Amsterdam is one of the world’s most appealing and offbeat metropolises of the world. Built on a latticework of canals that cover over 60 miles Amsterdam is lovingly known as the City of Canals and home to the Hotel Canal House.
“The most beautiful moment of the Amsterdam’s trip is sitting in your room in the Canal House that overlook the canal, watching pleasure boats go back and forth, and letting the sunlight stream through the windows. “
With building dating back as far as 18th century or earlier, Amsterdam is one of Europe’s best preserved cities—the centre has barely changed since Rembrandt’s time. Yet it’s no mere museum piece, alongside the historic monuments and Old Masters, the city is a modern capital with all the trappings a traveller could want.
There’s no bad time to visit the Dutch capital, but in general, May through October is the main travel season, when temperatures are warmest. We visited “the capital of freedom” late August during the peak season to enjoy a kaleidoscope of cultural, musical, fashion and gastronomic events.
We decided to stay in a luxury boutique Hotel Canal House right in the city centre of Amsterdam. It is a typical example of 17th Century Dutch architecture. Now a ‘monumented’ site, the building features intricate original features, carving and scrollwork as well as typically stately proportions, all signs of wealth in years gone by. Being surrounded by sun-dappled canals, vintage shops, cute little bars and restaurants, it’s one of the most recommended boutique hotels in the city. Located in the heart of the Jordaan, the cultural centre of Amsterdam, Hotel Canal House is comprised of three seventeenth century merchants’ houses and has easy access to all the main events and attractions.
You can’t walk a kilometre without bumping into a masterpiece in the city. The Van Gogh Museum hangs the world’s largest collection by tortured native son Vincent. A few blocks away, Vermeers, Rembrandts and other Golden Age treasures fill the glorious Rijksmuseum. The Museum het Rembrandthuis offers more of Rembrandt via his etching-packed studio, while the Stedelijk Museum counts Matisses and Mondrians among its modern stock.
Any visit to Amsterdam would not be incomplete without booking a tour at the Anne Frank House. Luckily the Hotel Canal House is only 3 min walk from the famous museum. The story of this tragic Jewish teen diary-keeper who hid with her family in a secret annexe for years, only to be murdered in the hellish camps, became a symbol of the Holocaust, and the tour is a powerful experience.
Coming back to the Hotel Canal House guests can enjoy drinks and bites at the hotel’s private garden. Its access is strictly limited to the hotel guests so you can enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the place. Being the largest private garden in Amsterdam, it’s quite unique place with glorious white hydrangeas and furnished with the same care and attention as the interiors.
Interior is what the Canal House is all about. The vision of the boutique hotel is about exquisite materials, luxury and celebrating Dutch design. They spent three years rebuilding the houses from bottom to top, capturing the history of the buildings, but also of the trade that made the Netherlands so successful. The hotel reflects the glory of the Dutch Golden Age when Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Frans Hals produced art that can make you cry with its beauty but it’s important that you are not feeling like in a cold museum. At Canal House you see 18th century pieces sitting side by side with those by Marcel Wanders, antiques alongside items from the Droog movement. That gives you a home feeling.
The most beautiful moment of the Amsterdam’s trip is sitting in your room in the Canal House that overlook the canal, watching pleasure boats go back and forth, and letting the sunlight stream through the windows. We’d love to come back to Amsterdam and this beautiful hotel one day…
