The Best Family Hotel in Amsterdam: Van der Valk Amsterdam Amstel
The more we travel with our kids, the more we realize how important our accommodations are. I spent hours researching hotels in Amsterdam that would be perfect for our family and finally landed on Van der Valk Amstel.
I feel like so often I see photos of hotels I’d love to stay in, only to find out that they don’t really cater to families with only max of 2 people per room or no cribs available. It can be hard to find Amsterdam hotels with family rooms!
However, that’s not the case at Van der Valk Amstel. It was so awesome to get to stay in a trendy boutique hotel but still feel welcome as a family.
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Quick Highlights of this Family-Friendly Hotel in Amsterdam
The things that initially attracted me to Van der Valk Amstel also ended up being what we absolutely loved about our stay. Here is a quick list of things that make Van der Valk Amsterdam Amstel an awesome place to stay for an Amsterdam family vacation:
- Family-friendly rooms
- The Family Suite: king bed, bunk bed plus a crib upon request.
- The Comfort Triple Room: king bed plus a single bed.
- Outdoor Heated Pool (warm enough even when it was 60° F and cloudy-the highlight of our stay!)
- Complimentary Wellness Area (beautiful, relaxing space with sauna, footbath etc. that one parent can sneak down to while the other is with the kids)
- Delicious Breakfast Buffet (additional cost, but yummy and stocked with everything you could want)
- Bike Rental (great if you have older kids, only €16 for 24 hours)
- 24-Hour Pizza (so easy to order dinner from your room that the whole family will eat!)
- Close to the Metro (just a 5-minute walk to the Metro stop and only 10 minutes into the city)
Van der Valk Amsterdam Amstel: An Amsterdam Hotel for Families
It’s fun to be able to stay in a boutique hotel once in a while and it’s especially fun when you feel welcome as a family. Right off the bat, I knew we were welcome at Van der Valk Amstel because their website features family rooms plus there are even kids in the photos (sounds strange, but that helped me feel like they actually expect kids to use their amenities).
The hotel has one type of room called “The Family Suite’ that will fit 2 adults, 2 kids, and a crib if need it. But they also have a ‘Comfort Triple Room’ that can fit 2 adults and a child (and crib) if your family is slightly smaller.
The Family Suite
We were able to stay in the Van der Valk Amstel hotel’s Family Suite and it was such a pleasure! It comes outfitted with a king-size bed and an adorable bunk bed in a separate space from the king-size bed (with a sliding door between).
Can I just say that I LOVE having a king bed in hotels? It’s so nice to have the extra big bed in case any of your littles want to climb into bed with you in the middle of the night. We all know sleeping in new places doesn’t always go 100% as hoped.
Our three-year-old was SO stoked about the bunk bed and having her own space. She immediately climbed up the ladder, unpacked her personal backpack, and began playing independently (which is a major win as a parent). The same space as the bunkbed also had a small couch and TV!
It was so nice to be able to have a door between her bed and our bed so that after we put her to bed, we could continue to talk and not wake her up.
The bathroom had two more features I was totally jazzed about. I wish we got a picture, but the bathtub was HUGE. I know our kids look forward to bathtime and being able to wind down and the end of a busy day, and the huge tub was perfect for that. It could easily fit multiple kids and was super deep making it extra fun.
The other awesome feature I loved about the bathroom was the rain showerhead in the shower. I love me a good rain showerhead. It feels so fancy and relaxing (is that just me?).
An Outdoor Heated Pool
Our top, top, top fav thing about staying at the hotel Van der Valk Amstel was the outdoor heated pool. I mean how many other Amsterdam hotels with swimming pools are there?
We visited Amsterdam in July, however, by the time we made it out to the pool each night it was about 60° F and cloudy. But that wasn’t even a problem! The pool was plenty warm.
The pool is simple and the same depth throughout, however, it does have bubbles that can be activated at one end and a large jet stream that can be activated at the other end.
Our daughter loved jumping off the side into our arms, playing in the jet stream, and just splashing around.
You do access the pool by walking through the gorgeous wellness area (more about that later) which isn’t super little kid-friendly (it has saunas, foot baths, etc.). However, we just made sure to be quiet as we walked through to make it to the pool.
That honestly wasn’t really even an issue though because we were almost always the only ones using the facilities! Maybe it’s cause we usually headed up between 5-7 pm and it seemed like it started getting more visitors at 7 pm and later.
