Despite having my little place in the Oud West of Amsterdam, I do manage to hang out at quite a few hotels. Thanks to a steady stream of visitors, I often get to put my feet up, flip through the cable channels, and test how fluffy the beds are at some of this city's finest hotels.

Recently I found myself in a double room at the American Hotel, very prominently located at Leidseplein.

I've seen the hotel many times from the outside. I've also crossed through the very simple lobby during some infrequent visits to the fancy-shmancy American Café. But this was my first time hanging out in the rooms and wandering the halls.

My friend was busy finishing some work, so I threw myself onto one of the beds and proceeded to flip through the channels. Immediately I noted the very very soft bed under me... fighting the temptation to sleep. Channel one on the TV was some kind of permanent camera pointing down at Leidseplein. Perhaps not interesting to most people, but I sat there for a good 15 minutes trying to see if I knew anyone riding by.

A quick visit to the bathroom, which was very small. Lots of little toiletries so you can polish your broken buttons and sew your shoes back on. Luxury hotel bathrobe that we'd all like to take with us but wouldn't want to suffer the extra charge -- check. Surprisingly weak built in hair dryer -- check.

Everything else was pretty standard for a good hotel, except one very irritating detail. Internet. Whether you chose to stay in your room and plug into the ethernet line, or walk down to the mezzanine and use the hotel's computers, you have to pay a pretty price for use of the information super highway. Some swiss company apparently made a deal with the hotel so that every guest has to pay for either one hour, one day, or one week and it is quite the opposite of cheap.

Do we get charged for having standard cable channels? No. Do we get charged for the fancy bathrobe, the comfy bed, or the nice shampoos? No. So in the year 2007, in a city like Amsterdam where internet is cheap and everywhere, why oh why, American Hotel, do guests have to pay all this extra just to have some internet?

My verdict: No good. Nice hotel otherwise, but in an era where most of us need the internet to do our work and do the most basic and necessary tasks, I would rather choose a hotel that understands that need. Especially in a city like Amsterdam, where you can certainly find such a place.