The best hotels in Amsterdam
Amsterdam, with its spider’s web of canals, charming quarters and quirky corners, is the place to eschew purpose-built hotels and go for buildings with a past: converted canalside mansions, old schools, former almshouses and more. When it comes to our pick of the best hotels in Amsterdam, expect rooms of all shapes and sizes, interiors from the hip to the headily luxurious, and all manner of decor, from starkly minimalist to antique-store clutter and the summits of contemporary design. Their restaurants are often among the most adventurous in town, and the bars are way out front on the best bars in Amsterdam scene.
Editor's top picks
- For luxury: Rosewood Amsterdam
- For a central location: The Hoxton, Amsterdam
- For an affordable stay: The July, Boat & Co.
- For families: Pulitzer Amsterdam
Which part of Amsterdam is best to stay?
For the quintessential Amsterdam experience, a hotel in the historic central Canal District, happening De Pijp, museum-filled Zuid or über-charming Jordaan is a must, but there are also great places to be found in quarters west and east of the centre and across the water behind Amsterdam Centraal Station.
What are the best cheap hotels in Amsterdam?
Some of our favourite affordable places to stay in Amsterdam include Conscious Hotel Westerpark, where rooms start from £90 per night, and the rock-n'-roll-themed hotel Sir Adam Hotel, which is a short ferry ride away from Central Station. See our edit of the best affordable hotels in Amsterdam for more.
How we choose the best hotels in Amsterdam
Every hotel on this list has been selected independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveller journalist who knows the destination and has stayed at that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider both luxury properties and boutique and lesser-known boltholes that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination. We’re always looking for beautiful design, a great location and warm service – as well as serious sustainability credentials. We update this list regularly as new hotels open and existing ones evolve.
Jonathan Maloney for What The Fox StudiohotelRosewood Amsterdam
Following a 10-year-long restoration project in one of city's grandest heritage buildings – previously the Palace of Justice – Rosewood Amsterdam is one of the most notable recent hotel openings in the Netherlands capital. Set on Prinsengracht in the historic canal district, the building's history can be felt at every turn, from grand staircases with original tiling to the building's holding cells, which have been turned into an intriguing feature rather than hidden away. There's art in seemingly every nook and cranny, and much of it is immersive, creating a feeling that this is a living, breathing property with secrets to tell. In the rooms heritage and history blend with organic textures and natural hues to create spaces that feel soothing rather than formidable. As well as the 134 rooms and suites, there are five ‘houses’, designed to feel like elevated Dutch apartments. These have full kitchens, sweeping lounges and walk-in wardrobes. I loved the hotel's main restaurant Eeuwen, and highly recommend going for a drink at Advocatuur, the dark and moody hotel bar that feels more like a neighbourhood hangout. As with all Rosewood boltholes, the sprawling Asaya Spa is a destination in its own right. Sarah James
Prices: from around £1,000 per night
Studio UnfoldedhotelDe Durgerdam
A former 17th-century clapboard inn in a fishing village just a 20-minute cycle from downtown Amsterdam, De Durgerdam has been restored and relaunched as a friendly hotel, with astonishing food by the team behind Michelin-starred restaurants 212 and De Juwelier. Named after the historic village it calls home, the 14-room creation is a celebration of simple, low-impact design, with a mix of vintage and custom-made furniture (Hypnos beds with beautiful wave-inspired local tulipwood headboards); but also of the golden age of Vermeer, through its moody use of natural light, velvety throws and palette of green, rust and putty. The relaxed open-plan restaurant, De Mark, takes over the whole ground floor and is already a local favourite, with a wood-burning stove, a bar and doors that open on to a terrace overlooking saltwater lake Ijmeer (an inlet of the North Sea until it was dammed in 1932). It’s overseen by head chef Koen Marees, known for his imaginative, vegetable-forward menus featuring dishes such as roasted cod with buttermilk and cream of barbecued celeriac, and tomato steak tartare. Downstairs is a candlelit wine snug. Guests can whizz into town in a cab, hire one of the hotel’s electric bikes to explore, or just cosy up by the fire. The braver among them scamper down the hotel jetty and leap into the lake. Francesca Syz
Prices: from around £340 per night
hotelThe July, Boat & Co.
