Amsterdam is packed full of luxury hotels, I loved staying at the Waldorf Astoria when I visited the city last year, but this time round I wanted to try something modern, fun and fresh – something design lead and also easy to find at night. So the Art’otel right across from Central Station ticked all the boxes.
The Art’otel brand is a series of hotels located across Europe – with a new one opening in London Hoxton soon! Each hotel features artwork themed around a specific artist, Berlin city centre is Andy Warhol, Dresden is A. R. Penck, and Amsterdam is Atelier Van Lieshout.
What To Expect
The hotel is designed around the work of artist Atelier Van Lieshout – from the moment you walk in through the communal areas and right though each of the rooms there are installations, individual pieces of his art and an art work in each of the bedrooms in the hotel. Look out for the piece of work called ‘Unlimiteds’ which is featured in the central atrium and resembles sperm – representing the ‘spark of creation’.
The hotel is perfectly situated directly across from Amsterdam’s main train station this hotel is big on location – great for business trips or late night arrivals (as I was). However it is also in a very busy area of Amsterdam, so take this into account as well.
Check In and Welcome
Check in was fast and efficient – a trait of the Dutch perhaps! I came late at night so it was quiet and I was in my room in about ten mins of arriving.
The Room
There are 5 room types in the hotel, I had the second room type Art room – Iconic View, which is slightly larger than the standard room, and includes an unbeatable view out to Central Station which I liked. The room shape is the standard hotel room layout, walk and the bathroom area is to the left, to the right built in wardrobes, minibar, safe etc and walk straight on and you are in the bedroom area.
The kingsized bed was decorated rather beautifully when I first arrived and there was a bottle of complementary wine and sparking water ready for my arrival. Each side of the bed features a lacquered side table, with plug socket, lamp, and 4 buttons to change all room light settings.
The bathroom is half open plan so the sink and mirror are part of the room, so no door. The shower and toilet have their own door for privacy.
Some little finishing touches to the room that I liked were;
I liked the Elemis amenities and the eye cream and pillow mist were nice. There is also a turn down service which comes round nightly.
The room includes an Illy coffee machine, much like a Nespresso, but designed more like a traditional espresso maker.
Some of the sensible stuff I loved was;
A UK plug sock at the work-desk is practical and saves fiddling about for adaptors and lets face it your adaptor is probably going to be charging your phone anyway. There are European sockets on each side of the bed too.
The rain shower also has a separate hand shower, useful for washing hair. Turning the lights in the room off is also easy as there are 4 clear buttons to change the settings – sleep, mood, bathroom, full at both the door and either side of the bed.
Free wifi – and no messing about registering room numbers and names, just connect.
Not a physical room feature – but all rooms come with free breakfast.
The Rest of the Hotel
5&33 is the name of their all-day and late-night kitchen, bar, library, lounge and multi-functional public gallery. The area is fun and fresh, quiet and relaxing during the day when I was in, but jumping at night with diners and drinkers.
The hotel has a gym, which I used, it was ok… not really in line with the rest of the hotel, but served the purpose, it could do with an resfresh in my opinion.
The restaurant is also used for breakfast. I had the breakfast which was rather tasty, perhaps slightly limited on options, but more than adequate to fuel up on in the morning and it is included in the room price so can’t complain.
What Made It Special
My room had a view out to central station, which was a great view to wake up too, the bed was large and the pillow selection I liked, I like a firm flat pillow and there was the perfect pillow there for me. The staff were really helpful, I needed their help with a couple of things which they were delighted to help me out with.
The Negatives
I have stayed at a lot of 5 star hotels and always loved coming back to them, but the Artotel is missing something. Perfect if you are a business guest and just need somewhere to rest which was what I was doing on my trip. But it missed that element that I like at luxury hotels where you can’t wait to get back to the hotel, I didn’t get that feeling inside me.
It is also worth noting that rooms at the front are noisy, however there is not much that can be done about this – it’s an original building and a busy area of Amsterdam so it is par for the course. If you want complete silence you might want to take an internal room – check with reception when you are checking in.
The Finances
Rooms start at £185 per night my Art Room Iconic View was £223 per night.
Would I Recommend it
I would recommend the hotel for business travellers, the communal areas are nice to relax and the restaurant is lively and busy in the evening.
If I was going for a romantic weekend, or for fun, there are other Amsterdam hotels I would stay at.
Address: Prins Hendrikkade 33, 1012 TM Amsterdam, Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 719 7200
Web: www.artotelamsterdam.com
