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 Amsterdam Hotels
Amsterdam, Holland's premier commercial city, has long been seductive to tourists with its stunning setting around a ring of canals (the Grachtengordel), some of the world's finest art (in the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum) and its tolerant culture, evidenced by the Red Light District and liberal drug laws. Many of our favourite hotels occupy the tall, narrow canal houses built for merchants and now restored, though a recent trend has seen the conversion of handsome public buildings into glossy new hotels including College, one of our Top Ten. The hotels are listed by price category, and their order bears no reflection on our preference.
 Reviews by Leonie Glass |
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| Luxury: Plush and professionally run yet informal canal house |
| Location: Grachtengordel (southern part) |
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| Few hotels manage to achieve what the Seven One Seven does: it is deeply luxurious without appearing to try too hard. The service is discreet yet friendly and, despite a great attention to detail (fresh flowers, English box spring mattresses, Bang and Olufsen DVD players), the atmosphere is relaxed. In winter, guests enjoy an open fire in the cosy sitting room and in summer a choice of patios. |
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| Luxury: Handsome, peaceful refuge on the Singel |
| Location: Grachtengordel (western part) |
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| An oasis of calm luxury on the ancient Singel, the Estheréa traces its history back three generations to the 1940s when widow Maria Flieger-Gruyters opened a guesthouse, naming it in honour of her three daughters, Esther, Elly and Ria. The hotel has expanded from those early days (12 rooms have become 70, now spread through four canal houses), but remarkably the service is no less personal. |
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| Luxury: Elegant boutique hotel in a former school |
| Location: Roelof Hartstraat, 10 minutes walk north to the Rijksmuseum |
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| A late 19th-century school is home to Amsterdam’s latest hip hotel. The name also refers to the fact that it is staffed by students, overseen by an eagle-eyed team of professionals from the excellent Stein Group of hotels. Its award-winning design by local architects, F.G. Stijl, is stunning, incorporating the old with the new and the bold: classrooms are now stylish bedrooms, and the gym one of the city’s most talked-about restaurants. |
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| Luxury: Sophisticated hotel with Oriental decoration and an excellent restaurant |
| Location: Keizersgracht: the Grachtengordel in the Jordaan |
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| The classical entrance doesn’t prepare you for the bold, glamorous interior created by London designer Anoushka Hempel: stylish minimalism with exotic Eastern touches in a handsome 17th-18th-century building. Bedrooms are flamboyant in jewel colours, whilst downstairs you can mix with the beautiful people on elegant sofas or at one of the acclaimed restaurant’s glossy black tables. |
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| Mid Price: Stylish conversion of ten canal-side houses |
| Location: Grachtengordel (western part) |
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| A strikingly elegant restoration of ten 17th-century merchants’ houses overlooking the Herengracht, with particularly fine views of the canal through the large windows of the graceful salon and high-ceilinged breakfast room. The comfortable bedrooms, furnished with antiques, are popular with writers, whose works are showcased in the hotel’s own library. Guests are well cared for by a remarkably attentive staff. |
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| Mid Price: Popular and centrally located with rooms in different styles |
| Location: Grachtengordel/Jordaan |
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| It’s not hard to see why this hotel remains perennially popular: it is efficiently run by friendly staff, and occupies a handsome building on a quiet stretch of the Keizersgracht, a short walk from the Anne Frank House and a number of lively bars and restaurants. The rooms are all different: some airy and modern, others done out in traditional silks. Most attractive of all is the glorious, wood-panelled bar. |
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| Inexpensive: Charming and simple family-run hotel |
| Location: Grachtengordel (western part) |
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| Antiques and knick-knacks set off the exposed beams and wood floors of these three carefully renovated canal houses. Steep stairs lead up to rooms, which though simply and traditionally furnished, have free wireless network. There is a charmingly quaint breakfast room and Grandfather Wiechmann’s portrait in the lobby is a reminder that the hotel has been in the family for 60 years. |
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| Inexpensive: Attractive home-from-home in two canal houses |
| Location: Grachtengordel/Jordaan |
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| Step back into the Golden Age in this serene pair of canal houses filled with the owners’ collection of fine antiques and treasures. It feels more like a private house, albeit a grand one, than a hotel. Breakfast is served beneath a crystal chandelier in a beautiful salon with a view of the garden. Persian rugs cover a polished parquet floor and magnificent mouldings and a grand piano complete the picture. |
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| Inexpensive: Filled with antiques and occupying a glorious position |
| Location: Grachtengordel (southern part) |
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| One of Amsterdam’s most charming small hotels is named after the seven bridges you can spy without moving from this lovely spot where the Reguliersgracht and Keizersgracht meet. Well-proportioned rooms have wooden floors generously scattered with Oriental rugs, handsome antiques and bags of character. There are no public rooms, so it’s breakfast in bed without a pang of guilt. |
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| Inexpensive: Delightfully traditional hotel in the same family for years |
| Location: Grachtengordel/Nieuwe Zijde (New Side) |
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| Called ‘Huis de Swaen’ after the sea captain who owned and converted it into a modest hotel in the late 19th century, when the beds were straw bunks and there was no running water. Not surprisingly things have changed, although the decoration is still charmingly traditional. In the hands of the Brouwer family for 90 years, it has eight simple but delightful rooms, each named after a famous Dutch painter. |
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