Camping Vliegenbos Amsterdam — Hotel in Amsterdam

This camping company is really miserable.!!! The management is only interested in money and does almost nothing for the comfort and well-being of the guests. The showers and toilets are very dirty, although there is a cleaning team, which works very inadequately. For example, the communal kitchen for campers is not cleaned at all, the fridges collect smelly liquids and the rubbish is rather rarely taken out and when it is, the bins in the kitchen are missing for hours. There is no lamp in this kitchen, so you have to bring your own light, if any, in the evening to see anything. The cleaning company has very sneaky workers who lock people in the shower rooms if you are too slow for them, who argue with you if you object to their way of working and who understand almost no English. I am the best witness to this because I was locked in the shower by one such worker when he was cleaning and thought I was delaying his work because I needed a little more time for self-care. He gave me a nasty look, said something in Arabic but did not communicate that I should hurry up and just locked me in, so I banged on all the doors in panic. Then when he came back he confessed that he did it on purpose and that he likes it that way. If he wants he can do that, lock people up because he works there. No other camping company has such terrorists. The bad thing is that such people are also protected by the camping administration. Because I consequently called him a terrorist, I was forced to leave the camp the next day. The administration did not care that this idiot had locked me up. All my neighbours around my tent were also outraged by this decision. And how I was harassed the next day. Although according to the GTC the campsite has to be cleared by 12 o'clock, I was asked to clear everything and leave the camp at lightning speed at just before 11. Every 5th minute I was harassed by a staff member called Jan Willem. He was always pushing me to leave the campsite. He instrumentalised his post against me, because what could I do against this gang when they wanted me gone and were in charge of the camp? All possible objections on my part were only followed by: Sorry, no discussion! Even when I had put all my things, and there were a lot of them (I came by bike and had a lot of luggage), just in front of the entrance gate, I was asked directly by him to take them behind the gate. Oh how bad... In doing so, I must also mention the main administrator. I don't know his name, but he is a unsporty young man with an unsightly growing teenage beard. He often sits at reception and manages the bookings. After the argument with the cleaner, we both made an approach to this administrator and the administrator decided to sort of apologise to me. He asked me what he could do to make my stay satisfied. Just a few hours after the cleaner had worked and manipulated him at the table, the administrator approached me and said, that i should leave the next day. All this because of the word "terrorist", which was fit in the situation perfectly. The administrator didn't care if I could still get a campsite somewhere or if I still had money to buy a new ticket, because I had a train ticket to Düsseldorf (Germany) on August 6th. A cynical, cold-hearted type, who only looks at money or profit. I had to accept the decision without any objections, any argumentation from me was simply ignored. Guys, do yourselves a favour and avoid this campsite. You will find it ugly and miserable, how the people care for you and your rights. There are so many other nice campsites...

Having stayed at Vliegenbos in one of the small huts, the big hut and with a tent, I love this place. The campsites' facilities are excellent and always clean, the showers run with hot water and soap is always on hand. You can leave your phone at the reception and have it charged for you and enjoy a meal or coffee at "the roundabout" which also doubles as a camp store. During the weekends they will have BBQ's and host live bands but there are always people to talk to at the general cooking area aswell. The roofed cooking area features two stoves - or eight hotplates - and two sinks aswell as plenty of room to sit. Bring your own pans, plates and cutlery though, it does not feature those things. The campgrounds are neat, clean and it's quiet at night. As the area is quite big, generally it's not full either, meaning you'll always find a spot. The people who camp here tend to split up into sporty, nature oriented people and groups of young people who want to experience the freedoms the Netherlands has to offer.

Not far from the campsite is a cheap supermarket and the city is not to far either. You can either take a bus or - even cheaper and easier - walk, bike, longboard, rollerblade to the dock and take the free ferry to the central station which is not far from the inner city. (On that note I want to recommend taking your bike, board, rollerblades on your trip with you and using them for getting around. The bike lanes are very well maintained and it's a lot more fun to bike through the city than walk and take a bus.)

The small hut was in an o.k. state, featuring bunk beds and a stove top. What we didn't like was that it got very cold at night as we came early in the year and it should be noted that you have to bring a sleeping bag.

The big hut or half house was very nice. It features four three-story bunk beds, a kitchen area with a fridge and pots, cups, plates and bowls (as well as other stuff I'm probably forgetting), a sink, a stovetop and chairs. The place has heating and there's a notable difference in heat depending on the height you sleep on. This was perfect for us as everyone prefers a different temperature when sleeping. During our stay the fridge broke, but was swiftly replaced and we were able to store our food in another fridge until then.

All in all, this place is very nice with a good price tag. The staff is friendly and helpful, it's clean and quiet at night but lively otherwise, the other campers are very nice, it's not to far from the city, but in a quieter neighbourhood and the weekend events at the campsite café are wonderful.

Friends I recommended Vliegenbos to loved it, and I will also continue staying there whenever I visit Amsterdam. I have always had a lovely time and I guarantee...

Good: fantastic location, free ferry allows 24 hour access by walking or biking to Amsterdam CS in under 35 mins. The new metro station 10 min walk away is super convenient. The area is nice and quiet with a Dutch discount store dirk nearby, and lots of cool little independent businesses and park land close too.

The staff are friendly and helpful, and the cooking facilities are excellent with free kitchen with gas grills available to all. Can charge your phone or ice ice packs overnight at reception or the restaurant. Try not to lose ticket they seem to spend all their time looking for lost phones.

Bad: although the vibe is much better than zeeburg the amount of idiots staying here is still overwhelming. If you're tolerant of stoners and pissed people you'll be OK. That said most people are friendly and respectful.

Ugly: people talking all through the night, coughing up lungs and giggling like stoned pigs getting tickled or worse. They rarely enforce the curfew which is meant to be from 11. You will inevitably get a bad night's sleep because it isn't enforced. Most people here are respectful but you will get people wanting everyone to hear their life stories at 3am. The annoying thing is security will tell quiet people off at 10pm for being too noisy (see other reviews), which is a load of monkey poop, as they don't have the balls to go to the people actually making noise when people are trying to sleep. Although the showers are usually clean and warm, idiots sometimes piss in them, or worse.

I’d stay again, the area is great, but I'd bring high dose sleeping tablets or smoke so much weed that I pass out and can hopefully get a night's rest.

Recommend getting a quiet zone for campers also maybe have a charging station which locks the phone in, so to not waste staffs time.

Let down by idiots with no respect who don't clean up after themselves (kitchen, toilet, campground) and have the manners of wild boars...