Who says a hotel has to be beige? The Netherlands is full of small design hotels with real personality. Think flamingos in the lobby, a bed in an old water tower or a bridge keeper’s house on an Amsterdam canal. Some go big on colour, others keep it light and Scandinavian, and a few are built around a concept you won’t find anywhere else.
We’re Dutch, and as travel bloggers we’ve stayed in a lot of unusual places in our own country over the years. These are our 15 favourite boutique hotels in the Netherlands.
→ Discover the most unique places to stay in the Netherlands
The 15 best boutique hotels in the Netherlands
#1 Stella Suites Boutique Hotel in Brabant
Check prices and availability | Some hotels have a history, and this one has a love story. Stella Suites Boutique Hotel is in Goirle, a village on the edge of Tilburg, in the art nouveau villa that Frits and Stella built as their home in 1902. The house became known as Villa Stella, and the eccentric lady of the house still gives it its name. With just eight suites, it feels more like a private home than a hotel.
The original details are everywhere: tiled floors, stained-glass windows, green glazed tiles on the front steps and curly iron balconies. The suites themselves are modern, with huge beds you won’t want to leave, great bathrooms and often a big bathtub. Small art nouveau touches, like the prints above the bed, link it all back to the history of the house.
→ Discover our own stay at Stella Suites Boutique Hotel
#2 Boutique Hotel Beekhuizen
Check prices and availability | Imagine waking up to birdsong, with a pair of binoculars ready in your room. That’s Boutique Hotel Beekhuizen in Velp, on the edge of the Veluwe, one of the largest nature areas in the Netherlands. It opened in 2020 and quickly landed on lists of the country’s most popular hotels. The building looks a bit like an alpine chalet, and every room combines modern design with a view of the trees.
It’s a small hotel, and that’s exactly why it feels so homely. The heart of the place is the Bakhuis, the old bakehouse, where breakfast is served every morning. During the day you can help yourself to a coffee or a glass of wine at the honesty bar. Just write down what you had and pay when you check out.
#3 Mother Goose in Utrecht
Check prices and availability | Mother Goose looks like it walked straight out of an interior design magazine. This small boutique hotel in the heart of Utrecht is one of our favourites in the whole country. All 23 rooms are different, and each one mixes the historic details of the building with a modern interior.
The name comes from its address on the Ganzenmarkt, the old goose market. Most rooms look out over the streets of the old centre, and some even have a view of the Dom Tower. For a city break in Utrecht, it’s hard to find a better base.
#4 La Paulowna Boutique Hotel in The Hague
Check prices and availability | At La Paulowna, the owners are never far away. This boutique hotel opened in 2015 in a historic bank building in the Zeeheldenkwartier of The Hague, and a married couple runs it. With only nine suites, the welcome is as personal as it gets. Owner Wim used his background in interior carpentry to make some of the furniture and cupboards himself.
Each suite has its own colour, like green for the Emerald Suite and blue for the Indigo Suite. You’ll find king-size beds, rain showers, bathtubs and views over the Anna Paulownaplein square. The owners also put a lot of effort into sustainability, with eco-friendly cleaning products, water-saving measures and no single-use packaging. You won’t miss any comfort because of it.
#5 Sweets Hotel in Amsterdam
Check prices and availability | In a city of canals, why not sleep right on one? Sweets Hotel has turned the old bridge keepers’ houses of Amsterdam into hotel rooms. They’re spread all over the city, which makes Sweets the smallest and at the same time the biggest hotel in Amsterdam.
When the city’s bridges were automated, these little houses lost their job. The team behind Sweets Hotel turned them into rooms, one by one. Each house has a made-to-measure interior and its own view of the water, and each shows you a different part of Amsterdam. Think tiny house meets design hotel.
→ Discover our night in the Westerdoksbrug bridge house
#6 The Dutch in Maastricht
Check prices and availability | Flamingos, pastel colours, an urban jungle and a retro vibe: the interior of The Dutch is hard to sum up. It’s a little over the top, and we love it. Most rooms are as colourful as the lobby, though there are simpler rooms too, and a few suites that go all out. Look out for the funny texts around the hotel, from Salt-N-Pepa lyrics on the revolving door to a house rule saying pets aren’t allowed, unless it’s a flamingo. Best of all? The well-stocked minibar in your room is included in the price.
