I have stayed in third world countries, and had better accomodation than this. I won't bore people describing the rooms, as this has been covered in previous reviews, very well I might add. The one incident I would like to mention, involved two of our friends. They came back to the Hotel late afternoon on the second day, to find their room door wide open, and all there belongings gone! The person in reception told them that they were due to check out that morning, and had not done so, so they did it for them. Their bags were under the table in reception. When they checked them, they found all their toilettries, and smellies were missing. After some conversation between staff the missing items were returned in a large polythene bag, no explanation was offered, as to why they had been removed. We were not due to check out until the following day anyway!! We also found out that staff members have access to the code that opens the room safes, you get a key! Obviously there has to be a question mark over the security in this hotel, as well as the cleanliness.

This was the first place I stayed at when I traveled from America to the Netherlands for the first time. I was glad I secured lodging at this hotel while staying in Amsterdam. Plan ahead, because Amsterdam is a hot-spot for people to come to. Since I traveled in July, vacancy was almost non-existent everywhere I looked. This hotel is very, very accessible to the tram system because it's on Rokin downtown. My friend and I arrived in short time from the Central train station and found the hotel with no trouble. At the time, the Euro was 1.37 to 1 US Dollar. The cost of the room was about 150 Euro per night and a 2 night minimum was required. This hotel is situated upstairs from the shop below. When they say "Dutch staircase" they mean it. It's a small staircase that ascends straight up; I'm not joking, straight up. So, lugging big bags will take some strength. Once you are inside, the owner and staff are very nice and casual and love to chat you up and tell you where to go. The main office serves as the common room and the breakfast room. This room has a nice view of the downtown area. At the time, there was a lot of construction going on right across the street. My friend and I rented a small room with a double bed and bathroom. The rooms are small and compact. Don't expect to lay out your stuff. The bed is in the center of the room with nightstands on either side. The bathroom is also compact and reminded me of an RV bathroom. There was a peculiar mold smell in our bathroom and a pigeon serenaded us in the hollowed out once-was-a-bathroom-vent space outside. The bed was comfortable and a TV is attached to the wall. There was even American shows and movies on their stations. Overall, our room was clean. The staff came everyday to make the bed and put out a fresh bath towel. Remember this: having towels of any kind in Europe is a luxury, so bring at least a face cloth and a bath towel, because some hotels do not even supply them for you. The hotel was very secure. They had security cameras down the halls and at the Dutch staircase. The room doors had to be unlocked with keys and relocked from the side you were on. The staff also holds your keys when you leave the building, so you don't lose them. On our stay, it was also very quiet. The noises you heard were the dinging of the tram system outside and the passerby people. Breakfast was included in the price of our room. It consisted of two kinds of cereal, breads and jams, hard-boiled eggs, sliced cheese, assortment of sliced hams, tea, coffee, milk, and juice. Light by American standard, but still good. Since this hotel is situated downtown, it's in prime location to everything. The locals walk and ride bikes, but you can get just about anywhere else from the tram. If you are extremely picky, don't stay here, but I'm pretty laid back and I would recommend this hotel to people I know traveling to Amsterdam; and I would personally stay at this hotel again.

This was one of the most ugly hotels I have ever been to! The room as well as the bathroom were small and dirty; the view is on a brick wall in 50 cm distance! Breakfast is not a lot (but coffee was fine - to say also something positive). The staff was with one exception not very friendly. All in all a very small value for the price - which is 125.- Euros pernight for a double room when you stay on weekends.

The first thing that greets you when you arrive at the Ajax is a near-vertical flight of stairs. Not the most appealing of sights when you've lugged your bags off trains and trams from Schiphol, and if you have the misfortune of staying on the top floor- as we did- you have twice the climbing pleasure. Yes, buildings in Amsterdam are tall and narrow, blah blah blah, but tourists have suitcases, and the Ajax would do well to recognise that. The rooms themselves are, in a word, horrible. Even with the lowest of expectations, having read some of these reviews beforehand, I was still shocked. Only one of the lights in our room actually worked, and it wasn't the one in the tiny, cramped bathroom either. The rooms have neither air conditioning nor even simple air circulation, meaning that when temperatures were fresh outside, our room still felt like a sauna. This also means that if you like to apply make-up or style your hair in the morning, you may as well not bother; I had to give up and go au naturel for most of our stay. Only one of our three windows, covered with grubby net curtain, opened properly, and when it did, we were treated to the noise of building works on the street outside. The walls were dirty, and both the shower curtain and at least one of the towels provided were riddled with mould. I did bring along my own bathtowel, but this was promptly lifted by room service- presumably by mistake- and never returned. The icing on the cake was the surly night reception girl who made us stand for quarter of an hour one night waiting for our room key without acknowledging our presence while she dealt with an irate customer on the phone. (Evidently his client 'wasn't happy with his room' - no kidding) Suffice to say we didn't sample the all-inclusive breakfast. If this is the only hotel available during your stay then you might want to consider postponing your visit to Amsterdam. Seriously. Either that or head to the nearest bar or 'coffee shop' as soon as you arrive, and partake of their produce until you're too blitzed to care, and just grateful to have a place to rest your head.