In Houthaven, a newer neighbourhood set alongside the water (and Amsterdam’s first climate-neutral city district), there’s an impressive mix of old-meets-new architecture, and Boat & Co. dominates the waterline with its impressive former warehouse exterior. Inside, there's a large open-ceilinged lobby which opens onto the hotel's open plan bar and restaurant (where you'll find an excellent cocktail menu, and a steak tartare dish that shouldn't be missed). Rooms certainly don’t feel like the blank canvas you find in some hotels; decor is colourful, with a warm palette of ochre, teal and salmon. Furniture is vintage and upholstered, and the statement headboards are wrapped in Christopher Farr fabric to add a chic finishing touch. When we stayed, the highlight was the huge bathroom – a rare thing to find – which had a walk-in shower, and toiletries from local brand Marie-Stella-Maris that smelt so good I ended up popping into the shop and buying some to take home. A highlight of the stay was the ability to lend bicycles from the hotel, which meant getting into the centre of Amsterdam was simple. If you love feeling like a local when you travel, this is the place for you. Abigail Malbon
Prices: from around £110 per night
hotelHotel de L'Europe
In a city more known for its scene-y or slick design hotels, De L’Europe resides like a distinguished matriarch on the banks of the Amstel, overlooking the rippling waves – and tourist barges – of the river and higgledy-piggledy mustard-hued merchants’ houses. Once a 17th-century Renaissance-style inn on the site of former defence walls, the hotel has gradually gone upmarket under the ownership of the Heineken family since 1950. A Dutch-focused art collection peers from the walls and a lobby draped in floor-to-ceiling bronze silks and tarragon velvets envelops guests with mirror-walled nooks that become gossipy corners at night, soft-lit by antique crystal chandeliers and fuelled by cocktails that mix cumin seeds with coriander-infused mezcal. Rooms are bathed in light and provide a televisual view of the moving city. Warm-floored marble bathrooms come stocked with Diptyque products, and super-king-sized beds are framed by geometric headboards. As a result of the hotel acquiring the buildings next door over the years, the show-stopper rooms are now the new ‘t Huys suites, overseen by creatives from the art and design world, such as Salle Privée and jeweller Bibi van der Velden, with more in the pipeline. One of the hotel’s biggest draws is Marie, the Côte d’Azur-inspired bistro, with perfect steak tartare and tarte tatin. For a blowout, the two-Michelin-starred Flore’s “conscious fine dining” offers such treats as North Sea crab with sour quince gel, chanterelle mushroom and walnut leaf. Jemima Sissons
Prices: from around £790 per night
Ralph Reniers 2023hotelThe Hoxton Lloyd Amsterdam
This is the Amsterdam of the shiny new millennium when, like London in the 1980s, the city colonised its docklands. So plenty of angular modernism and wide open spaces but also neighbourhood vibes, with artisan shops and small galleries to rummage in. Overlooking one of the waterfronts is the distinctive outline of the Hoxton Lloyd, once the HQ of the Royal Holland Lloyd Shipping Company, with front-door steps leading up to a striped brick archway. Inside, there’s something of the Victorian school or swimming baths about it (in a good way), with glazed tiles, foliage-wreathed columns and parquet-floored corridors. Set along illuminated round-arched corridors carpeted in black and gold, bedrooms are half-panelled with flying-saucer pendants and geometric rugs; all with showers as is the Hoxton way. Families and groups are well provided for, as a handful of rooms have an extra double bed, and several have bunks. Rick Jordan
Prices: from around £150 per night
hotelPillows Maurits at the Park
Maurits at the Park is a sophisticated boutique hotel next to the leafy Oosterpark, a lesser-known, yet just as enticing, Amsterdam neighbourhood. Housed in a historic university building the Pillows’ team put a momentous effort into preserving every historical detail of, there are stained glass windows and colourful glazed bricks. Rooms are peppered across the old building and meander into the new as the architecture effortlessly transitions. The decor is inviting yet elegant, and the stone-coloured tones and textures create a serene environment, while the floor-to-ceiling windows seamlessly connect the hotel and the park.
