Canal House Hotel by Jeroen Bergmans

For thirty years now The Canal House Hotel has been considered the best Amsterdam boutique hotel for visitors who want all the oldy-worldy charm of the city’s famous 17th-century canals reflected in their hotel room.

Located right on the Keizersgracht, just a block from the Anne Frank House and a couple from Central Station, it’s in the heart of the city but suffers from none of the bustle and noise. The chirpy Irish ladies who run the place are charm itself, as is the hotel’s grandiose breakfast room, its baroque bar, antiques, oil paintings and stuccoed ceilings which give it buckets of character. Although there’s a lift, it’s of limited use when negotiating the narrow corridors and higgledy-piggledy staircases with heavy luggage.

The rooms
The 26 rooms are all individually designed in the style of a true boutique hotel with heavy wooden wardrobes, antique beds and cutesy, quilted bedspreads. None of them have any mod cons – and that includes TVs. The brand new bathrooms are the only nod to modernisation and the Demana herbal toiletries from France are a lovely, fragrant touch.