Review: Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Marriott Tribute Portfolio

During my trip to Zimbabwe, I intentionally planned a two night layover in Amsterdam. No, not to enjoy the beautiful city and to visit some “cafes,” but rather to check out two hotels that were particularly intriguing to me as an aviation geek:

• I spent the first night at Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, which has a real life Boeing 747 parked out front; I’ll be reviewing that hotel in this installment
• I spent the second night at Corendon Amsterdam New-West, which has a Boeing 737 cockpit suite that I stayed in; I’ll be reviewing that hotel in the next installment

Both of these properties are part of Marriott Tribute Portfolio, which is one of the independent hotel collections belonging to Marriott Bonvoy. Furthermore, Corendon is a Dutch and Turkish leisure company, with hotels, an airline, and more.

With that background out of the way, let’s get into the review. I’ve gotta say, the Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport exceeded my expectations, and was an excellent value. The 747 was just the cherry on top.

Booking the Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

I paid cash for my stay at the Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, as the rate was around €100 for the night. We’ve seen such inflation with hotel rates in recent years, so I thought that was a great deal.

Of course I could have redeemed Marriott Bonvoy points for my stay, but if a hotel is this cheap, I’ll almost always pay cash. Also, I found the points rates here to make absolutely no sense. While the hotel was only charging around €100, an award stay would have cost 55,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. I value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each, so that would have been a terrible value.

Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport location

The Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is about a 5-10 minute drive from Schiphol Airport. One awesome thing is that the hotel offers a complimentary shuttle service, which is exceedingly rare at airport hotels in Europe. The shuttle runs every 30 minutes, from 4AM until 11PM — it operates at :00 and :30 from the hotel, and at :15 and :45 from the airport.

Once you exit the terminal at Schiphol Airport, just follow the signage in the direction of hotel shuttles, which are spots A9-13. That’s where the shuttle will pick up from, with no reservations required.

The hotel has quite a huge shuttle that’s more like a city busy than your typical hotel van. The transfer was seamless, but not particularly professional. While we were waiting to leave, the driver was having a loud conversation with someone outside the shuttle, which I could hear from the back of the bus.

The person was surprised to see the driver no longer working at the Hyatt Place Amsterdam Airport. He explained that the hotel tried to punish him for letting someone ride on the shuttle who wasn’t supposed to, and he was “ratted out,” and the hotel can “go f*ck themselves.” C’mon, you shouldn’t be yelling that kind of stuff in front of people.

After a short ride, we were at the 207-room Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

This is actually part of a much bigger complex, as the property also has the Corendon Apartments Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, with 298 accommodations. There’s also a Tesla Supercharger here, so the entire property tends to be pretty busy.

Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport lobby & check-in

The Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has a gorgeous, artsy lobby, especially for an affordable airport hotel. The lobby has high ceilings, thanks to an atrium that spans several floors.

My check-in experience was rather strange. I presented my credit card and passport, and then several people behind the desk started talking to one another, and looked confused. Eventually they asked me to confirm that I actually had a reservation, so I pulled up my confirmation email. They then realized that they were already looking at the system for the next day, even though it was “only” 11PM.

Once they figured out I did in fact have a reservation, they were super friendly, and even informed me that I had been upgraded to a junior suite on account of my Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status. I was also provided a letter highlighting some of the property’s features, and then a few minutes later had a key to my room.

Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport guest room

The Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has seven floors. I was assigned room 1209, actually located on the second floor (I think the “1” at the beginning of the room number refers to the building, to distinguish it from the apartments).

Junior suites at the hotel are marketed as being anywhere from 377 square feet (35 square meters) to 463 square feet (43 square meters). So they’re not exactly huge by global standards, but for Europe, that’s a pretty good size.

The room felt much more luxurious and thoughtfully designed than I was anticipating. The room had a comfortable king size bed and four substantial pillows, a chair with a coffee table, a couch, and a desk with another chair.

On the desk was a Nespresso coffee machine (super nice for an airport hotel!), a kettle, and a mini-fridge with a couple of bottles of complimentary water.

As a welcome amenity, there was also a can of stroopwafels, a bar voucher for a couple of free drinks, and some other candy. Again, this definitely exceeded my expectations for a budget friendly airport hotel.

