The Dylan Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Bedroom: The Dylan in Amsterdam, Netherlands -
Bath: The Dylan in Amsterdam, Netherlands -
Loft Suite: The Dylan in Amsterdam, Netherlands -
Lounge bar: The Dylan in Amsterdam, Netherlands -
Lounge: The Dylan in Amsterdam, Netherlands -
Bedroom: The Dylan in Amsterdam, Netherlands -
Terrace: The Dylan in Amsterdam, Netherlands -
Restaurant: The Dylan in Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Dylan Amsterdam 5 Stars
"Central and refined, the sumptuous Dylan Amsterdam has one of the smartest addresses in town and a dramatic, ultra-luxe interior."
Hotel Overview
Review of The Dylan Amsterdam, by The TI Review Team
By TI reviewer Olivia De Santos
As the first boutique hotel in Amsterdam, The Dylan certainly sets the bar high. Situated on the Keizersgracht, this sophisticated residence offers canal views, five-star service, a Michelin-starred restaurant and forty one individually-designed rooms and suites. The former site of a theatre, Catholic alms house and merchant’s dwelling, this charming building has maintained its theatrical leanings with bold interiors originally designed by Anouska Hempel in 1999. Since then, Amsterdam-based designers FG Stijl have redecorated the lounge, restaurant, bar, courtyard and salons, mixing gentleman’s-club styling with a contemporary twist.
There are eight room styles to choose from, and you’re invited to select your favourite on booking. Had it been a romantic trip, I would have no doubt opted for the Klassbol’s raspberry red and grey tones, but travelling with my mother, we opted for the equally gorgeous Loft Suite, all white and beige with original wood-beams and views onto the courtyard. Every detail has been treated with care, from the Bose sound systems and luxurious Zen bath products, right down to the complimentary apples... and yes, even these coordinate with the stylish colour schemes.
Breakfast is served in Vinkeles, the Dylan’s Michelin-starred restaurant, which still houses the 18th-century bread ovens that used to feed Amsterdam’s old and poor. There is a good spread of cereals, fruit, yoghurts, breads, cheeses, meats and fruit juice, with hot dishes to order. For dinner, the intimate dining room is reset with white linens and candles ready for Dennis Kuipers’s contemporary take on classic French cuisine. For those after an informal bite, a bistro menu is available in the Long Gallery for lunch and dinner. You can also enjoy “high wine” as an alternative to high tea, with a selection of wine and cheese served under the expert guidance of the sommelier.
The charming location is a draw in itself, right by boutique-shopping heaven the Nine Streets and within walking distance of Anne Frank’s House, Vondelpark, Le Hermitage, Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum. Explore the city as the locals do on one of The Dylan’s rental bikes or take a tailor-made cruise along the canal with the knowledgeable Captain Nico in The Dylan’s private boat. The concierge really know their stuff and friendly staff offer everyone the warmest of welcomes.
Facilities
Hotel Policies
Awards
"Best Independent Hotel Chain," Publituris Awards 05Who stays here?
Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel and Pharell Williams.
Come for...
- Extravagant weekends
- The name – the Dylan is still somewhere to be seen
- Schmoozing and impressing in the restaurant
Not Suitable for...
- Anouska Hempel purists
- Smokers (it’s strictly non-smoking)
- Budgets: breakfast is an extra EUR 25 and an airport transfer by limo is EUR 90
Children
A few interconnecting rooms are available. Baby-sitting services can also be provided on request.
Eating in
Chef Dennis Kuipers serves up modern and traditional French fare at the famous Dylan Restaurant. The seasonal menu changes regularly but signature dishes including Ceviche of sea bass with croquettes and Roast Anjou pigeon with five spices are always served.
The Press Say
"New owners and Dutch designers FG Stijl have revamped the reception rooms in an ultra-chic, contemporary style, beautifully balanced with warm, welcoming staff." Telegraph 07Reviews
Review of Dylan Amsterdam, by Jeroen Bergmans
When Anouska Hempel (aka Lady Weinberg) opened Blakes Amsterdam in 1999, overnight it was hailed the Amsterdam bolthole for visiting celebrities, dignitaries and fashionistas. Since then the hotel has changed its name to the Dylan Amsterdam, but it's still considered one of the most lavish, and well-located, luxury hotels in Amsterdam.
Lady Weinberg's signature East-meets-West interiors combined sumptuous fabrics, slick laquerware and stacks of colour-co-ordinated cushions, with accents of Dutch Delftware and references to the country's colonial heritage in the East Indies. Beautiful, black-clad staff and the stunning Golden Age building, a 17th-century merchant's house on one of Amsterdam's most famous canals, the Keizersgracht, also ensured that the Dylan Amsterdam has featured in glossy magazines and coffee-table tomes across the globe.
