to let the front desk know which hour-long "shift" you wanted for breakfast in order for them to have enough seating for everyone. We picked the early shift (from 7 - 8 am). There was plenty of food and seating during that shift. They had plentiful pastries (my favorite!), yogurt, fruit, cereal, Dutch cheeses, juices, and hot food items available.
Both times we stayed at this hotel, we at dinner at the Hermes restaurant, which is just across from this hotel, literally steps away. We loved sitting outside at that restaurant, enjoying their wonderful food and service.
The Sloterdijk Station is only two train stops from the airport and one train stop to the Central station in Amsterdam. We would definitely stay there again.