The hotel has two restaurants - the Spring Brasserie and Van Oost, their fine dining experience. The more casual Spring Brasserie offers fresh and delicious meals from breakfast to supper, while Van Oost, the brainchild of chef Floris van Straalen, celebrates worldly flavours via Dutch ingredients. And let us not forget Fitz’s bar, a plush, speakeasy-inspired bar perfect for enjoying a cocktail (or two!).
Prices: from around £300 per night
Courtesy Soho House AmsterdamhotelSoho House Amsterdam
Located in, according to locals,"the heart of everything," on the Spruistraat, Soho House sits within the imposing Bungehuis, a circa-1930s trading building-turned-university. Staff dash out to open the taxi door of your transfer, so your first thought is about the quality and friendliness of the service, followed by the grandness of the building: It has a distinctly older, Art Deco feel and vibe, mixed with contemporary, stylish finishes. If you're here in summer, the pool on the roof in a city without a rooftop scene is particularly cool. As is the evening drinks trolley that makes the rounds to each room so you can sip on an espresso martini before supper. The Cowshed spa offers blowouts (though you can book one in-room, if you prefer), speedy manis and pedis, and 30-minute facials and massages. All in all the hotel manages to feel both extremely relaxed, and in the middle of the action. Also, it’s worth it just for the huge, supremely comfortable beds. Becky Lucas
Prices: from around £250 per night
The Hoxton, Amsterdam
Locations don’t get much better than The Hoxton’s original Amsterdam outpost, which sprawls across five red-brick canal houses placed along the Herengracht (one of the city’s most celebrated canals), ideal for slap bang central exploring. Shiny parquet floors and retro lighting give a nod to the building’s 17th-century legacy, but spaces have been given a handsome facelift and feature leathery furnishings and smart wood panelling. Rooms range from snug ‘Shoebox’ singles (ideal for solo travellers) to spacious canal-facing suites: if you’re lucky, you’ll be assigned one of the three grandiose ‘concept rooms’, which are only available upon special request. Each of these hideaways offers individual touches such as roll-top bathtubs or gilded ceilings. In a move that’s signature to the Hoxton brand, the two-storied lobby blurs the line between hotel space and local gathering spot, with guests rubbing shoulders with freelancers tapping away on laptops, and DJs spinning tunes late into the evening. Days start and end at Lotti’s, the bustling all-day brasserie which serves everything from brunch through to evening cocktails; if you’re keen to make the most of your time in the city, opt for a breakfast bag delivered straight to your door, and start your morning by heading out on one of the hotel’s complimentary bicycles. Gina Jackson
Prices: from around £200 per night
Roel RuijsThe Dylan
This place is intimate, exclusive and quietly detached from the city’s hurly-burly, yet in the heart of the historic hotel district, with club-like armchairs and a fireplace in the lounge, and a sleeker dark-marble bar. Rooms – some large with canal views, others cosier under attic beams or facing onto a courtyard – are interspersed throughout two august canalside buildings and individually decorated: lush red and copper, perhaps, or cooler white, grey and peppermint green. In Vinkeles restaurant (well-spaced tables in a brick-lined 18th-century bakery), chef Dennis Kuipers serves Michelin-starred new Dutch cuisine, with affordable options from the same kitchen in the bar/brasserie alongside. Rosalyn Wikeley
Prices: from around £500 per night
Sander BaksPulitzer Amsterdam
Rooms of all shapes and sizes range up and down the stairs and along the passageways of 25 houses stretching between two canals. Designer Jacu Strauss makes delightful use of period features yet gives the hotel a smart-contemporary feel. There’s plenty of cheekiness, too: an archway built of books with a bicycle on top; a Delft porcelain rooster or some other souvenir-shop weirdness placed in a lamp; a wall of 18 brass trumpets (well, one is purple – a delivery error that somehow works). Jansz. restaurant serves assertive dishes – strong on flavour, with subtle twists. Rodney Bolt
Prices: from around £360 per night
Conservatorium
Perfectly positioned between Amsterdam’s Big Three museums and the city’s chicest shopping street, the Conservatorium (once a music conservatory) combines original fin-de-siècle splendour (decorative tiles and brickwork) and witty references to its past life (a chandelier made of violins) with sleek, clean-lined contemporary design by Italian interior architect Piero Lissoni. Many of the rooms are duplexes under original high ceilings, mostly tightly minimalistic but comfortable and warmed by colourful touches. A vast, bright atrium lounge includes an excellent brasserie, while the smart Taiko restaurant upstairs offers superb Japanese-influenced cuisine. The Akasha spa ranks among the best in town, in or out of a hotel.