The restaurant's original Italian-Thai fusion food has been replaced by an excellent menu that is decidedly modern French. Private dinners and parties can be arranged by the concierge, as can private cruises through the canals on a traditional canal boat. The hotel has a fleet of typical Amsterdam bicycles (or Oma fiets) that can be rented for €25 a day and for guests who want to stay in shape, there's a small gym that's open till 11:00 pm.
Local interior design firm F G Stijl, who was also responsible for the College Hotel, has given the iconic interiors a highly practical make-over. The decadent bedrooms still have most of their charm and seductive aesthetic - the slatted mahogany screens, rattan and bamboo furniture, lacquered trunks and cascades of silks and linens. But now the Dylan has been furnished with bigger desks, new side tables, better lighting, more storage, Bose sound systems, hair dryers and full-length mirrors.
Review of The Dylan Amsterdam, by Joanna Monkhouse
In 1632 Jacob van Campen, the architect of the Royal Palace on the Dam, designed one of Amsterdam's first stone theatres. Much of it was destroyed by a fire 140 years later, but some of the hallway remains, as does the subsequent church that was built on the site. Today, the building is home to The Dylan Amsterdam, designed in 1999 by Anoushka Hempel, the British interior designer and creator of Blakes Hotel in London. The four townhouses have been treated to her signature minimalist style, with an Asian influence as a tribute to Holland's former colonies in the Dutch East Indies.
This ultra-stylish hotel is set back from the Keizersgracht, entered through an iron-gated C18th courtyard (the only building to have one in the city), then a large black door flanked by black-clad doormen. All the (young and beautiful) staff wear black. Even the hotel's bicycles have black license plates. Service is friendly and attentive but attitude is all - guests are assessed on their cool factor.
Incense wafts from the rooms, along with softly-playing music hidden away in a lacquered Chinese cabinet, along with the minibar, TV and DVD player. Colours are bold - black, red, green, navy, neutral or white. Fabrics are luxurious, cushions abound, and four-poster beds are to be found in many rooms. The original architectural details have been highlighted, and each room is totally unique, combining modern elegance with influences of the East. Almost half of the 41 rooms are suites, a few of which are duplex. Bathrooms are luxurious and spacious and as individually designed as the rooms.
The Dylan's restaurant is expensive but well regarded, serving a fusion of East and West, classic and contemporary - Thai/Japanese with a French/Italian twist. The décor is stark but chic - black lacquered beams, black tables and chairs, brick floors, a baker's bread oven in the walls and views onto the large central courtyard. The Long Gallery and bar attract the beautiful and the glamorous, with large white sofas and orchids on low tables.
Review of The Dylan Amsterdam, by Sarah Shuckburgh
The Dylan Amsterdam combines exceptional service from fashionably attired staff, exotic furnishings and five-star comforts, just minutes from the heart of Amsterdam. It's either beautifully designed, or completely over the top, depending on your point of view.
From one of the grandest canals, one steps through a discreet sandstone portico into a elegant courtyard, with perfectly proportioned topiary. Early 17th-century doors lead to a sleek reception area, where classical architecture blends successfully with 21st-century minimalism.
Anouska Hempel's dramatic and astonishing decor juxtaposes contemporary glamour with Dutch colonial and domestic history. The 17th and 18th century buildings retain their original dark-beamed ceilings, brick floors and traditional gables, but every room also evokes the Dutch East Indies, with slatted mahogany screens, rattan and bamboo furniture, lacquered trunks, coconut matting, and cascades of silks and linens.
Most rooms overlook the peaceful, leafy courtyard garden; canal-view rooms are surprisingly quiet, set back behind the entrance courtyard.
Reception areas startle, with shiny black paintwork and bare white walls. Food arrives on slabs of granite, and even the courtyard garden has black walls. Only the merest hint of Delft blue intrudes, on some china pots. Colour control of flowers is equally strict - only white and green are permitted. In summer, Indonesian tropical hyacinths float in yard-high beakers, with elegantly tangled fibrous roots hanging in the clear water. In winter, Dutch bulbs sprout uniformly white blooms in vast urns.
Bedrooms, however, are an extravaganza of colour - choose from gold, red, blue, green, or warm Indonesian browns, with matching corridors.
The Dylan is a triumph of theatrical panache and must be a nightmare for housekeeping staff. It's impossible to sit anywhere without disturbing vertical stacks of colour-co-ordinated cushions. Curtains fall in perfect swags, beds are strewn with lengths of exotic cloth, and three-foot bundles of slender grasses brush against your face alarmingly as you pass. Instead of a basin, each room has a rectangular trough with a sloping base, like a doll's swimming pool - a 12-inch wall of water gushes like a waterfall into the deep end.