Is The Hoxton Amsterdam the Coolest Place In Town? A Review.
I visited Amsterdam a fair amount in my twenties - first with a former boyfriend on the back of a motorbike from the UK, with friends for a girls weekend and then just before we left the UK, a surprise birthday weekend for my now husband. Amsterdam is just one of those cities that has always had swagger and is a great place to visit - no matter who you are travelling with or what the occasion is.
Our first trip to Europe after Covid was to Amsterdam - this time as a family. It was a fantastic few days in the city of bikes and our kids (particularly my son) fell head over heels with it (he is now positioning to attend University there). When booking the trip I wanted somewhere cool to stay that had a personality matching that of the city - positioned in the heart of the historic area and easily walkable to cool cafes and restaurants. The Hoxton Amsterdam ticked all the boxes.
The Hoxton Amsterdam - AN OPEN HOUSE HOTEL
The Hoxton have hotels located throughout Europe and the US. Based on an open house idea their properties are designed to reflect the place that they are located in. To stay at The Hoxton Amsterdam is to feel like, for a moment in time, you actually belong to the city of Amsterdam - as soon as you arrive you have the impression that somehow you’re a local (ignore the fact that you’re dragging a series of wheelie bags behind you labelling you as definitely not local). The open house hotel is as much for its international guests as it is for the local cool crowd who are enjoying the common spaces. That blurring of traveller vs. local resident is the perfect basis for helping you to feel part of the city you’re visiting and I am a big fan of this concept.
canalside cool with local buzz
The Hoxton Amsterdam is located on Herengracht canal - smack bang in the middle of The Nine Streets, a hop jump and skip away from the city’s best restaurants, shops and canal wanderings. Upon entering The Hoxton Amsterdam, you are greeted to an open plan lounge bar - a hive of daytime activity with Amsterdammers huddled in meetings, catching up and drinking coffees. Lights are dimmed and lounge music plays. By evening, the space transitions into more of the same with a DJ spinning tunes - the coffees replaced by cocktails.
It is not a typical hotel entrance foyer so dragging your luggage through everyone can make you feel a bit self conscious. Nevermind. The staff at The Hoxton are all laid back and young and whilst they were always helpful, there is a casualness to the approach to guests befitting the style of the open house hotel concept. If you want a typical hotel concierge in a starched uniform that will jump at your every demand then possibly you’ll be disappointed - that being said we didn’t make any demands so who knows? Perhaps they would have facilitated any manner of request.
a converted canal house oozing with style
The hotel is in a converted canal house. Rooms are of varying size and the corridors go up and down (a step here, a step or two there) and twist and turn to accommodate the guest rooms within a building that was not designed as a hotel. It adds to the charm and a sense of discovering what was once a grand old home. Our kids are older so they had their own room on the same floor but a twist and turn away from us. We had a beautiful room facing the canal. Located on street level it had the feeling of really being part of the city - the shadow of Amsterdammers going about their day through the linen draped sash windows and was surprisingly quiet given its location. Perhaps the prolific use of bicycles as the standard mode of transport is what keeps the usual noise of a city at bay.
Traditional herringbone parquet flooring, shimmering bronze wallpaper, full height sash windows beautifully draped and a clever mix of textiles - velvet, leather, wool and cotton create a moody laidback luxe vibe. An original fireplace anchored the room and lighting was kept low and atmospheric. Despite the contemporary interiors, the overall effect is one of European grandeur made cool.
The bathrooms are tiny (one person at a time please) but beautifully fit out in subway tiles and exposed copper piping. Tradition meets contemporary cool.
casual dining at Lotti’s
Dining - from breakfast, to coffees, lunch, dinner and cocktails - are all served in the open plan Lotti’s restaurant which sits in the middle of the ground floor open plan bar lounge and as such, gives you a great feeling of being in the midst of all the comings and goings of the local scene. It is heavily frequented by locals (with the exception of breakfast - that seemed to be generally only guests from the hotel) day through night. Breakfast had something for everyone - granola and yoghurt, pancakes, eggs, strong coffee and freshly squeezed juice. None of us were left wanting. Dinner was similarly satisfactory for the family - think brasserie style dishes that will tick any and all boxes - a hotel with a good dinner spot is always gratefully received after a long day on your feet or biking around when everyone is too tired to head back out for dinner, but you still want somewhere that feels cool with good food. Lotti’s delivers on this and then some.
A PRIVATE CANAL BOAT RIDE
Aside from all the amazing museums, art galleries, shops and dining, no trip to Amsterdam is complete without a trip on the canal. Rather than join the tourist boats, we asked The Hoxton for a recommendation and were given the name of a young local Amsterdammer who takes you out on his boat for a few hours. It was a fantastic recommendation. The boat pulled up on the canal outside The Hoxton, with a friendly relaxed Amsterdammer at the helm who welcomed us on board with drinks and leisurely took us through the labyrinth of canals regaling us with interesting insights into the history of the architecture, local folklore and daily life in Amsterdam. It was the perfect blend of interesting information delivered on a personal level - a conversation with a knowledgable local who takes you out on their private boat, rather than a tourist guide on a mic going through their script.
This recommendation is exactly what The Hoxton does so well - helping you to feel like you belong and treating you like a local rather than another tourist.
THE HOXTON AMSTERDAM
Herengracht 255, 1016 BJ Amsterdam, Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 888 5555
www.thehoxton.com