Amsterdam

Have you ever booked a hotel room online, only to find that the pictures had been artfully composed to look, well, a wee tad more upscale than it looks in person? No wonder it was so much less expensive than the others you scoped out, eh? Well, the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam has none of these indemnities to besmirch its name. Let me just say that we really lucked out this time.

With its mixed history you wouldn’t imagine the Lloyd to be a particularly glam hotel. Its 1918 construction, built to lure clients onto its ships bound for South America, tipped the Royal Dutch Lloyd Company toward eventual bankruptcy. Subsequent incarnations as a refuge for immigrant Jews escaping pogroms, a German prison during WWII, a post war prison, and a home for wayward boys might not give the traveler searching Expedia the impression that this is a must stay sort of place. Had I read all this on Wikipedia before booking, I probably would have passed; wouldn’t you have?

Fortunately, I never thought to look at Wiki before booking a hotel, which is probably a good thing, because this gem is full of surprises. From the outside, it looks rather tired and overburdened, and too big to be a “boutique” hotel. Nor does its location encourage the weary traveler, tucked away as it is in the eastern docklands of Amsterdam, away from where the action is, and close to a ‘hood that can’t be recommended for a late evening stroll.

But in a city that can be circumnavigated in an hour by bicycle (that is, if you don’t get hopelessly lost in the maze of canals and small streets that remind me of the grid-phobic streets of Bellingham) location hardly matters. It is the first “1 to 5 star” hotel I’ve heard of, with rooms that vary in size, and thus price. We stuck to the low end and got a great little garret on the 5th floor, overlooking the harbor and a clock tower.

In my long history of blogging, I haven’t spent this much time describing a hotel, but bear with me a little longer. The final leg on its journey to its current life as a hotel, once it had fallen into major disrepair, saw the Lloyd turned into artist studios (typical – we usually get the pre-renovations, don’t we?) After a contest to determine what to do next with the building, and some innovative architectural input, the Lloyd was transformed into the hotel we stumbled upon. The heavy exterior hides a light and airy interior, with a decidedly savvy modernism.

Best of all, and in keeping with its art connection, the place is full of contemporary art, though not your typical paintings on the wall. You walk through an installation piece to get to the cafe, and there are all kinds of artistic surprises throughout the building. I will try to post just a few more examples before I move on to other topics. I know, you just want to get to Africa and meet Pauline, and see some big cats….

….speaking of which, Amsterdam seemingly has a kind heart towards felines. We came across more than one well kept shop cat, nonchalant to our advances but content with life in general.

Lastly, I have said nothing of the people of Amsterdam. Culturally, everyone we have encountered is friendly and helpful. Physically, I have never seen such tall, long boned people. (Of course I haven’t met the Maasai yet!) And everyone here seems to have been born on a bicycle; the ratio of bikes to cars is about 10 to 1 (I just counted out my window) and instead of stopping for oncoming traffic or people crossing streets, the cyclists maneuver around obstacles seamlessly. Between the bikes and canals, who needs cars?

OK, here you go: an art card trading post at the Lloyd:

The tiniest spiral staircase I’ve circumnavigated:

And a wind-up toy to end the day with: