WAYS TO STAY
Best bargain in town
Rodney Bolt writes: Brouwer, in a gabled Amsterdam canal house, is a gem. Overlooking one of the city’s grander canals, it is superbly convenient yet relatively free from traffic noise. Rooms are simply decorated with a minimalist touch, and the odd piece of interesting old furniture.
Doubles from £59 (Singel 83, www.hotelbrouwer.nl)
Tom Le Bas writes: The Hoksbergen represents very good value for its desirable canal-side location and high quality accommodation. The idea is to keep things simple while retaining both character and comfort.
Doubles from £50 (Singel 301, www.hotelhoksbergen.com)
Make it special
RB: The Canal House is just what it says – and the historic building on the Keizersgracht is filled to the brim with the owner’s carefully chosen antiques, giving it the air of a grandly furnished private home. Enjoy breakfast under a crystal chandelier, with a view of the courtyard garden – but don’t expect nasty new-fangled objects like television sets in the rooms.
Doubles from £104-£132, depending on room size (Keizersgracht 148, www.canalhouse.nl)
TLB: The owners at the Seven Bridges give their guests the kind of attention that stems from pride. All furnishings and fittings, many of them antiques, have been chosen with a view to harmony and enhancing the atmosphere. You can see seven canal bridges from the hotel. There are only eight rooms, so book well in advance.
Good value from £56 (31 Reguliersgracht. Contact: 623 1329).
Live it up
RB: Design sorceress Anouska Hempel has cast a minimalist spell over this 17th-century house on the Keizersgracht, then added a dash of the Orient. Rooms are hip and individually styled, while public areas have a cosier ambience. An acclaimed restaurant set in an old bakery downstairs serves dishes with an intriguing Japanese touch.
Doubles from £214, though keep an eye open for specials (Keizersgracht 384, www.blakesamsterdam.nl)
TLB: The Grand Sofitel Demeure Amsterdam is the city's most decadent hotel. This unique property has a history going back to 1400 when it was a convent and eventually a royal hostelry and a town hall. The rooms are comfortable and feature all amenities. Its Caf' Roux is under the culinary direction of master chef Albert Roux.
Rooms from £280 (197 Oudezijds Voorburgwal, www.thegrand.nl)
THE BEST DINERS IN TOWN
Cutting-edge eating
RB: In 1934, the clean, hard design of the Cineac cinema wowed Amsterdam. It was modern, broke barriers, a shocking new style. Its neon-light tower caused a sensation. Now the Bauhaus-style building has been sensitively restored, restyled with pizzazz, and is home to a scintillating restaurant that takes its place easily among the hippest in town. Bright and edgy from the outside, inside Cineac is back-to-the-womb meets 1001 Nights, with luscious curved lines, tassled Fortuny lanterns, and private dining nooks behind gossamer curtains. The chef here knows how to be cheeky, but just when to stop – think coquilles in a sauce of squid-ink and paprika, or beef with a touch of wasabi, a hint of madeira.
Mains from £13 (Reguliersbreestraat 31. Contact: 530 6888).
TLB: Most Indonesian restaurants wear their ethnic colours on their sleeve, but Kantjil en de Tijger is cool and modern. The decor, tables and setting are spare yet convivial. The food could be described as Indonesian nouvelle cuisine, but with generous portions.
From £13-£17 for a three-course meal for one, with wine and coffee (291-293 Spuistraat. Contact: 620 0994).
A local classic
RB: Piet de Leeuw is the sort of place you might take a Dutch person who has been abroad for 20 years and longing for home. Behind lace-curtained windows, you are lost in a time-warp of wood-panelled walls, background accordion music, and good solid meals of steak and onions, smoked eel on toast, or liver and bacon.
Mains from £9 ( Noorderstraat 11. Contact: 623 7181).
TLB: You won't find a more typically Old Dutch-looking place than De Silveren Spiegel, set in a pair of higgledy-piggledy houses dating from 1614. The menu is an updated interpretation of Dutch cuisine, with French added for respectability. The quality of service and cuisine is high - as are the prices:
£25-£40 for a three-course meal for one, with wine and coffee (4-6 Kattengat. Contact: 624 6589).
Insider's Tip
TLB: Since being restored to its art deco glory, the Brasserie Schiller has become something of an insider's tip. There are French seafood dishes, along with a variety of Dutch and international offerings.
£20-£35 for a three-course meal for one, with wine and coffee (NH Hotel Schiller, Rembrandtplein 26-36, tel: 554 0723)
Nice and easy
RB: De Jaren is Amsterdam’s most spacious grand café, with a large waterside terrace, an airy interior with loads of seating, racks of international magazines and papers, and a menu that ranges from bread rolls and snacks (downstairs) to pastas, grills and a great salad bar (upstairs).
Mains from £11 (Nieuwe Doelenstraat 20. Contact: 625 5771).
DON’T MISS
RB: A stroll along the canals. Amsterdam’s best sights are to be had for free. The Herengracht, Kiezersgracht and Prinsengracht are lined with sumptuous mansions from the Golden Age, and the alleys that criss-cross them (the ‘Nine Little Streets’ running from Reestraat to Heistraat) are a shopper’s treasure house. Quieter canals like the Brouwersgracht, the Leidsegracht and Reguliersgracht, have a tree-lined charm, and are punctuated by little hump-backed bridges. Cafés abound along the way.
TLB: A boat tour along the Canal Ring (Grachtengordel). Having arrived in the "Venice of Northern Europe", it would be bordering on the unforgivable not to go on a boat trip around the canals. There are several companies to choose from and the majority are located opposite Centraal Station.
WHAT TO SEE
TLB: Our Lord in the Attic In the heart of the red-light district, beside the Oudekerk (Amsterdam’s oldest church) is the Amstelkring Museum (Oudezijds Voorburgwal 40), a canal house restored to its original state. It’s like stepping in to a Vermeer painting – but the biggest surprise is upstairs, where three adjoining attics have been combined to form a ‘schuilkerk’, a secret church dating back to the times when Catholicism was tolerated, so long as places of worship weren’t recognisable from the street.
IF YOU ONLY SEE ONE MUSEUM
RB: The world-famous Rijksmuseum (Stadhouderskade 42) is closed for renovation until 2008, but one wing remains open with a glorious ‘best-of’ exhibition. ‘The Masterpieces’ shows old favourites like The Nightwatch alongside other paintings by Rembrandt and Golden Age colleagues such as Jan Steen and Vermeer, as well as classics from the furniture collection. Some visitors find this pared-down version of the collection a more manageable and less overwhelming experience than they would have had tackling the whole museum.
NEED TO KNOW
The Amsterdam Tourist Board (VVV) has information offices opposite Central Station (at Stationsplein 10, open daily 9am-5pm). There is a local information line on 0900 400 4040 (35p a minute) and a tourist information office at the airport with an accommodation booking service. For further details: www.visitamsterdam.nl
Rodney Bolt is an author and travel-writer, and has lived in Amsterdam for over ten years. His guide to Amsterdam is published by Cadogan (£10.99) - www.cadoganguides.com
Tom Le Bas is a travel editor and writer who has recently completed work on the new Insight City Guide to Amsterdam - www.insightguides.com
