We stayed at this apartment for 7 days recently. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION is the major plus for this apartment. It is in a great position and surprisingly quiet given the busy streets surrounding the block. It is right on the canal and in a old building with very high, ornate ceilings and therefore massive windows looking out onto the canal in the front and similarly sized windows in the back bedroom.

There are actually two rooms, the lounge/dining and the bedroom, and then a small galley kitchen and a small bathroom (note no bath, no toaster and washer/dryer - laundromat around). It is basically a one-bedroom apartment as the second loft bedroom (situated in the lounge) is not suitable for most people as it has a very steep ladder (no barriers) and is about 1 m below the ceiling which means a crawl in and out. Apartment is on the first floor, steep staircase.

The photos told a somewhat more 'glamorous' story than the actuality. The entrance to the apartment building is shabby and the lounge/dining room has matting on the floor with large (what we assumed to be) water stains. The bedroom was fine and of great proportions but only one bedside table so no second lamp for the 2nd person. Windows hard to open and note, many mosquitoes.

There was no packing space for clothes as the chest was full of white towels and linen. There was some hanging space but there was a lot of other stuff stored in there also. This was the case for the small bathroom and kitchen also. Nowhere to put our stuff. The bathroom cabinet was full of the owners' cleaning and other products, the cabinet under the sink the same. Also, the bed looked shabby and the linen was old and not ironed giving it a 'used' feel.

Margot did a brief introduction and there was some basic typed into in the apartment but no departure instructions. We did not actually get to meet Lars as he was not in Amsterdam and when he got back we did not get to meet him.

All in all, LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Money-wise, well we thought it rather pricey for basically a one-bedder in need of some maintenance and TLC.