Dirty, dirty, dirty! Not safe, a couple was robbed in their room during my stay. Bathrooms completely covered in mold, could not step foot in the shower. Toilet and TV broken. Would never stay there again!

We liked this hotel very much! It is clean, nice with kind people and it is just in the middle of the center!

Friendly, lovely hotel, excellent location, helpful staff. Great indeed!

the hotel has a perfect position but it is nothing special. the room was small but ok. the staff is a bit strange and breakfast isnt really what it should be like...

Well, this hotel is really not so terrible as it was described. We stayed there, it was very pleasant. The staff was kind (probably they changed since the last comments), polite and helpful. The rooms are not too big, that is true, but they were clean, friendly. We got what we expected when we saw the photo of the rooms. And it is really in the center, as they say. We recommend to stay there. Amsterdam is not for staring at your walls in the hotel, it is for fun, guys!

If I was to describe this hotel in 1 word it would be "DISGUSTING". Stairs First of all, walking up the ridiculously steep stairs is a nightmaire and actually quite dangerous if your feet aren't a size 1 or 2. I know Amsterdam's buildings are tall and slim but these stairs took the piss. They were more like ladders. Leaving with baggage was a problem too as we thought we were going to fall down them as they were so steep. Cost A lot of people mentioned that they were ripped off for paying 60 Euros per night. Well we paid 125 Euros each night which is what you'd expect from a 3-4 star hotel. Hygiene Not only are the rooms hideously small, but the bathroom was mold ridden. It really didn't surprise me too when I saw a silverfish slither along the bathroom floor as you may know, they live in damp places. Ashtrays were left in the corridoors to pile up with ash and hadn't been emptied in the whole time we were there. Disgusting smell! Decor Not only did we have a hole in our wall as well as footprints too, but by the looks of it, it hadn't been painted for at least 10 years. The windows didn't close properly so it was very noisy at night. Hence having to buy ear plugs to sleep. Customer service Rude and arrogant is the only way to describe the staff. On many occasions we gave in or collected our keys and politely said thanks and were never greeted back with a single word. Upon leaving I really thought they would ask us 'if we enjoyed our stay' but they didn't say a thing! Obviously they know it's a stupid question to ask as noone will say they did. Breakfast We were there for 3 nights and fortunately didn't have breakfast on day 1 or 2 but on the morning of leaving we went down to the tiny reception area where they serve breakfast. The sliced meat/ham, eggs and cheese looked liked it had been left out for 3 days and by the standards of the hotel I would probably expect to catch Ecoli or Salmonella from them so we opted for some dry bread and jam. And powdered orange juice, what the hell's that YOU cheapskates!!! Location The only thing positive about this hotel is it's location as it is fairly central. Except the fact that we weren't told about the new tramline being built outside the hotel. So check to see if the building work is still going on as the drilling doesn't stop till 2am every morning. So above all if you're looking to waste your money and have a bad stay in Amsterdam, then stay here!

If only we had known about this website before! I can only concur what most people have said the steep stairs surly and unhelpful staff at reception and then the rooms!! God help anyone who is stupid enough to book a room here after reading what people have said. The only positive note was there was constant hot water but the shower room was a disgrace. Mildewed walls pubic hair dubious brown stains in the toilet and we could not stand up as the ceiling sloped so much it was impossible to do so.No one mentioned when we booked that Rokin has been dug up to put in new tram lines and that they work until 02.00am with constant banging and noise of machines.The best thing we bought were ear plugs and if it wasnot for the fact that it was in a convenient spot and we had already paid we would have walked out.Avoid if at all possible!!!