As much as people complain about the tipping culture in the United States, it’s interesting to note that the room had a QR code whereby people were encouraged to tip housekeeping.

The bathroom was near the entrance to the room and to the right, and featured a toilet, a sink, a bathtub, and a walk-in shower.

Toiletries were in reusable, wall-mounted containers, from Scapa Home.

Back near the entrance, there was a second bathroom in a small room. It’s not often you see two toilets in a junior suite!

Unfortunately my room didn’t have much in the way of views. Some rooms face the Boeing 747 that’s parked outside, while my room just faced part of the building, and a road in the distance.

All-in-all, the room I was assigned greatly exceeded my expectations.

Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport breakfast

Corendon All You Can Eat Restaurant is the hotel’s primary restaurant, and as you may have guessed based on the name, it’s an all you can eat restaurant. 😉 The restaurant serves breakfast from 6:30AM until 10:30AM on weekdays, and from 7AM until 11AM on weekends. On top of that, there’s a dinner buffet nightly from 5PM until 10PM.

On account of my Marriott Bonvoy elite status, I received complimentary breakfast here, so I checked that out first thing in the morning. The restaurant is just off the lobby, and has a decent amount of seating.

The breakfast buffet is massive, and includes several different serving stations. As you’d expect, though, a Western Europe breakfast buffet isn’t going to be as exciting as what you’ll find in the Middle East or Southeast Asia.

Everything at breakfast was self serve, with coffee and juice available from machines, plus a selection of tea.

If you visit in the evenings, it seems you can even pour yourself some wine on tap. 😉

Cold breakfast options included fruit (sliced and whole), cereal, a variety of yogurt and muesli, cold cuts and cheese, salad, pastries, and all kinds of bread.

Hot options included eggs prepared in a variety of ways, plus breakfast potatoes and meat.

Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport lobby bar & lounge

Beyond the hotel’s all you can eat buffet restaurant, there are some other dining options. Corendon Bar & Bistro is the hotel’s lobby lounge, and it’s open daily from 8AM until 11PM. There’s a little coffee shop that’s part of this (serving Starbucks coffee), though you can sit anywhere in the lobby.

There are a variety of drinks and snacks available throughout the day. Since I was given a drink voucher, I came here during the day and had a latte, which was quite good.

Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport lobby market

Just off the lobby, the Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has a market, which is a bit bigger than you’ll find at most other hotels (I imagine it’s largely intended for the people living in the apartments long-term). This has all kinds of food and drink options, and even has a self check-out feature.

Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport SkyBar 747

SkyBar 747 is the Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport’s rooftop restaurant and lounge. Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to check this out, since it’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, which is when I was staying. I’ve heard the views from here are very nice, though, and the restaurant up there serves Caribbean food, with live music on some nights.

Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport gym & pool

Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has a spa, gym, and pool, located on the lobby level.

The gym can be accessed 24/7, and is impressive, with plenty of modern equipment for both cardio and strength training.

The hotel also has an indoor pool, open daily from 8AM until 9PM. I didn’t use this, but note that reservations are mandatory.

Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Boeing 747

Now on to what I’d consider to be the coolest part of Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, and the whole reason I stayed here. The hotel literally has a retired Boeing 747 sitting in front of the property. Even though this is painted in the Corendon livery, it’s a former KLM Boeing 747-400.

It’s so fun to be able to walk around the Boeing 747, and appreciate just how massive of a beast this is. It really puts things into perspective.

The catch is that you can’t actually enter the cabin of the aircraft under normal circumstances, so perhaps the whole thing is a bit anti-climactic. However, I believe cabin tours are sometimes offered, and the plane still has the former KLM interiors installed.

Bottom line

The Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is a surprisingly pleasant airport hotel, especially given its reasonable pricing. The hotel has a complimentary airport shuttle, a modern and fun design, good elite recognition, and a solid breakfast buffet. Most memorable of all, the hotel has a Boeing 747 parked outside, which is pretty cool!

I’m so happy I had the chance to stay here. However, personally I’d probably stay at the Sheraton Amsterdam Schiphol Airport next time. I stayed here for the novelty, but I do value the convenience of staying at an airport hotel connected directly to the terminal, and also a property with a club lounge. But still, this is significantly less expensive, and is a great option.

What do you make of the Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport?