Features

Grand designs

1 Sep 2005 by business traveller

The famous Dutch love of thrift, and aversion to all things different, is loosening judging by the latest crop of hotels in Amsterdam. These new entrants are everything the Calvinists of old would have hated: showcases of style and lavish celebrations of creature comforts where guests drink cocktails, eat caviar in bed, and slip into baths drawn by bath butlers. And many of them have rich histories behind their facades.

There is plenty of past behind the doors of the Art Deco Lloyd Hotel on the Oostelijke Handelskade (Eastern Docklands area). It looks slightly severe, and for good reason. It was built in 1921 as a hotel for eastern European immigrants and went on to become a prison detention centre, later emerging as a living and working space for artists. In November 2004, it reopened as a hotel and is now in an area that is home to some of The Netherlands' most cutting-edge housing developments including Piraeus, designed by Hans Kollhoff and Christian Rappit, "Hoop, Liefde en Fortuin" (named after three windmills that used to dominate this area) by Rudy Uytenhaak, and De Walvis (The Whale) by Frits van Dongen and Architecten Cie – not to mention restaurants such as an outpost of Jamie Oliver's trendy Fifteen.

Inside the Art Deco Lloyd Hotel, a vast lobby-cum-café is effortlessly stylish with colossal white walls and plenty of natural light streaming in through the windows along the back wall. "None of the current rooms were prison cells," Renate Schepen, marketing and communications representative tells me, comfortingly. We're sitting on chairs painted in various hues of green at a white marble-topped oak table in the Lloyd's cavernous café Snel. It means "brisk", I am told, not to be confused with "fast", as in "fast food".

The Lloyd's distinguishing feature is its 120 rooms that range from one to five-star accommodations. Each floor has a sprinkling of room categories across it, so "paying less doesn't mean being shoved away in a corner," Renate says. Guests staying in the cheapest rooms have to share toilets and communal shower rooms with two or three other rooms. "However, those who pay less also get to share the same services as those paying more: 24-hour room service, and access to the hotel's cultural embassy," says Renate.

According to the hotel literature, the cultural embassy offers a "total service package", giving advice on what to see, putting visitors in touch with local artists or other members of Amsterdam's cultural scene, obtaining tickets for theatrical performances and other similar services.

The Lloyd is clearly unconventional. The designers, Bureau Lakenvelder and Joep van Lieshout, created multi-purpose rooms that are understated, yet poignant master works of style. They also designed "bathrooms to measure", some with unique foldout showers, which have resulted in almost all the rooms being different from each other. Among the best are the "rough music room", a log-cabin-meets-sauna, with a gigantic bed that stretches along one wall and a bright lime green plastic clad bathroom to boot, and the beam-ceilinged rooms on the 6th floor which have views onto Java, KNSM and Spoorenburg islands.

Rooms at the Lloyd have all the usual technology – telephone, satellite TV, and free internet access – plus thoughtful extras, like grand pianos, kitchens for longer-staying guests and, in some rooms, extra large tables which are far superior to their pygmy counterparts at other hotels.

There's no business centre, but the cultural embassy has a number of communal areas in the heart of the building where meetings can be held, and a library of some 8,000 art and design tomes donated by the Rietveld Art Academy. All public spaces have wifi access and the hotel offers free wired internet access.

Café Snel can silence rumbling tummies, and a bar keeps pangs of thirst at bay. Both are open from 6pm to 1am and you can choose between large or small portions, and fried, boiled, or grilled brasserie fare. The salade citron with rocket, marinated lemon, artichokes and parmesan is scrumptious.

If the Lloyd is minimalistic and quirky, the Hotel Seven One Seven – named after its street number – trumpets the opposite values. An opulent (some might say over the top) property, this 19th century canal house is pervaded by a feeling of ceremony. There's barely a square inch which hasn't been covered with a painting, print or curio. "We try to give the maximum in service," says manager Brita Rohl.

This evidently means providing enough candy to keep eyeballs active. Seven One Seven has only eight rooms, of which six are suites. Spacious at 40-70sqm each, they're outfitted with antique and contemporary furnishings, classical and modern art, and curtains and upholstery from Peter Reed men's fabrics. All rooms have telephones, TVs, radios, CD/DVD players, computer outlets and wifi.

Complimentary afternoon tea and minibars (wines, beers, and soft drinks restocked daily) partly make up for the absence of a restaurant and bar. Still, gatherings for 6 to 16 people and meals (three to five courses) for 12 to 24 persons can be scheduled. Breakfast is served in your room, in the ground floor Stravinsky room, or on the patio.

Minutes away, on the Emperor's canal, The Dylan Amsterdam reinforces the "guest is king" philosophy. The Barcelona-based Stein Group took over complete management of the 17th century landmark (designer Anoushka Hempel used to part-manage the hotel), which was formerly Blakes of Amsterdam. But fans can rest assured that only the hotel's moniker has changed. Indeed, The Dylan still grabs style headlines with its striking interior inspired by Dutch East India travels, and the dark colour scheme of the common spaces is carried through to some of the rooms.

