XO Hotels City Centre

I’ve just checked out from a 4 night stay at the XO Hotel city centre in Amsterdam and I can say it’s one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had.

. My room was situated at the very top of the building and upon arrival I was told that the lifts are broken. This meant I had to walk up 4 floors to my room with luggage and then every day. Surely this information should have been told to us before booking and if I was a recent thing. Which it didn’t seem to look like. We would have been told this in advance of the stay so we can seek other hotels.

. The main problem with having to walk up 4 floors everyday multiple times is that the key cards never worked. EVERY day on multiple occasions I would have to walk all the way up to the room only to find out the key cards do not work. So had to walk back down and up. This happened every time I left and came back so sometimes 3 times per day I was getting to my door to then have to walk back down and up again with a new key card. ( The cards were kept well away from my phone.) This as you can imagine was VERY frustrating as this happened every day. Multiple times.

. The room itself was ok. But the bed sheets smelt especially the pillows so I would guess they were not changed from the previous customer.

. My room was not cleaned after the first night

. The Towel in the bathroom had a big clump of hair in it when I went to go use it. Which is disgusting. ( see picture )

. The hair dryer is held together by celotape and it gave me an electric shock. This is totally unacceptable. ( see pic )

. The worst thing of the whole stay was the noise at night in the room. There was a loud and constant ticking / dripping / popping noise all through the night which made it impossible to sleep. ( see video below ). Even with ear plugs in this noise was relentless. I complained and asked to move rooms after the first night but nothing was free and they just say nothing we can do about it. It was not the air con unit but something in the ceiling or walls. This noise was non stop all night long and this was every night of the week. This along with constantly having to walk up and down stairs with faulty key cards has left me extremely exhausted and drained and actually sick from lack of sleep. A hotel stay should be relaxing and refreshing. This was torture.

I travel for work and in hotels a lot and although I can appreciate somethings may not be up to standards this was a cluster of multiple bad...

We were genuinely excited for our stay, but unfortunately, what should have been a fun and relaxing trip turned into an unnecessarily stressful experience. On our first night, we discovered the TV in our room was smashed, so the screen did not work, and the cracks were only visible when the TV was on. Wanting to be honest and avoid any confusion, we reported it the next morning so the hotel would know it wasn’t us. Big mistake, apparently. After a day out, we returned to find our room keys had mysteriously stopped working. Upon asking at reception, we were met not with help or understanding, but with an aggressively accusatory tone. The receptionist insisted that we either pay for a new TV or be kicked out. They seemed far more interested in blaming than listening, twisting our earlier words to suit their version of events. For context, we had said they didn’t need to replace the TV because we didn’t want to cause a fuss—not because we were guilty of smashing it, obviously. According to them, the fact that we said it was “broken” instead of “smashed” was “suspicious.” Interesting logic. Eventually, after quite a bit of back and forth (not exactly what we planned to do on our holiday), they begrudgingly agreed to let us take them to our room and show them the TV. Only then did they realise that the damage isn’t visible when the TV is off—just as we said. They took a photo and sent it to their manager. Later, they returned and informed us that we would be “let off this time” because they “couldn’t prove it was us.” How gracious. The implication that we were guilty was loud and clear. As they walked away, they added a patronising, “You don’t have to be rude, girls,” presumably because we didn’t shower them with gratitude for not throwing us out over something we didn’t do. The entire encounter felt extremely condescending and honestly, quite intimidating. We couldn’t shake the feeling that, had we not been four young women, we likely wouldn’t have been treated this way. The entire experience felt less like customer service and more like an interrogation. To top it all off, there was no apology, no financial compensation, and no replacement of the TV, when we had paid for a room with a working TV. We spent the rest of the trip avoiding reception, feeling anxious and unwelcome in what should have been a safe and relaxing space. Would not recommend for young travellers, or frankly anyone expecting basic respect and...

I came to Amsterdam on Oct 1st and stayed at Ibis from 1st-5th. On the 5th I checked at XO hotel. I had booked it by mistake but how great was that mistake... firstly I booked at XO in a different region. In order to move it to center they charged another 100 Euro. Sure. Then before I arrival as I come from Israel and my country was under attack by Iran and Hizbulla I asked them that in case I can't make it cause of the war if I could just freeze my check in to a different date. Just for info, IBIS were positive in their service and agreed, but XO HOTEL answered me- "As you have booked a non-refundable rate and booked after October 7th, 2023, knowing that your country is a war. We cannot refund you the prepaid amount". Now, every single person that read that email thought it was a strange response. Whether hateful, insensitive, bizarre, out of line or just lack of reading abilities. Now also "No" is an answer but their answer was just disgusting. Yes i shouldn't have booked there. For sure. I explained the situation with war and flying varies and got not responce. ..Now, I came to the hotel. No welcoming at the front desk. Some kind of a bitter attitude. Never seen a service like this in any hotel. Asked for a pillow later. That didnt happe . In the room- No opening windows. Feels like prison. They are blocked. You can't breath in the room. The Venta in the toilets is loud. An extremely hard and harsh smell of poisonous mold hit you everytime you entered the toilets.. just awful. Extreme mold smell in the room.... in the carpet.. in the dining room, tiny hallways. The only thing that was ok was the bed that was soft and they put coffee machine in the rooms (though i don't drink coffee). I had left the days after. I just ran. From the unhealthy mold, bad service. Nasty vibe and attitude. I can't even care less about my money that I lost. I hope that people will read this an save their miney. booked back at IBIS which quickly told me "welcome back home". Better to add a bit more money there and receive service and a good clean and fresh place to stay.

P.s. XO HOTEL, I did book after October 7th 2023, but I didn't survive the stay after October 7th, 2024 ;)

Am...