Yahoo Finance Live The Suite Life At Amsterdam's Pulitzer Hotel
In Amsterdam, there isn't much that's off limits. Whatever your whim or desire - be it a particular kind of coffee shop or entry into Rembrandt's home - good times are at your fingertips. But any visitor who's spent hours wandering the canals knows, there's one thing that's difficult getting access to: your own canal house. At the Pulitzer Amsterdam, however, canal-side luxury is now a lot less elusive.
The Pulitzer boasts 225 rooms spread across a complex of 25 interlinked canal houses dating to the 17th and 18th centuries. A recent top-to-bottom overhaul of the hotel is the first of its kind in this UNESCO World Heritage site. In fact, it took 17 (!) designs just to get the new facades approved. The painstaking renovations, completed to celebrate the hotel's 45th anniversary, saw the creation of new guest rooms, a lobby, cafe and garden, as well as the hotel's most exclusive addition, the Collector's Suites.
The suites - four in total - tell the story of the canal houses' previous fictional inhabitants: a music composer, a book lover, an antique collector and an art devotee. Designed by Creative Director Jacu Strauss, a former designer at Tom Dixon, the rooms weave the grandeur of the Dutch golden age with modern day amenities and contemporary twists (think Delft tile meets sleek furnishings from Sé and plastic Dutch still life photographs by Richard Kuiper).
The Antique Collector's Suite
The Antique Collector's Suite was originally built in 1615 by a barley merchant, before getting purchased by a professional musician in 1619. Swathed in a palette of lilac with pops of royal blue and mustard yellow, it is now a quiet, feminine retreat. The front seating area features a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the Keizersgracht, one of the city's original three canals and home to some of Amsterdam's finest architecture.
A wall of gilded mirrors rivals the ornate crystal chandelier for center stage, while the plush furnishings - a tufted velvet love seat, a dainty slipper chair upholstered in a Robin's egg linen, an over-dyed Persian rug - create a cozy setting. In the bedroom, an antique ladies' writing desk is juxtaposed with Maarten Baas's Smoke Chandelier, which has been charred and then preserved with a clear epoxy coating for an edgy take on a traditional piece.
The Art Collector's Suite
By contrast, the Art Collector's Suite is lively and playful. The canal house that holds the suite dates to 1635, and showcases the Pulitzer's robust art collection. Front and center is Thierry de Cromieres' "Hals Brunch," a vast and boisterous interpretation of da Vinci's The Last Supper. The design scheme follows suit, with a palette of bold hues and funky furniture, including a lacquered red bar cart and a checkered table by Sweden's Front Design. A gold hand sculpture and poppy pink armchair play off the vibrant colors from the gallery walls. Guests can sip tea from porcelain ware while observing canal life from the inside looking out, not vice versa. How many tourists can say that?
"The history was already here," says Strauss of the property. "But I was also inspired by the greater context of Amsterdam and by contemporary life in the city. So whether it was developing a color palette from a Vermeer painting in the Rijksmuseum, or using a porthole mirror in the bathrooms as a reference to the canal boats, I wanted to bring the context of the city to the inside of the hotel."
Each suite has its own distinctive personality, but a common thread unites them all. In the bedrooms, the custom headboards were designed to imitate the pointed and arching gables of the surrounding canal houses. A bright lacquered vintage desk phone in each room connects guests to the concierge. All the bathrooms have the same Calacatta marble vanity, antique mirror backsplash and Le Labo toiletries - all in keeping with the timeless, elegant standards of a 5-star hotel.
Every room comes also with a free bicycle repair kit for guests to take. After all, it's the one thing that everyone in Amsterdam has. But a private street entrance and a key to your own canal suite? Well, that's truly one of a kind.
Plan your stay at pulitzeramsterdam.com.
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