Amsterdam’s canal hotels ring in a new dutch golden age,
executive summary by darmansjah
Every European city boasting a canal or two gets dubbed the
Venice of the north. But Amsterdam can claim the title honestly, Its historic
liquid core, a checkerboard of intersecting canals, received formal unesco
recognition as a World Heritage site in 2010 and is now marking its
quadricentennial. “This year is the 400th anniversary of our canal
district,” says Brita Rohl, GM of the Hotel Seven One Seven. “And the city’s
most renowned art museum, the Rijksmuseum, reopened in April after a major
renovation. So Amsterdam will be celebrating itself this year,” As part of the
citywide salute, Rohl’s hotel has joined wit other canal-ring hotels,
restaurants, and museums in a loose union dubbed Amsterdam Canals 2013, to
showcase the city’s canal-centric charms and vibrant past. “We want to make
sure visitors know that they can eat traditional dishes in canalside
restaurant, visit the special exhibits on canal history, and tour the area on
luxury canal boats,” Rohl says. And, of course, sleep in one of the gabled, waterside
mansions that Amsterdam’s merchant burghers built when their city boomed. In
recent years, these treasure houses have been converted into hotels, so you can
wake up to the same views of waterways and arched brick bridges that the city’s
pioneers did. Among the first to be converted was the Ambassade (fromUS$330), a row of 11 adjoining 17th0
century canal houses overlooking a graceful curve of the Singel canal. A recent
renovation resulted in upgraded marble tile bathrooms. But the hotel’s deft
blend of Dutch classicism and coziness remains intact: The maze of halls and
stairs that would confuse M.C. Escher; the French reproduction furniture that
defies split-second trends; and a handsome library bulging with some 3,000
books, signed by well-known authors passing through town.
The newer, fittingly named Canal House hotel (from US$317), a trio of 17th-century
canal houses sround a watery corner from Anne Frank’s house, pays a more
playful homage to golden age aesthetics. The 23 rooms feature a sensuous array
of silks and velvet that could pass for the backdrop in a Dutch still life, At
night, the two garden houses surrounded by Japanese maples open for private,
candlelight dining.
The stylish Dylan
(from US$363) started life as a theater and morphed into Amsterdam’s first
canalside boutique hotel. Renovated in stages over the past decade, the hotel
offers guest rooms ranging from Asian style havens with black lacquered four
poster beds to beamed loftlike duplexes. The hotels’s Michelin-starred Vinkeles
restaurant features French cuisine and excellent views of the canal. If you
prefer to skip the formal dining room, you can sample the same menu and view
Amsterdam’s cityscape by eating on board the hotel’s wooden salon boat as it
floats down the canal.
Nearby on the Prinsengracht (the city’s longest canal), the
recently opened Andaz (from US#430)
is the canal belt’s newest ‘it’ hotels (and the Dutch debut of the Hyatt
chain’s Andaz brand). Formerly the city’s public library, the hotel was
revamped by local designer Marcel Wanders, who turned the hotel into a tribute
to Dutch icons. Oversize photos of herring hang above beds; clogs are nailed to
walls. Guest can wheel out on the hotel’s complementary bikes or relax in the
dark wood Bluespoon Bar, sipping wines from southwestern Holland.
Cheaper options on the pricey canal belt don’t necessarily
mean sacrificing canal views or style. The
Toren (from US$106) on the Keizersgracht, outfits its traditional rooms
with a sea of damask and ornate glass chandeliers. Dikker & Thijs Fenice Hotel (from US$118), located on the
Prinsengracht, began as a gourmet food shop famous for tis caviar and now
houses an art gallery hosting wine pairings and revolving photo exhibits. The
family-run Hotel Estherea (from US$
138) keeps things classic with a 17th-century façade on the Singel
canal and garden aesthetic of flower wallpaper and brocade dressing up the
elegant guest rooms.
