I didn't apply to amazon, but the internal recruiter contacted me. There was a phone interview with hiring manager and then follow up phone screen with another engineer. Next step was on site interview at seattle.
The recruiter booked airplane ticket and hotel for me, to visit seattle the following week. Flight to seattle was full, but the hotel in downtown seattle was roomy and nice. Only problem was this fancy hotel charged extra for internet access. But I had my cellular internet, so it was not an issue. I didn't prepare for the interview (other than reading glassdoor commentaries regarding amazon interview process), and got good night s sleep. Since interview was 10:30am, I had plenty of time to get ready in the morning and walk to amazon campus which was close to downtown seattle.
Initial impression of the campus was that it was just set of generic looking office buildings. Once inside, receptionist asked me to wait for the first interviewer from HR. The person from HR directed me to a small conference room where I would have all my interiews. The interior of building is nothing fancy, unlike say some other big name companies. HR person just explained the interview process, and he also gave me tips about what's expected from interviews.
Based on what I read about interview process here, I thought there would be some brain teaser questions or behavioral questions, but there were none. Each interview was just straight forward subject matter questions to test competence of the candidate. For example, one of the question was how would I design schema to store data regarding books and customers so that related books can be suggested to customers. I thought all the interviewrs were very professional and didn't try to pressure me regarding the topics being asked. During the lunch, the hiring manager walked me to cafeteria and we had lunch discussing more about his department and what he expected from the person he was hiring. When the interviews were over, I was directed to outside and I walked to downtown seattle where I caught light rail to the airport. Overall, interview process was pleasant and there was no non-sense questions or interview tactics from interviewers. I would recommend candidates to just know their subject material very well for the interviews.