Guests want for little at The Dylan. Every room is equipped with telephone, TV, CD/DVD player, wifi, internet access and minibar. You can take advantage of a CD/DVD library, 24-hour room service, and massages in the tranquillity of your room. More press inches are likely to be had later in the year when the bar will be extended and a swimming pool and spa added. Visitors to the restaurant gorge on Chef Schilo Van Coevorden's East-West menu. His Chicken Fabergé is a legend in Amsterdam.

The Dylan's sister hotel in Amsterdam is The College, which opened in May and describes itself as "affordable chic with a Dutch Twist". The College Hotel, like The Dylan, is managed by the Stein Group, yet owned by ROC of Amsterdam, an institute of further education. The hotel was founded as a training hotel for the students of the Amsterdam Hotel Management School, Bakery, and Tourism, which accounts for the fresh-faced staff.

"We're billed as a four-star deluxe hotel but we're shooting for five-star service," says general manager Mike van Kinderen. Wide corridors and stairwells, and rooms well endowed in height distinguish the hotel, which has 40 luxuriously appointed rooms and suites. Room facilities include telephone, LCD interactive flat screen TV (keyboards are available from reception), video on demand system, wifi and 24-hour room service, while bathrooms are gleaming temples to wellbeing. The 13 rooms that don't have baths have high-pressure showers with cascade showerheads and mirrors are heated from the back to avoid steaming up.

Companies are queuing up to use the premises. Says Van Kinderen: "Lots of fashionable companies are choosing our international setting to launch their products." Three meeting rooms, The Coster, The Vondel and The P.C. Hooft, can fit up to 70 people, and a lounge can hold 200. The restaurant is one of the few serving Dutch food – called "New Dutch cuisine". Dishes include warm smoked eel with radish, apple syrup, and grated lemon, and IJssel veal tartar, breast, and loin. Groups can hire a private dining room for up to 38 people and sip cocktails beforehand in the bar. The College has

24-hour room service, limousine service, valet parking, bike and boat rental, and in-house spa facilities which include a bath menu and massages, a host of services that shoot this hotel's star even higher.

For a stylistic leap, visit trendy hotel meets backpackers' hostel at Hotel Arena. It was originally a 19th century Roman-Catholic orphanage until 1997 when it was turned into a three-star design hotel. Guests can sleep, eat, drink and dance the night away in the former on-site chapel – we can only imagine what Mother Superior would have to say.

Of all of Amsterdam's design hotels, this is the least formal and, for the younger business traveller, the most fun. "Inspiring locations inspire inspired results," says marketing and PR manager, Gary Feingold. Be that as it may, there's a huge gap in quality between the rooms (120 standard, large, and extra large) and suites (six), though all benefit from high ceilings, and wood under foot.

Most of the suites are split-level, and carry the designs of Dutch creatives such as Ineke Hans, Bertjan Pot, and Marcel Wanders; bathrooms are so attractive you may stay submerged for much of your trip.

Room facilities include telephone and TV; optional extras such as pay-TV, Playstation 2, and internet are available for an extra charge. The new black-is-back lobby provides internet access; the boardroom, Closterzaal, Tuinzaal, and Kerkzaal backdrops to liven up a business gathering – two are located in Tonight, the nightclub. Most areas of Arena are wifi'ed. National and international dishes are served at ToDine, a simple yet stylish eatery. The nightclub has a varying programme of DJs and theme evenings. Those chasing sleep should pick their room wisely. n

Getting there

London-Amsterdam Served by British Airways from Heathrow and Gatwick, KLM from Heathrow and City, Easyjet from Luton, Stansted and Gatwick, Bmi from Heathrow and VLM from City.

Flight prices vary depending on when you book and when you travel. Return fares are from £69 with BA and KLM, from £65 with Bmi, from £35 with Easyjet and from £112 with VLM. Business class is offered only by BA (priced from £218 return) and KLM (from £328 return).

Fact box

Lloyd hotel

Oostelijke Handelskade 34, 1019 BN Amsterdam, tel +31 20 561 36 36 lloydhotel.com

Costs from €80 for a one-star double room with shared toilet and shower, up to €300 for a five-star room.


Seven one seven

Prinsengracht 717, NL-1017, JW Amsterdam, tel +31 20 427 07 17 717hotel.nl

Costs from €398 for a deluxe room including breakfast.


The Dylan

Keizersgracht 384, 1016 GB Amsterdam, tel +31 20 530 20 10 thesteingroup.com

Costs from €255 for a standard single room; €405 for a standard double room.


The College

Roelof Hartstraat 1, 1071 VE Amsterdam, tel +31 20 571 15 11 thecollegehotel.com

Costs from €175 for a superior single room; €200 for a luxury double room.

Hotel Arena's-Gravesandestraat 51, 1092 AA Amsterdam, tel +31 20 850 24 00 hotelarena.nl

Costs from €100, including breakfast.

Note: Rates exclude breakfast (unless otherwise stated) and city tax.

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