New Hotels in Amsterdam

Amsterdam has long maintained its status as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The city’s cultural and culinary scenes, the blend of many peoples and tastes, together with the fact that the surprisingly small city is very easy to navigate, join to maintain its sought after status. Lately, we are seeing a real boom in the city’s hotel market, and of course we are happy to share with you our favorite new hotels in Amsterdam. These hotels seemingly do not have much in common. One is a designed boutique hotel, another a student hotel for budget travelers and the third is the announcement of the W brand opening a hotel in the city. There are some common denominators: all three are targeting the Y generation market, they are brands that do not take themselves too seriously and have invested in a young, “hipster” design. However, a closer inspection reveals that the hotels are trying to appeal to guests of all ages, including business travelers who do not wish to stay at a generic chain hotel. Many guests today want to get to know the “real” city, to feel like they are hanging out with the local crowd and eating and drinking in the “right” places. This feeling is shared by all three hotels we will tell you about – the promise they make that if you pick them, you will feel like part of the Amsterdam scene.

Sir Albert Hotel Amsterdam

Sir Albert Hotel – erasing the boundaries between outdoors and in. Photography : Ewout Huibers

Sir Albert hotel is located in a building that previously served as a diamond factory, close to the galleries, boutiques and bars of the fashionable De Piip area. The story of the hotel is built around the fictional character of Sir Albert, the modern aristocrat that invites guests to stay at his family estate. The interior design is in a style much sought after but rarely achieved – a coherent and unique look that is based on various items Sir Albert collected in his travels around the globe. Italian furniture is mixed with Dutch artwork and many other interesting pieces.

Guest room at Sir Albert. Photography : Ewout Huibers

The hotel has a great sushi restaurant called Izakaya, and a lively bar. Much thought to design was given to the public spaces where one can see and be seen. The guests sitting in the restaurant or library-lounge on the ground floor can see each other through broad doorways and glass partitions, and also have a view of the street with its pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The ground floor is very connected to the street and blends the distinctions between outdoors and indoors.

The Israeli link: This cosmopolitan hotel is owned by Liran Weizmann, owner of one of the most successful hotel groups in Germany. It was designed by Tel Aviv architects Bernowitz and Kronenberg, and Yossi Eliyaho is responsible for the hotel’s Asian restaurant.

The Student Hotel

Student Hotel Cafeteria

The name Student Hotel is very descriptive of the hotel’s main target market – foreign students in Amsterdam, from all over the world. The hotel offers special rates for longer and medium length stays , and has everything a student may need: plain clean rooms that still have sophisticated design, many work and meeting corners, free Wi-Fi service, kitchens for the free use of guests, a café-bistro open almost all day long, and even social events that making meeting new friends a whole lot easier.

In fact, it’s interesting to note that most of the hotel’s guests are not really students. They are tourists and business travelers that realize the advantages of this hotel: nice, comfortable design, spacious public spaces, work corners, comfortable rates and proximity to public transportation operating 24 hours a day.

The student hotel public space

W Amsterdam

The W Amsterdam is scheduled to open in the fall of this year in an excellent location at the heart of the city: near Dam square, behind the Royal Palace and a short walking distance from the canals area with restaurants and vibrant night life.

The hotel will be quite large, with 169 rooms, 10 suites and one “Extreme Wow” suite ( W brand speak for “presidential suite”…). It will have a large roof-top lounge, restaurant and bar overlooking Dam square and the city lights. The service in the hotel will be in W’s Whatever/Whenever® style: a promise to supply guests with whatever they want, whenever they want it (as long as its legal). The hotel will try to let its guest sample everything that is hot and stylish at the moment, in terms of design, fashion and music.