The Dining Car/Charging Room/Reception of the Train Lodge in Amsterdam
When I was booking accommodations for our trip to the Netherlands, I was having a much harder time to find places to stay in Amsterdam compared to Brussels. It was much more expensive to stay in Amsterdam and I was actually quite surprised. Perhaps it was because there was a recent incident in Brussels which may have depressed the prices. Even dorms were difficult to find. I found one outside the city center, but this requires us to take the train downtown. I guess it was better than nothing. It is actually rather unique. The Train Lodge is actually a hostel setup in an old train. It is one of those novelty hotels which offer a different kind of experience. If you are looking for a hotel comfort, then this is not the place to go to.
Bedrooms at the Train Lodge in Amsterdam
The Train Lodge is set up beside the train tracks at the Amsterdam Sloterdijk station. There was a fence which separates the train hostel from the train tracks so there was no worry. I was worried that we were too close to the tracks that it would be very noisy. In fact, it was quite the opposite. That is probably one of the first things they worked on. The sound proofing of the cabins were quite good and we couldn’t hear any trains come and go. When we first arrived in Amsterdam, we tried to leave our bags here but there was no one home. I was worried that we would have to sleep in the streets because of that. I managed to contact someone who said that someone would be there by a certain time. We already got back from our tour of South Holland and we were ready to check in.
Surprise! The Train Lodge in Amsterdam Looks Like a Train
The reception is actually the dining car. It was a bright car with fixed tables and chairs. I thought that they weren’t very comfortable as I couldn’t adjust the seats in any way. At the time of our visit a lot is still being set up, which probably accounts for the low price of accommodations. As you might expect, the bedrooms where the train cabins. We ended up in the six person cabin. I think it is normally three person but they opened up the wall to the next room to make it more spacious. It was a good move else it would have been very cramped in a three bed cabin. The beds were surprisingly comfy. I never managed to sleep comfortably in a train before and I loved their beds. I got the top bunk so I had to climb up ladders to get there. I feel more secure in the top bunk since I won’t have to worry too much about people going up and rummaging through my stuff. One thing that was missing was power outlets. We couldn’t charge our phones here and the dining car became the charging car. People would leave their phones here to charge. I didn’t feel comfortable doing that and apparently, so did some other people, because of this, the charging room, is always busy. I don’t know if this was intentional but it had the effect of bringing people together, if only to charge their stuff.
The showers are on both ends of the car and it was okay. There was a lack of places to hang my clothes so I was fearing they might drop onto the wet floor below. The door also has a suspicious gap which you might want to cover up when you are in the shower. Toilets are what you might expect in a train but I think these are much cleaner. Overall, my stay at the Train Lodge was enjoyable. The rooms weren’t very large but they were comfortable enough. It has basic conveniences but no cable television. The lack of power outlets in each room is a negative for me but we were told that plans were already underway for that. Location of the lodge is good as it is right next to the train station which gives you easy access to the Amsterdam city center as well as Schipol airport. There is also a bus station here in case you are too stoned to make it to the train.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/TrainLodgeAmsterdam.kmz} zoom=19]