The location could not be better! Jordaan is our favorite area where we always stay when we're in Amsterdam and we're pleased with the location of the boat. Staying in a boat house is such an interesting and fun experience, and what we loved the most is the outdoor picnic table area in which we used almost every day of our stay. We had wine and cheese and watched other boats go by. There is plenty of room to relax and hangout throughout the boat. It's walking distance to many main attractions, few mins away from grocery store, wine shop, coffee shop sand restaurants. We loved the weekend farmers market and Monday antique market. Not to mention, our daily stop at Winkels, our favorite apple pie in the world. It really is the BEST.
I can understand why some people may think this place may appear to be more expensive than it should be, but I think you cannot discount the experience of living in a house boat. I think the place is in a great location and is sufficiently comfortable and has everything we needed. I've stayed at countless hotels and airbnbs around the world and this definitely is one of the most interesting experience. My 4 year old daughter absolutely loved it.
Other than the cool factor aside, a few practical things to consider:
- The boat is fairly stable but there are times when multiple (esp larger boats) pass by, you do feel some motion in the boat house itself. That is expected of course, as you're living on a boat...
- You do have to pass by the first bedroom to get into the second bedroom, in case that wasn't clear. It worked out perfectly for us as our 4 year old daughter was sleeping there so separate access is not necessary.
- There are two small windows in the bedroom in the end of the boat and there are no blinds or anything to cover it up. It is BRIGHT in the morning. Consider that when you make sleeping arrangements. We got creative and taped trash bags to the ceiling as a solution so my daughter can sleep properly.
- The bathrooms do smell a little damp after use, so make sure you keep windows and doors open when you can to air out. otherwise we liked the fact that the toilet is separate from the bath/shower.
- The kitchen has everything you need, however I think some of the pots and pans can use a bit of an update. It's fine though and we were able to work around everything.
- Last but not least - the noise level. Given that you're in a hopping area of town, there will be some noise on some nights until around midnight. It didn't bother us because we did not sleep early during our stay, but the week day mornings can get a bit loud with the city noise. Funny thing was the pigeons and the seagulls... they run around on the roof and that is what woke us up, haha. It was more funny than disturbing, but just something to note if you're a light sleeper. It wasn't an issue for us as it was expected given it's a boat house and it's in a busy part of town. Weekend mornings are very quiet though!
- I know this is something that has never happened to the host before, but on the day of our check in, our place was not cleaned. The host immediately took action and got the place cleaned a few hours later so by the time we got back from dinner, we were able to check in. It was a bit of inconvenience, but we understand and appreciate the immediate actions they took.
We enjoyed our stay and would definitely come back again!