Okura Hotel — Hotel in Amsterdam

We booked a staycation for our big day. The hotel made us feel welcome from the start and offered an upgrade and some bonbons on the house to celebrate with us, which was incredibly sweet and appreciated.

The room had a gorgeous view, was clean and felt luxurious without getting pretentious but was lacking some basic things that could easily be improved on. Many toiletries and hygiene products were included, but we would have preferred to get a toothbrush before bath salt as one of us forgot it at home. We failed to find the bathrobes, what surprised us considering the spa included was a big part of us choosing this before others and we were requested to get changed in our room.

Thankfully, we could borrow robes outside the spa. We are both swimmers so the pool was an important part for us. The spa could be booked in 45 min time slots due to the pandemic. The reception however failed to clarify how many other people that could be there at the same time as us, as well as how to use the pool, and the signs in the pool area were unclear which caused some problems.

When we first entered, we thought we would be alone in the spa (especially considering this was mid week). It would have been a better experience, had we known there were other people and how many that were allowed in each area.

The pool had 3 lanes with one swimmer. The sign indicated only one lane could be used, so we got into the jacuzzi to wait for our turn. Swimmer 2 arrived after 5 min and started making some "exercises" next to swimmer 1. They then started shouting at each other, 2 said "It's not your time, get out" and 1 said "I hate how you pull this passive aggressive BS. Don't tell me what to do!".

There was no staff there to interfere, we were baffled by the behaviour by these two people that both seemed to be regular guests at the hotel, judging from their discussion. When we had waited and there was only 10 min left to swim, I kindly asked aggressive swimmer 1 that at that point had taken over the lane if I could swim before our time finishes, they said "you can both go in the middle lane, 1 household are allowed to share a lane". We didn't feel there was enough space in the pool for us both to safely share it, so I ended up swimming a bit more than 5 min and my SO was so put off by the situation he didn't want to go in. It was a shame to leave the hotel with this as last impression, considering how well we were treated for the rest. I told the reception about our experience but want to share it here to ensure this doesn't ruin the experience for others. Hopefully the hotel will be able to find a good solution to prevent this issue later.

Aside from the pool, a worthy mention is the food. Included in our staycation, we had a fabulous 3 course dinner at the room. The hotel treated allergies and diets with much care, it felt safe to eat there and everything was perfectly cooked. All dishes were also crafted with such elegance and finesse. It was certainly a pleasure to dine. The continental breakfast was likely better as buffet option, but under the circumstances was also beautifully presented and the view we got to eat it with was also a perk. In the reception, there were ginger bread houses presented as exhibition which were much appreciated as this is a very special tradition for me. Would certainly go back to Okura for...

It’s taken a while to write this review as it was the worst stay I’ve ever had. I came for a therapeutic stay but it was more traumatic than anything.

Firstly upon checking in my carry on luggage was taken, 40 minutes later no show - I called and went to reception a number of times. With receptionist, Sydney, asking once on the phone and again in person what my carry on bag looks like. I got a phone call to then tell me that they had lost the hand luggage, and did not know where it was and security was looking into this. I was very upset as it had very important medicine inside that I was now late taking.

An hour and 40 minutes later, they located my luggage. The guest service manager came to my room with 6 chocolates as an apology but instead of looking me in my face she was more interested in looking inside my room. An inauthentic apology if anything.

Next, the following evening Jean Pierre in the rooftop bar boasted of the food coming from the 2 Michelin starred Ciel Bleu restaurant was incredible. I ordered the Thai balls which he advised was quite a bit of food with the meat charcuterie and shrimp. I expressed very clearly I did not eat meat. BUT was served Veal balls. He did not even have the courage to deal with this himself, and another waitress took over. We left without eating any of the dishes or drinks.

Finally, if anything else could happen.

The Indian/asian breakfast attend thought it was her responsibility to school a guest on miso paste not being vegetarian and went on to say that the colour red and white comes from fish. Which having lived in Japan is the first I’ve heard of this. She was relentless and would not give up. Even though my body language was clear - leave me alone. I left having had no breakfast even though I was required to with medicine due to the upset of this conversation plus the accumulation of this few day stay.

At this point I asked to speak to the general manager who although empathetic, claimed he checked the restaurant receipt and we ordered meat dishes - therefore clearly at this hotel they assume if there are two people dining they must both be meat eaters.

Although not looking for compensation the compensation provided for all the above ^ was breakfast as a none AMEX guest I wasn’t entitled to. Which clearly staying here I could pay for anyway.

I can’t express how bad this stay was, not only the experience but for my well-being.

Aside from the above my review would have just said the pool / spa needs to have better maintenance and attention to detail. As there are wet towels left all over the place with no cleaner coming in even 2 hours slots. The jacuzzi runs for about 5 mins before it switches off an irritation in itself.

My friend actually stayed at the College Hotel as he read a review that the Okura was not kind to people of colour - which may have some truth. The college hotel is very close by which I frequently went to during my stay and I was most warmly received even by first name with such a high standard of service every single time from all areas of the business so if you’re looking for luxury, high standards, etiquette, this is where I would have...

The hotel itself was lovely - comfortable room, excellent housekeeping staff, quiet and relaxing. However, our interactions with the front desk staff and some of the breakfast wait-staff didn't quite live up to the Okura expectation.

At check-in I noticed the price was higher than what I was expecting, but assumed it was because 1) I had just been awake for 26 hours, and 2) extra taxes, fees, etc. Upon check-out, and after having slept adequately, I noticed the room rate was actually more than what the corporate discount rate was. I showed my corporate reservation and rate, which they acknowledged were different numbers, but they couldn't fix it then and I had to email them the reservation document to review.

They then proceeded to charge me also for 4 days of parking, when we only had the car for just one day of our stay. I had to also send them proof of the vehicle rental dates before they refunded the additional 3 days (even though the parking gate seems to have license plate recognition?).

So after a few days of emails back and forth (after check-out, and while trying to enjoy the rest of our vacation) they send me a link to pay the corrected total. Except it was the same total which never updated, so they then had to send another link which was finally corrected. It was truly a masterpiece of incompetency, and was really not a pleasure to manage over multiple days of our remaining vacation...

The breakfast situation was also interesting - there were multiple larger groups staying when we were there, which is normally no problem, except it seems the hotel was not prepared for the volume of guests at breakfast. Half of the mornings I had to wait nearly 20-30 minutes before I could be seated for breakfast, the line was upwards of 10 parties every morning. It seems that could have been planned for much more effectively. Additionally, we had ordered a tamagoyaki one morning, knowing it would take some time to prepare. After waiting 30 minutes we checked to make sure it was on its way, they said 'yes.' After another 15 minutes we asked again, they said 'yes, but let me check.' Then no answer. Then, instead of saying something like 'we didn't start it yet' or 'we can't make that today,' they sent over someone (whom I assume is the dining room manager) to give us two chocolate truffles, and then had the audacity to ask how we were enjoying our stay...after waiting what had now been roughly an hour for an omelette... No sorry, no acknowledgement of the mistake, it was quite awkward actually.

So if you want a comfy hotel room and somewhere with a spa, this was great, but in terms of the overall expectations of a 5-star hotel, this was...