First Look: Rosewood Amsterdam
Left: Asaya Spa’s tranquil pool | Center: Advocatuur shakes up the cocktail game | Right: Frank Stella’s "Polish Village”
A government building is reborn as a sanctuary of art, tranquility, and fun.
Generally, the Dutch don’t use curtains, allowing passersby a full view into streetside living spaces. The practice prevails even in Amsterdam, with its skinny canal houses smooshed together like pannenkoeken (Dutch pancakes), although an increasing number of expats and newcomers choose to shade their windows.
Hundreds of tiny bronze pieces form S TATI CA, Studio Molten’s ode to the human figure
In a deliberate nod to tradition, the new 134-room Rosewood Amsterdam proudly reveals its interiors through a grand glass doorway. The stately, sandstone former Palace of Justice has undergone a massive ten-year renovation to become an open, inviting, and deeply stylish space. All are welcome to step into the entryway just to explore Studio Molen’s enormous interactive sculpture S TATI CA, one of more than a thousand original artworks throughout the property. (A tour available to guests and visitors showcases pieces by the likes of Frank Stella, Sterling Ruby, and Berndnaut Smilde.)
A canal-view Junior Suite at Rosewood Amsterdam offers front-row views of the city’s iconic waterways.
Building codes dictated that historical features, including terrazzo floors, painted wooden trim, and granite columns be maintained or repaired. Designer Studio Piet Boon preserved these structural elements in each airy guest room, adding playful touches such as pleated headboards inspired by traditional judges’ collars, cocktail recipe books on the minibars, and curved sofas in plush fabrics. Other original features have been reimagined, such as a former cell block on the ground floor, that’s been transformed into a jenever-tasting space. And docked on the Prinsengracht in front of the hotel, awaits a fully enclosed, vintage teak-and-mahogany Dutch salon boat for city tours. Piet Boon redesigned the elegant vessel, and it's been outfitted with an electric engine.
Mood lighting and industrial design define Advocatuur’s intimate lounge.
Amsterdam’s beloved late mayor, Eberhard van der Laan, approved the building’s transformation on the condition that Rosewood include three South Asian-centric features: an Indian dining outlet, an Ayurvedic-rooted spa, and a networking club geared toward Indian entrepreneurs, set to launch this fall (the Netherlands is home to Europe’s second-largest Indian diaspora). Advocatuur, the richly decorated bar with its own jenever distillery, serves Indian bites – puri with smoked eel and pomegranate, spicy paneer with apricot-and-tomato chutney, and more.
In the subterranean Asaya Spa, where Ayurvedic elements infuse many treatments, light from a long, slim window at ground level illuminates a pool and an adjoining row of private daybeds. Just outside is a courtyard garden by Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf (famed for New York City’s High Line), planted with native flora.
For a lasting memory of the hotel, a lobby vending machine dispenses small limited-edition, Amsterdam-themed marble sculptures by local artist Casper Braat, including a pigeon, a stroopwafel (missing a bite), a red-tinged lightbulb, and a gold-plated joint resting delicately in an ashtray. You should get through airport security just fine with any of them.
AH Travelers receive breakfast for two daily and a $100 hotel credit.