The only truth about the hotel on their web sight is that it is very central. Steep stairs lead to three floors were all rooms are dirty smelly ,furniture and fitting are all very shabby and broken. There was a party of 22 of us so I experienced many roooms. Breakfast if you could bring yourself to eat it was served in chipped and stained cups (stay clear) IF YOU WANT TO ENJOY AMSTERDAM DONT STAY HERE.

AVOID THIS HOTEL. PLEASE!!. Stayed here for 2 nights on a jolly with the lads. Arrived, then confronted with vertical staircases. Shared a triple room on third floor, room was a mess and one of the beds collapsed when my mate sat on it - we found it held together with electrical cable! Shower didnt work so we kindly bought a new shower head and repaired it. Tv mounted dangerously low on the wall - kept banging my head on it. Smallest toilet in the world - had to sit on it sideways as no room for my legs. Also dog ends in plantpots and dead pigeon on the window ledge. All in all cheap but extremely poor. Stay here at your peril!

We stayed there for our honeymoon trip!!! What a joke! Totally the worst value for money I' ve ever paid in my life. We changed the initial room we had booked since it looked like a moist hell hole-cell; the window was just 10 inches away from the next building wall. There are no words to describe it. The walls were green from the fangae, the toilet/bathroom was smaller than a telephone booth and far more dirtier than anything we had ever seen. The next room we went was of the same style:dirty, noisy, smelly,destroyed etc. Pubic hair could be found around on the "floor". The windows did not close properly and the bed sheets were filled with holes.The stairs were too steep to climb with luggages, the breakfast was cheap and was served in the reception of the "hotel". We shouldnt have stayed there even if they gave it away for free....We paid approx. €100 per night!!! I felt like an idiot when i paid them. Bottom line: Dont be an idiot like us. NEVER EVER GO THERE!! Better sleep in the back of a garbage truck. God help you.

The Hotel Ajax has to be every travellers worst nightmare!!! The stairs were straight up, very difficult to manage sober, Impossible with a few beers!! The staff were very unhelpful, rude and one even walked straight into our room at 7 one morning!! The room itself had a disgusting mouldy smell, peeling wallpaper and a shower that I wouldnt wash my dog in!! But the icing on the cake was the view we got from the one small window in the cess pit of a room, it was like something you'd only see on tv. a brick wall that you could touch if you put your hand out - unbelievable - except it wasn't!! Then there was the breakfast, well the cold boiled eggs that they peeled in front of you and the curly warm cheese that we were offered left everything to be desired, we made our excuses and left to get some ham and eggs at a nearby homely cafe. If mouldy, smelly, cramped airing cupboard style hotel rooms coupled with rude staff and disgusting food are your thing while on holiday are your thing, then go for Hotel Ajax. If not, then for Gods Sake get a recommendation from this wonderful website and explore this great city with some comfort to come back to at the end of the day.!!

Saw the hotel on a web site and thought it looked ok. How wrong was i!!! It was cold, dirty, noisy and quite expensive too. The bathroom was freezing cold, the toilet had dried blood or poo on the seat. The bed clothes were dirty, we booked a double and got two single beds pushed together. The room hadnt been cleaned for god knows how long. The fire escape was blocked by an old bed and matress. The whole experience of Ajax hotel is one that we both want to forget about. I was disgusted with all of it and for the price i paid too. So if your thinking of stopping here, DONT DO IT! Iam far from a fussy bloke, but this was crap. Si from Notts.

Stayed at hotel Ajax for 4 nights changing to3 different rooms in that short time , but am sad to say each room was as bad as the last. Rooms were dirty and smelly , furniture was broken in every room we visited and in the first room we slept in the radiator was held to the wall with electrical wire at one end with the bed wedged up against the other end to keep it upright.The shower rooms in every room were of extremely poor quality built to the lowest cheapest standards possible with the wall so close to the toilet it was impossible to sit down without wedging your knees up against the wall in front.Breakfast was extremely basic and to be honest we went out to eat every morning rather than eat in such filthy surroundings.The sheets on the beds were the only clean thing in this hotel.