Complimentary Wellness Area
I love that hotel Van der Valk Amsterdam Amstel includes the use of their wellness facilities for free! If you’re traveling with young kiddos, this would be a great place to sneak to while your partner finishes up their bedtime routine or hangs out at the pool with your littles.
The facilities are called ‘Wellness de Tropen’ and are totally trendy and relaxing. You’ll find a sauna, steam room, foot bath, cool swings, and more! My favorite thing about it (besides us almost always having it to ourselves) was that each station had a small plaque teaching you the best ways to experience it.
For example, the amount of time to stay in the sauna, how to use ice chips to cool down, and other things to make it a relaxing experience. It definitely makes it feel inclusive and like they want people to use it. Plus, I mean, look at that wallpaper 😍.
Breakfast Buffet
The Van der Valk Amstel hotel offers a packaged deal which includes an extensive breakfast buffet with your stay or you can purchase it the morning-of. The buffet is more pricey than I prefer to pay for my breakfasts, but when traveling with kids I think it’s the best option to get well fed as quickly as possible in the morning 😅.
Also, because of the location of the hotel, there are not really any breakfast joints or cafes readily available nearby which makes it another great reason to pick up breakfast at the hotel.
The breakfast buffet has pretty much anything you could think of wanting for breakfast. All of the sweet and savory options for cereals, yogurt and oatmeal to cold cuts, cheese and fresh omelets (and loads of other things). Our favorites were the fresh squeezed orange juice and the other fresh smoothie/juice options.
Bike Rental
Amsterdam is known for having a great cycling culture and its bike-friendly roads. Van der Valk Amstel rents out bikes for only 16 euro per 24 hours! What a steal.
You can bike to some of the popular areas of Amsterdam in just a 15-20 minute bike ride from Hotel Van der Valk.This may not be a great option if you have young kids (as I did not notice any child seats on any of the bikes), however, if you are traveling with teenagers this could be a great option!
24 Hour Pizza
Okay, what is more family-friendly than being able to order pizza 24 hours a day from the hotel restaurant? I know that we pretty much always eat pizza at least once when on vacation because we know it will be an all-around crowd pleaser.
You can go downstairs to pick it up or for 10 euro have it delivered to your room. They even have a vegan option if you’re into that.
Metro Ride
Van der Valk Amstel isn’t located right in the city center, but it’s quite easy to get there. The Overamstel Metro Station is located about a 5-minute walk from the hotel and from there it’s only an 8-10 minute ride into the city. It definitely didn’t feel like too much of a commute.
The Metro is super easy to use and you can purchase a ticket for the entire day (or you can purchase for the hour or multiple days) right at the self-serve kiosk at the station. It is called a GVB Day Ticket and will get you on all of the GVB route trams, buses and metros starting at just €8.50 per day.
You can just walk over to the Overamstel Station from the hotel and purchase your day pass at the kiosk on your way into the city. After you purchase your pass, hold onto it, and tap on and off anytime you get on the Metro, Tram or bus. It’s super easy and convenient!
One bummer thing (not the hotel’s fault, but the Metro’s fault) is that the Overamstel Station doesn’t have an elevator to get to the road to the Van der Valk Hotel. It wasn’t a huge deal, we just lifted our stroller up the steps, however, it was annoying.
**An important thing to note is the GVB Day Ticket does not work on the line that gets you from the hotel to Amsterdam Schipol Airport. For this ride, you must purchase both a NS Ticket and a GVB Ticket. We purchased our NS Ticket in advance and picked up the GVB ticket at the station. I recommend using GoogleMaps to plan your journey- it’s super easy and tells you exactly where to go!**
Additional Amsterdam Hotels for Families
- Eric Vökel Boutique Apartments (think full kitchen and separate rooms, like an Airbnb but part of a hotel)
- YAYS Amsterdam Salthouse Canal (full apartment-style accommodations, also like an Airbnb but part of a hotel)
- NH City Centre Amsterdam (rooms with two beds, sleeps 4)
And those are all the things that we loved about our family accommodation in Amsterdam at the Van der Valk Amstel Hotel. Please reach out to me if you have any questions about planning a trip to Amsterdam with kids, I love chatting about all things travel!
Check out these other posts, I know you’ll love them:
- 22 Things to do with kids in Amsterdam + Where to Stay
- How to Find the Amsterdam Airport Playground: Things You Need to Know
- 10 Fun Playgrounds in Paris Near Top Paris Attractions
- 15 Essential Tips for Disneyland Paris Planning
- The Best Double Stroller for Travel to Europe From Personal Experience
- 10 Top Hacks: How to Enjoy Wintery Bruges Belgium with a baby
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