I Doubted Airport Hotels Until I Stayed Here
Experiencing luxury before taking off
Typically when I have an extremely long layover, I just resign myself to finding a secluded seat at the airport to hope for some rest as I wait for my next flight instead of booking a stay at an airport hotel. And, of course, as someone who buys the cheapest ticket possible, it’s not totally uncommon to have exorbitant layovers for hours and hours.
In Qatar, it was a simple enough decision to stay at the airport given the fact that it was like a mini-city within itself and was ranked as the best airport in the world in 2022. But when my fiancée and I were taking the train back from Paris one night and flying out of Amsterdam the next morning, we decided it would be best to get an airport hotel.
I was admittedly skeptical of the idea, not just because it added another expense onto the tail end of our trip, but also because I was really unsure of what to expect. There were a few hotels around the Schipol Airport for around the same price, so we just took a chance and booked one, ready to give it a shot before jetting back stateside.
The Airport Hotel
The airport hotel we chose was called CitizenM and it was only a short walk from the airport itself. Our train buzzed into the station under the airport, and we hauled our luggage off, took the elevator up, and stepped out into the dark, drizzly and cold Amsterdam air to make our way to our accommodations.
There was a covered sidewalk that we followed until we reached the very modern looking building. We stepped into the glowing red, modern decorated interior, with the chatter of conversation and the clicks and clacks or plates, silverware and drinks of the hotel restaurant filling the air.
We were directed to self check-in kiosks where an attendant checked us in over our shoulder (so much for self check-in). After being dispensed a key and informed that the hotel’s restaurant and bar were open a full 24 hours, we headed to our rooms to freshen up and return for a meal.
The Room
I will never forget stepping into that room. We had traversed the very efficient rows and rows of rooms with identical doors lined up one after the other. But before long, we reached out number and stepped inside. The glowing ambient lighting and the clean and fresh scent first caught our eyes.
Then, we passed an elegant opaque glass-walled bathroom, a modern sink, and a desk. At the back of the room was a bed spanning the width of the floor with a big window at the back end. All in the space that you could park one car in was everything you would expect in a high end hotel, but it didn’t stop there.
Once we reached the bed and saw the TV, we knew that it was next-level. A welcome message with my name was prominently displayed on the screen, and on the desk by the bed sat an iPad on a charger that contained controls to all of the room’s many abilities. I could control the lights (color, brightness, etc.), it was a TV remote, it could open and close the blinds, set an alarm, and even more functions that I wasn’t able to fully explore in our one night at the hotel.
I even used it to set an alarm, which in the morning started our day off with a light melody, a good morning message on the TV and a slow raising of the window shade so some light could come in.
The Restaurant
Another incredible amenity for people coming in late and night and leaving early in the morning was the 24-hour food service.
After showering up quickly and putting something comfortable on, we headed down to the hotel restaurant. They had a wide selection of foods and drinks for us to choose from — both ready-made dishes in the fridges and pantries and sit-down dishes we could order and eat at the table.
We ordered a couple of drinks and various rounds of smaller dishes, hitting the spot before we would say goodbye to Amsterdam, for now. I must say, I am not the biggest fan of bitterballen (sorry Amsterdam, I loved all of your other food), but the hotel’s chicken dumplings were to die for. It could have just been because I was starving after a day of travel, but every last aspect of that hotel exceeded my expectations by miles.
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