The hotel is in a good location and is reasonably priced, but do not stay here if you want to ruin your trip. When you arrive you have to walk up stairs that are so steep, you almost have to climb up them. When you walk down them you have to walk sideways as the are so narrow. The reception is ok and the women working there are nice but the gentleman that ownes the hotel is very nasty and i would be suprised if he ever smiled or said hello to any of his customers. MOST IMPORTANTLY the rooms are discusting. The floor was dirty, there were stains on the walls and the bathroom was moldy a stunk. THIS HOTEL SHOULD BE DEMOLISHED!

WARNING########AVOID AVOID AVOID######### This Hotel, should it even be called a hotel? Is THE worst hotel I have ever stayed in! I wouldnt care normally but it was expensive for what we got. From the outside it looks okay, theres a nice sign stating that it has two stars from the Amsterdam tourist board, although Hotel Ajax is no longer affliated with them. I know stairs in Amsterdam are tradiationally steep and narrow, thats fine. Things really start to get weird as you enter the reception/dining room/kitchen, and approach a member of staff. Not even a Hello? The guy wouldnt even look at us. So paid 160 euros for two nights for two of us in a 'double room' The walk up the other flights of stairs were uneventful apart from the full ash trays, the pink two tone paint seperated by a yet to be removed strip of masking tape, the seemingly random wires hanging from the ceiling? I wonder if they were live? Anyho onto the room, tucked away at the end of the corridor, a double bed with just enough room to stand around it, the shower and toilet tucked into seperate corners, whats that smell? A cupboard with no back showing the bare brick wall. The shower room is rank, mould up the walls, broken sink, broken shower head, the only thing that works is the mixer tap. Onto the water closet, not enough room to stand close to the toilet, maybe thats what the smell is? Out of the window the view is another brick wall. Apparantly breakfast was included in the price but we did not dare attend!!!!! In summary then: DO not, I repeat do not stay at this hotel!!!!!!!!!

Stayed in Ajax hotel in May 2006 although the photographs on the internet looked pleasant and clean and the price of the hotel reasonable. The only thing going for the Hotel was the location within walking distance to all main attractions Not sure where the photographs were taken but it wasnt in the Ajax Hotel we stayed in rooms were dirty, lights not working, shower hanging off the wall as well as mould growing up walls. I felt embarrassed as I had booked holiday on behalf of a group had it not been a Dutch bank holiday we would definately have moved hotels

We booked a quad room for four nights direct, via the WEB. Web site showed good photo of typical room, but an expensive price (but location was good). We thought that you only get what you pay for....how wrong we were.... When we arrived, the problems stated immediately. Ridiculously steep staircase. Room was dilapidated, dirty, had four single beds shoe-horned into what was obviously a twin room. Shower room / toilet was small, grotty. Fittings were hanging off the wall. When we complained, the Receptionist was very apologetic and helpful, saying that compaints were very common. We stayed for one night. When we told the Manager we were dissatified etc, he became abusive and told us to get out!! Which we did, and went to a much better, cleaner, friendlier hotel (Hotel Jupiter) for 50% less!! Please note that Hotel Ajax is no longer registered with the Amsterdam Tourist Office (VVV), who are well aware of the many shortcommings of the Ajax. Unless you are desperate, avoid this hotel like the plague.....come to think of it, if you do stay there, you may catch the plague!! This place is less than terrible - DON'T GO THERE!!

We arrived at the Hotel Ajax on a Friday night. My room was on the 3rd floor. The building has VERY steep stairs. Management was very attentive and kind. However, there were no other rooms available. My rooms shower was extremely mildewed and molded. The room reeked of the smell. The staff had the small window already opened. The next day, I bought a bottle of MR. MUSCLE Mildew remover, but it was not enough. All in all, it was a horrible experience.

Beware with your reservations in this place! We were looking for a cheap and well-located place to spend one night in Amsterdam. We did the reservation (2 double rooms and 1 triple) and when we arrived...there weren´t our rooms, so we had to stay into 1 five-people room and 1 double... and the owner wanted us to pay the same prize!!! Finally the hotel was really expensive (400€ for seven people, one night), and when I asked him for the room fares... he said that he didn´t understand my English. So be careful if you go there because they are thieves!

