We returned for a second visit but were disappointed.
We took our second visit to Amsterdam of the year and second stay at The Manor and we were very disappointed this time.
We arrived to check-in at 18:00 and unlike the first time we stayed we were checked in by a man who was blunt and unfriendly. He gave us our keys, told us where breakfast was and walked away. We later discovered that he had ticked the 'No' option for breakfast on our room card.
The room was on the top floor and first impressions were how dark it was, very few lights and one window. We unpacked and I got the teabags out and realised that we had no cups as the cleaning staff hadn't supplied any. I went down to reception to report this and the man who checked us in said he would send some up.
I went to use the toilet and as soon as I lifted the seat I realised it was loose and potentially dangerous, as one wrong move and it would have fallen off - all it needed was a few turns of the screws that hold it on to sort out.
Two cups arrived and I tried to make a cup of tea, but the bulb in the unit above the kettle was not working, so I had to use the torch on my phone to be able to see what I was doing - the kettle took about 10 minutes to boil.
Storage was pretty good, we had a wardrobe with hangers and two cupboards with shelves. There was a mini fridge in another cupboard, but when we open the door it was very hot, I mentioned this to the man on reception and he just said 'some of them are hot, just leave the door open'.
The room itself was very hot, being on the top floor it had the sun beating down on it all day long. The air conditioning was hopeless, I messed around with the settings because in the last room we stayed in the air conditioning was freezing, which was nice as it was very hot during that stay back in May. Anyway, I mentioned it to a lady at reception and she told me it was working ok, as they don't actually have air conditioning, it is a centrally controlled ventilation system and we can adjust the temperature + or - 3 degrees - this is not what we had in May.
Breakfast was surprisingly ok, they charge 20 euros if you pay as you go, which is a bit expensive for what you actually get in my opinion. Anyway, you can get a fried breakfast, but be weary of the bacon as it is slightly well done, to the point where it will discover any weak teeth that you might have. You can get tea or coffee, cheeses and meats, fresh juice and fruit, cereal, pancakes and a selection of pastries and cakes. We were completely amazed when one morning the General Manager decided to clean the window with a spray bottle right behind where someone was sitting - they had gone to get some more breakfast. The man returned and had to stand and wait in utter amazement as she continued to clean, oblivious to the fact that she was interrupting a paying customers breakfast. He rather sarcastically uttered the words 'that looks much better' and she agreed, but then carried on anyway!
On day two we returned to the room to discover that the cleaner had removed our cups again, so I had to phone reception ato ask for cups. A very nice young lady promptly knocked on our door with 4 cups this time, 2 for tea and 2 for coffee.
The bathroom was good, aside from the loose fitting toilet seat - we had a bath and a shower, that both functioned well - be aware the hot water is 'very hot'. One of the towels we had was a joke, it was ripped and thread bare, the sort of thing you would expect in a cheap hotel. Luckily the towels seemed to be changed every day.
The room had a couple of chairs which were located in front of the only window. I sat in front of the open window one night to try and cool down and when I got up I could smell coffee. My wife noticed it and it became evident that someone had spilt a cup of coffee on one of the chairs and it hadn't been cleaned - my clean t-shirt and shorts both had coffee stains and I had to put them straight in our dirty clothes bag.
The Manor is in a good location, away from the main centre, but by the third we were finding the Tram journey a little tiresome, twice we had Trams that broke down and it seemed to take forever. The GVB staff are very rude and unhelpful, we witnessed several examples of this.
We will return to Amsterdam, but after this experience we definitely will not be staying at The Manor again.
I am sure the owner will reply to this and say that we should have mentioned issues at the time so they could rectify them, but you reach a point where you just can't be bothered to keep complaining. Room maintenence is obviously not high on their list of priorities and they seem to be complacent because of the positive reviews on here.