Sometime around the 1960s, Dutch businessman Peter Pulitzer decided to thread together several of Amsterdam’s iconic canal houses into a hotel. He started with ten, and Hotel Pulitzer was born. The idea was a success, and many others followed suit – there are lots of joined canal house hotels, but this is the original. Over the following decades Pulitzer slowly grew into the 25 building stronghold that it is today.
Located on a quiet stretch of the canal belt, Pulitzer’s enviable location is ideal for most major attractions. On its doorstep is the famous Negen Straatjes (Nine Streets) shopping district, home to a number of independent boutiques, galleries, and cafes. Anne Frank House and the Royal Palace are a few minutes’ walk, and Amsterdam’s galleries and museums just a short taxi ride away.
Stay
Guests’ first glimpse of Pulitzer is its deep aubergine lobby. The hotel was widely renovated in 2016 in a project overseen by Jacu Strauss., who juxtaposed his contemporary design flair with Dutch tradition. Think eccentric colourful furniture, Dutch school oil paintings, and metallic accents.
Facilities include a friendly and capable concierge, an all-day café, restaurant, popular bar, decently equipped gym, and gorgeous courtyard garden. A particular highlight is the hotel’s very own boat. A lovely mahogany number, it can be booked for daily tours of the canals – much better than one of the ugly tourist barges.
Despite Pulitzer’s growing size, it has retained many of the touches one would expect from a boutique design hotel. The 25 buildings are joined together through a warren of corridors, staircases, and split-level open spaces. There are countless nooks with comfortable seating, and the walls are covered from top to bottom with the hotel’s considerable art collection.
Sleep
Remarkably the hotel has 225 rooms, yet the overall feeling is of intimacy and cosiness. Bedrooms span various categories of size from quite bijou to, by Amsterdam standards, gloriously expansive. Most are decorated in calming neutral shades of cream, grey, and beige, finished with punchy art and pops of yellow, purple, and green. Bathrooms are bright white and spotlessly clean, stocked with Le Labo toiletries.
For those splashing out or celebrating a special occasion, the hotel offers five “extraordinary” suites. Each suite was designed around a specific theme: book collector’s suite, antique collector, art collector, music collector, and the Pulitzer suite. They are all sensational, though our favourite is the art collector’s suite. It includes its own private entrance, separate sitting room and bedroom, and a number of exceptional works of contemporary art and furniture. An art lover’s dream.
Eat
Pulitzer’s main restaurant is Jansz is open for lunch and dinner. Though easily accessible through the hotel, Jansz has its own street entrance that involves walking through a beautiful wood-panelled room lined with shelves displaying ornamental glassware. Inside, the restaurant is a candle-lit, informal space that serves a crowd-pleasing a la carte menu.
We started with braised meatballs in marinara sauce and diver scallops. Both dishes were good, the meatballs oozing beefy unctuousness. Main courses included dishes such as baby spring chicken, Dover Sole meuniere, and miso glazed cod, but we opted for lobster risotto. The generously sized dish came with a hefty chunk of lobster, atop lightly flavoured, oniony Arborio rice. Puddings were pleasingly sweet: blueberry cheesecake, strawberry crème brulee, and a chocolate cake with yoghurt ice cream were all on offer. Jansz offers true neighbourhood dining, and is as popular with locals as hotel guests.
Jansz also serves the hotel’s impressive breakfast. There is the usual buffet of fruit, yoghurt, cereals etc, alongside an impressive array of local specialities such as cold meats and cheeses, Dutch bread, quiches, and pastries. A menu of hot dishes includes classics such as French toast and Eggs Benedict, as well as signature omelettes and pancakes.
Another space made over in 2016, Pulitzer’s Bar is probably the best hotel bar in the city. Painted in dark charcoal grey and offset with deep leather chairs and jewel tone upholstery, the space feels smoky and decadent. It’s another spot popular with locals, keeping it busy seven days a week and giving it an authentic vibe.
Pause, the hotel’s answer to an all-day dining lobby lounge is located just off reception. It provides a small menu of salads, sandwiches, cakes, and drinks and is ideal for a mid-afternoon recharge.
Hotel Pulitzer is one of the jewels in Amsterdam’s travel crown. It offers excellent dining, luxurious comfort, and contemporary design all in an idyllic canal-side setting.