Unbeknowest to most tourists, there is a "theme hotel" located in Amsterdam and it is the Ajax Hotel. The staff I must add was receptive and welcoming but really it ends there. And another factor was the unusually warm weather in Amsterdam when I stayed there (31 C). But the excuses stop there. No elevator so I do not recommend those who cannot walk up steep flights of steps to stay there. The rooms (and I stayed in two) were clean but it seemed like not much was done to make the traveler comfortable (for reference see Jan Vermeer's "The Milkmaid" for a visual idea of the room I stayed in, not the one posted on the web site, that must have been one of the suites). No air conditioning or fan for that matter (see technological advances in the 17th century and see if you can find air comfort systems), the view I had the first night was of the tile rooftop and pigeons giving me a wake up call at 5:00 AM. Some paint peeling off the walls (again for reference see Dutch master paintings from the 1600s and observe the walls in the paintings). The other person who was with me had another room and had a view of a narrow alleyway where no one could walk through. The bathroom doubled as a sauna (with no intention to double as one). The shower head had a crack and water spewed in a spray at the shower curtain making water shoot out of the shower a bit. Now for the toilet, as far as I could tell they'll put one anywhere and when I tried to sit my 6'1" frame on the seat I could not put my legs where they "should be" in front of the toilet. For amusement I took clean pictures of that incident. The room and top floor for that matter appeared to have been in the process of falling apart (i.e. sheetrock walls crumbling where I did not see it earlier, the wire housings coming apart from the wall). Breakfast the next morning was fine, typical Dutch. The other room I was expecting more out of but was disappointed, the T.V. in that one didn't work and looked like it was made in the mid 1980s, someone before us who stayed in the room decided to place decals on the door, not very professional and family like, and again no air conditioning, a breeze sometines entered the room, we were in the gabled room and could see the gable hook from out the window. The website mentions a DVD player I did not know who had it, if they had more than one, or if you had to rent it for a fee, but I believe that's false advertising and I entered three rooms and did not see one. All in all, the people were nice but I would not recommend the hotel if you are going to take the wife or husband on a trip or if you are taking children. Definitely not worth the price of 119 Euros for a four person room, for that price in the states you could get a room with air conditioning, elevator, bar service, comfortable bathrooms and a decent view. Now I know why that milkmaid in Vermeer's painting looked so miserable in the room she was in. The hotel would be great for friends who do not look so much for the comforts of a hotel but a place to lay their heads down after going out all nights to the bars. My opinion only.

I was very suprised at how GREAT Hotel Ajax was. I booked it because of the awesome location and very cheap rate for a room w/ separate bath & breakfast included. I wasn't expecting much and just wanted a place to sleep and smoke but the room was very comfortable and clean as was the bathroom. We had a great view into the street and the canal. Cool, laid back, friendly and extremely helpful staff. Definately went above and beyond! Very smoker friendly;) The building was extremely old (as is almost everything in Amsterdam) and for me that was part of it's charm. It had modern smoke alarms and sprinkler system, plus it was made of brick and has lasted for the past 300 or so years. I felt very safe there. The hotel is located above shops/resturants and you have to go up a flight of stairs to enter but the staff was happy to help with my luggage so this was no problem. I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough!

Well located but that is the single advantage of this place. Not especially cheap, bloody big flight of stairs to all rooms - most of which are miniscule. Window views out to a brick wall and pigeons in some rooms. Smoke detectors and fire alarms all, errrr, kind of hanging out of the walls. Probably a death trap as the exits are cramped. Breakfast not bad. Perhaps a tenner a night is nearer the mark, but bring your own smoke detector and ladder to be sure of leaving ok.

It is a small hotel including breakfast. You can arrive there by tram or walking from Amsterdam Central Station. It won't take so long. Because it is close to the tram stop, you can hear noise made by the tram. However, by closing the windows, it won't be a problem. But if you need to carry a large baggage, then I don't sugget this hotel. That's because there is no elevator. By the way, the room is clean. So is the toilet. To sum up, I think it is a good place for a person with limited budget to stay.

Whilst not the best hotel I've ever stayed in, it's hardly the "hellhole" described by some on this site. Yes the stairs are steep, but it's a traditional, Amsterdam style building, thin & tall. The rooms are very basic, but what do you expect for the money you pay? The location is great as it's close to everything in the centre of Amsterdam so for that alone I'd recommend it. If you want cheap & cheerful it's for you, if you want 5 star luxury then go to a 5 star hotel.

It's very orrible ve lo sconsiglio, è brutto stanze molto piccole, bagno piccolissimo,fa troppo caldo dentro le stanze, fa veramente SCHIFO-