I actually worked as Concierge for the Manila Hotel…for one month. First job out of college. Got fired after screwing up a dinner reservation from a bigwig who played the bigwig card. Talk about job security.
That lasted only a millisecond a million years ago but I did get a taste of what a grande dame hotel feels like. Old world atmosphere and the smell of luxury and money.
That’s exactly what the Amstel InterContinental Amsterdam is – think Metropole Hanoi or Raffles Singapore. And frankly much better than anything in Manila.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to drop by and pass the time with drinks on the beautiful terrace.

The hotel is beautiful and the service was outstanding especially for Dutch standards. The motto ‘gentlemen serving gentlemen’ was very much alive here. It was nice to feel some luxury every now and then, and there was no better place for it than here. Hope we’re lucky enough to stay over here one of these days.