Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin A guest room at De Durgerdam Amsterdam has been in the news lately as it fights against the wrong kind of tourism . But it’s still one of Europe’s loveliest cities, and quite rightly, people will always want to visit. The historic center is booming, with all the good and bad that brings.
Which makes staying away from it appealing. The lakeside De Durgerdam offers a compromise that doesn’t feel like one. The beautifully outfitted hotel opened last year in the outlying village of the same name.
It’s technically part of Amsterdam but quiet, with a single-lane road and a quaint little church. The city’s buildings seem distant on the opposite shore. Down the road, a farm shop works on the honor system, and villages maintain the sort of picture-perfect tidiness that the Dutch hinterland is known for.
It’s bucolic as all get-out, a slow-living haven. Yet it’s just 30 minutes by bicycle—Amsterdammers’ preferred unit of measure—from the city center. (Taxis and ride shares also work.
) And the 14-room hotel has a design sensibility, attention to detail, friendly service and yummy food that make it a destination in its own right. De Durgerdam is the first hotel managed by Aedes, a Dutch real estate and hospitality group specializing in “places with heart and soul that have a positive impact.” They’ve developed well-regarded projects such as Soho House Amsterdam and the city’s Andaz and Hyatt Regency hotels.
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