Review: Kimpton De Witt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

CHECK-IN

The worst aspect of check-in at a hotel is checking into one several hours before your official check-in time. I'm at the front desk of the 274-room, boutique-style Kimpton De Witt, fearfully early on a Saturday Amsterdam morning and eager to at least offload my luggage. I've recently disembarked from the new Norwegian Prima passenger ship after a week-long cruise from Reykjavik. In order to kill, nay murder, some time, the receptionist helpfully suggests a cafe she knows is open at this hour. Winkel 43, an informed choice and serving the interesting Dutch version of a flat white, is in the old Jewish quarter, an easy stroll over broken beer bottle glass from the Friday night revelries of the night before.

THE LOOK

Of course, there was plenty of time for an initial sniff around at this extremely inviting, contemporary Old Centre hotel which, it declares, "pays homage to Amsterdam's rich artistic past and golden present". Described as a "modern approach to luxury", Kimpton De Witt, set in a street-fronting 1980s building (formerly a Crowne Plaza) with sections dating to the 17th century, is bursting with colour in keeping with its jazzy brand values. Opened in 2017, this was the first Kimpton property outside the Americas for this ever-expanding brand, which also made its Sydney debut earlier this year.

OUT + ABOUT

I'm here for one night only with a plan over the coming week to see more of the Netherlands beyond the again popular and previously visited Amsterdam. Exploiting the city's brilliant proximity to other appealing places, and with plenty of free time, I head off to Haarlem, a mere 15 minutes by train from Amsterdam landmark Centraal Station, a short walk from the hotel. Haarlem is a much smaller, more manageable medieval cobblestone-paved streets city which is flanked by skewiff gabled houses and has its own canal charming network. If you choose to stick to Amsterdam, the Kimpton has complimentary bicycles for guest use, though this remains an excellent city for walking despite its entitled and sometimes temperamental cyclists.

THE ROOM

When I eventually get to it later in the day on return from my Haarlem sojourn, the view from my comfortable "Essential King Room" is literally of a brick wall, with a few street and laneway glimpses. But somehow the room, with its upbeat though more subdued than elsewhere palette of bold greens and bright blues, is full of light and on the opposite side to the potentially noisy main street facing the hotel. Its eclectic furnishings include mid-century pieces filled with quirky knick knacks, adding a pleasingly homey note, while the walls of the compact bathroom are wrapped in eye-popping geometric blue and while wall and floor tiles.