Canal Suites Amsterdam

I had Room No.1 on the ground floor, and it worked out perfectly. Everything worked, and it was quiet and peaceful in January 2025. The location is very convenient. January is the best month to visit Amesterdam if you want to meet locals. People are very nice!

We spent four nights at the end of April in the Rooftop Apartment on the second floor. The apartment was a great size, about 500 sq ft, which is a good alternative to Amsterdam’s tiny, expensive hotel rooms. The furniture and overall setup were pretty nice, and the location was great. Dam Square is a short walk or metro ride away, Waterlooplein station is four minutes away on foot, and De Pijp and other hip neighborhoods are nearby. A few things made the stay less comfortable. Construction next door started around 9 am on weekdays, so sleeping in was mostly out of the question. They could have provided earplugs, and although there’s a washing machine, there was no detergent. The building has no elevator, so you’ll have to carry your own luggage up to the second floor. Check-in is at the Canal hotel, owned by the same group, about half a mile away. They do provide a cab from there to the Suites. They also charge a 500 Euro deposit at check-in. It’s an actual charge, not a hold, and although it’s refunded, you may have to cover transaction fees and any loss from changes in conversion rates. I’d have rated it higher if they’d handled the smaller details. The location and size are great, and without the construction it would have been a much nicer stay.

My husband and I have stayed in Amsterdam many times, and I’ve never had an accommodation experience like this. I don’t usually leave a bad review, but I want others considering Canal Suite to know what happened. We booked for April 2020 and had prepaid. Lockdown meant all flights from Ireland were cancelled for those dates, so it was impossible for us to travel. Judith, the owner of Canal Suites, told me to cancel and said I’d get 80 percent of my payment back if someone else booked those dates. I questioned whether anyone would book during the pandemic. I emailed about ten times asking to move the trip dates, since I was rescheduling our flights anyway, but she said it wasn’t possible and wouldn’t explain why. She said Amsterdam wasn’t in lockdown, she would rent the property again, and she’d return most of my money. Nobody booked for our dates. Closer to the trip, she contacted me to say I’d get nothing back. When I called, shocked that she was keeping the money even though we physically couldn’t travel, she was rude, hung up when I questioned her, and blocked me from calling again. I asked why she was keeping the payment when she’d had no costs from our travel because we never made it. She said the money was in her bank, it was my fault for booking a prepaid room, and she was keeping it. I understand the prepaid terms under normal circumstances, but this was exceptional: all flights in my country had been grounded. Other places I’d booked let me postpone and rebook. I couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t let us change dates. It felt like she saw a chance to keep my money and took it. I had to give one star to post this, but I wouldn’t give even that. I’d avoid this property at all costs.

The apartment is large and nicely located, but a bit expensive. With no AC or bug screens, it feels like thousands of mosquitoes are invading the place. There’s loud construction going on right now, making it impossible to work or sleep.