Travel
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amsterdam and/or brugge hotel recs
Hi we are going to amsterdam and then traveling to brugge.
If you have stayed somewhere that is somewhat reasonably priced (although we don't mind spending a little more for a place that's clean and in a good location), please let me know.
also any recommendations on "must-see's" would be great too. We have about two days in each location.
thanks!
mila belle 3.26.07 and isla leighton 5.12.09

mila belle aka mimi and belle and miss isla aka ileigh : )

Re: amsterdam and/or brugge hotel recs
The Pand Hotel in Brugge is just lovely, and regularly has discounted rates. Check out the reviews on Trip Advisor. They are glowing.
It's also very centrally located.
We stayed at Lut & Bruno Setola B&B in Bruges, just a block or two off Markt Square. Lut was such a wonderful hostess- breakfast was delicious, she gave us great advice and recommendations, etc. Plus, they have only 'Excellent' and 'Very Good' TripAdvisor ratings! - http://www.bedandbreakfast-bruges.com/
I have a post in my blog (link in siggy) about our stay in Bruges if you'd like to read about what we did while we were there. Have fun!
An American Girl's Travels
Maui, November 2011
Oops, I forgot to include our Amsterdam lodging. We stayed on a houseboat near the Leidseplein area - http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p233441?cid=E_OWNERINQUIRY_DB_O_20110726_propertyurl_text_LPROP. We enjoyed our stayed very much! We were at the intersection of two canals, close to two tram stops, a large food market, lots of restaurants and nightlife in Leidseplein- a nice area. I have not yet written about Amsterdam in my blog, although I hope to have something posted this weekend.
An American Girl's Travels
We stayed at Hotel Estherea in Amsterdam 2 weeks ago, and we loved it! Great location, great staff and the hotel feels luxurious but without a huge price tag. Also, you get free coffee/tea/hot chocolate and cookies any time of day
http://www.estherea.nl/
Our wedding on Wilson Island!
Amsterdam Accomodation: We stayed at the West Violet B&B. It is near the Anne Frank house. A couple of blocks walk to a tram stop. Is is on a side street and very quiet. The breakfast part is a kitchen open to the guests and is stocked with breakfast foods. You can use the kitchen anytime. DH cooked breakfast for us and a few days we made sandwiches to take with us to maximize our time touring museums. Also helped save a little money. We also got take out near by and took it back there to eat. The proprietor is very nice. loaned us drying racks for our hand wash and arranged a taxi to airport for us with a special rate. We stayed downstairs in the large room. The kitchen and other room are up narrow stairs. I reserved it through bookings.com (that's how I get all my European rooms) but here is the direct website http://www.westviolet.nl/index.html
Amsterdam Must See: I recommend the iAmsterdam card. It is good for 24, 48 or 72 hours depending on which one you buy. You can get them in the visitor building across the street from the central train station. It is good for all included museum entry fees and bus/trams for that duration. Note the Anne Frank house is the only place I highly recommend that is not included. What is nice is you can see lots of small musuems and even some things you might not have otherwise because it is cost effective. A canal tour is also included (one of two companies). When I did it we took both tours and they did not say anything about that. I more than got my moneys worth both times I did this.
Misc: I love to buy stroop waffels there in the grocery store. They are thin waffles with caramel in bewteen two of them. Also Droste chocolate.
We rented an apt in Amsterdam that I'd recommend (although the woman was a bit spacey for our checkin): http://www.vrbo.com/384098
Pretty nice place and it was around 75E/night. It's on the south end of Singal canal, and a great location in terms of Anne Frank Haus (must see, buy tix ahead online), Van Gogh (worth it, I'd buy tix online, although our queue was only about 20 minutes). We also visited Keukenhof, which was gorgeous!
I have a review of our 3 days there in my blog.
Blog Sale
<a href="http://s582.photobucket.com/albums/ss262/hzswanson/?action=view
We have stayed at both the Dylan http://dylanamsterdam.com/ and the Hotel de L'Europe. http://www.lhw.com/Hotel/De-LEurope-Amsterdam-Amsterdam-Netherlands?ext=Search&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=US_EUR_Netherlands_Hotels&utm_term=hotel_de_l'europe_amsterdam phrase&LID=s8dGybohv&pcrid=7153025600&gclid=CJ-VrpHg5K8CFQjf4Aod8nbrpA
Both were well located and lovely for different reasons. The Dylan has a Michelin starred restaurant (Vinkles) on premises and the rooms are interesting. The location and service are both excellent.
Hotel de L'Europe is freshly renovated, has large, airy rooms and wonderful bathrooms. The location is terrific, right on the river, and the staff is great.
Neither hotel is cheap, but if you are willing to go to Small Luxury Hotels of the World (for the Dylan) and Luxury Hotels of the World for the Hotel De L'Europe, you can usually get good deals or upgrades.
I second this rec. We LOVED the Hotel Estherea. We stayed in one of the jacuzzi rooms. Very highly recommend. Great location...we easily walked to everything from the hotel.