The best hotel to stay if you want to be close to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and the Schiphol Airport train station, is the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel. Why? This hotel is located directly at the airport and only a 5-minute walk plus 2 escalators away from the train station and the departure & arrival halls! You don't even have to go outside because the entrance to the hotel lobby is actually connected to the main entrance (Schiphol Plaza) of the airport. This location is everything!
Save time & stress
The hotel is modern and simple, as you can see in the pictures at the bottom of this post. Nothing extraordinary but it offers great quality and the location is amazing! No need to stress about getting a taxi and calculating how much time you need, to get to the train station or airport on time.. You are already there! You can take your luggage and walk straight to the escalator and find yourself in the middle of Schiphol Plaza. From there, you either take the escalator down to the train station or the escalator up to the departures. It's that easy!
Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel also make a great hotel for aviation fans! You can book rooms specifically with views of the airport. There are simple guestrooms with airport view but also fancy suites. See the rooms here. The hotel doesn't offer great views of the runways but you do have a great view of Amsterdam Airport, the traffic control tower, and Schiphol Plaza.
Schiphol Plaza is a great place to shop and eat. It's the area of the airport where the general public can shop and eat at many different restaurants and there are many great stores. There is even a full-size grocery store (Albert Heijn)! So convenient. You can buy food & drinks to take back to your room or buy whatever you need before you take the train to your next destination or get on a flight. Here's a map of Schiphol Plaza.
I couldn't think of a better hotel to stay at if I need to catch an early flight or train from Amsterdam Airport. Or if I arrive late and I just want to go straight to my hotel room without having to worry about transportation. This hotel takes all that stress away from you plus the airport view rooms are great for plane spotters!
Aviation fans & Plane Spotter tips Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is not only one of the busiest airports in Europe, it's also one of the best airports in the world to watch airplanes. Schiphol has several public places that are specifically designed to welcome plane spotters!
The Panorama Terrace is right on the rooftop of the terminal building at the airport. From Schiphol Plaza simply take the escalators up to the level above the departures hall to visit the Schiphol Panorama Terrace. Here you have a great view of the planes as they arrive and park at the gates. There's also an old KLM Fokker 100 plane parked on the viewing platform which you can go in and look around. Check out the video of Amsterdam Airport's Panorama Terrace here or scroll down to the end of this post. (Make sure to check their hours before you go. It's not always open and whenever there's bad weather they also close.)
To see planes take-off & land from the runway, there's two popular spots. One is a huge parking lot near one of the runways called the "Polderbaan". It's a very popular hangout during the summer and don't be surprised to see food trucks there too. Haha. The other spotting area is the parking lot of the McDonalds by Runway 27 - "Buitenveldertbaan". See information and the map of the Amsterdam Airport runways here.
Until the next departure!
(*All links are personal suggestions and nonaffiliated)
Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel
A simple and modern room with a great airport view and the best location. (Check out the newly renovated rooms on their website)
Schiphol Plaza and The Panorama Terrace
Shop plus eat at Schiphol Plaza and visit the Panorama Terrace to see airplanes come and go. All open to the public! No tickets needed.
A look at Amsterdam Airport's Panorama Terrace
(Video has parts in Dutch and English)