Prices: from around £860 per night
Tycho MüllerHotel Arena
A former orphanage beside a park, this is now a haven of white minimalism, enlivened by the odd piece of Sixties retro furniture and original 19th-century period design. It’s just east of the city centre, but most sights are a mere 15 minutes away by tram. Rooms are comfortable and in the same white idiom, often with jet-black bathrooms; some are duplexes with high ceilings and large windows. A few look out over the park, as does a glass-walled café and restaurant with a large terrace that leans deliciously towards vegetarian.
Prices: from around £100 per night
Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam
A 17th-century Admiralty building, a 1930s former city hall and an historic canal house or two combine to form a quietly elegant, reposeful retreat, albeit on the edge of the red-light district. The lounge, done up in warm colours with pools of comfy chairs, has a domestic drawing-room atmosphere. Bridges restaurant is up there with the best in town with an inspired menu of curious combinations that really work, and a verdant courtyard garden. Rooms are quietly luxurious, and there is a spa with a good-size pool.
Prices: from around £345 per night
Stefano PinciHotel V Nesplein
A Dutch design makeover has given funky new life to a former office building in a narrow city-centre lane. Inside, old variety posters reference the street’s theatre-district heritage, and a mix of retro furniture (butterfly chairs, Sixties sofas) jostles among mustard-coloured walls, parquet floors and designer cheekiness, such as an open hearth suspended from its own chimney. Rooms vary in shape and design, but most have good-sized bathrooms. Other pluses are the central location and highly popular restaurant and bar, crowded with creative types and spilling out onto a large terrace in good weather.
Prices: from around £150 per night
Okura
In hip foodie quarter De Pijp, not far from the main museums, the 23-floor Okura towers over low-rise central Amsterdam. Many rooms, as well as the chic Twenty Third Bar and Ciel Bleu restaurant on the top floor have formidable views. Inside, soft colours, beautiful woods and filtered light create an air of tranquillity. Staff match it with effortless politeness, and rooms and bathrooms are eminently luxurious. The restaurants share three Michelin stars between them: Ciel Bleu (adventurous new Dutch cuisine) has two and Yamazato (classical Japanese kaiseki) has one, and Serre brasserie a Bib Gourmand. There’s also a top-class gym and spa with a 60ft pool.
Prices: from around £200 per night
Seven One Seven
Seven One Seven is a grand mansion in the heart of the Canal District, within easy walking distance of the main museums. Grand it may be, but inside it’s relaxed and domestic – rather like visiting the home of some very fortunate friends who happen to have a passion for antiques and curiosities. Expect honeymoon couples galore. There are nine sumptuously decorated suites named after artists, writers and composers, plus the more prosaically titled Room at the Top. There’s no bar or restaurant: you simply ring and order drinks or high tea in the library or drawing room from the charming staff.
Prices: from around £200 per night
Additional reporting by Rodney Bolt