The Dutch is in Wijck, a trendy part of Maastricht with plenty of fun hotspots and some of the best breakfast spots in the city. A perfect spot for a weekend in Maastricht.
#7 Hotel Finch in Deventer
Check prices and availability | A record player in every room? Now that’s our kind of hotel. Hotel Finch is in a historic building on a street corner in the centre of Deventer, and it’s one of the prettiest hotels in the Netherlands. The 31 rooms are all a little different, but each has a big soft bed, a rain shower and vinyl to play. Choose anything from a smaller room with a queen-size bed to a split-level studio with a sitting area and a king-size bed.
The style is retro with a dash of Parisian chic, and you feel it as soon as you walk into the lobby. That’s also where you’ll find The Bar, where locals drop in for a drink as well as guests. Half living room, half bar, it’s a relaxed place to end the day.
→ Discover the 24 best hotspots in Deventer
#8 Villa Augustus near Dordrecht
Check prices and availability | Who knew a water tower could be this cosy? Villa Augustus is an iconic hotel in a former water tower, within walking distance of the centre of Dordrecht. It has its own bakery for sourdough bread, a huge vegetable garden that supplies the kitchen and a historic garden to wander through.
There are 45 rooms: twenty in the water tower, seventeen garden rooms and eight floating rooms. Our favourites are the garden rooms, each with its own seating area outside. Old and new are mixed throughout, like the original tower doors that now serve as headboards. Every room has its own design, but they all share the same homely feel. The most special one? Il Giardino Segreto, a room hidden away in its own secret garden.
#9 The Duke in Den Bosch
Check prices and availability | The Duke calls itself ‘a remarkable place for remarkable people’, and the design backs it up. You’ll find this hotel in the heart of Den Bosch, close to St John’s Cathedral and the Korte Putstraat, a street packed with restaurants.
The rooms are dark and moody, with deep colours and robust materials. Each has a king-size box-spring bed and a walk-in rain shower, plus a Marshall speaker, an espresso machine and free Netflix. Every detail has been thought through.
#10 Hello I’m Local in Haarlem
Check prices and availability | Ever heard of a boutique hostel? Neither had we, until we found Hello I’m Local in Haarlem. It mixes the design of a boutique hotel with the dorms and low prices of a hostel. If you’d rather not share, there are private rooms too, so you can still enjoy the design.
And that design is the real star here. The interior was created by interior architecture students from Haarlem. Dorms and private rooms are light and fresh, with crisp white bedding and nice details. The living room is filled with vintage furniture and the patio has an outdoor fireplace. Staying in Haarlem? This is a great pick.
#11 Boutique Hotel Texel
Check prices and availability | Some hotels are worth the trip on their own, and Boutique Hotel Texel is one of them. Texel is a beautiful island, but this design hotel alone is a reason to take the ferry. It’s all about wellness here, with a spa, massages and manicures, and a heated swimming pool.
There are 45 rooms and suites, each with its own interior and extras. The Superior Garden Suite has a private terrace, for example, while the Wad & Duin Suite comes with a freestanding bath.
#12 Boutique Hotel The Craftsmen in Amsterdam
Check prices and availability | Every room at Boutique Hotel The Craftsmen tells the story of an old trade. This small hotel with fourteen rooms is on the Singel, in the northern part of Amsterdam’s canal ring, and each room is dedicated to a different historic craft.
You see it in every corner. Antique tools and old industrial objects have been turned into furniture and lamps, so no two rooms look the same. Dam Square and the Jordaan are within walking distance, which makes it a great base for a city break in Amsterdam.
Tip: Rotterdam has a lovely boutique hotel too: Hotel âme. Its fourteen rooms in a historic building near the Museumpark mix Japanese and Scandinavian influences, natural colours and custom-made furniture. Downstairs, there’s a café and a concept store.
#13 Hotel Pistache in The Hague
Check prices and availability | No pastels, no jungle of plants, no wild bathroom tiles. Hotel Pistache does design differently, with clean, light rooms, herringbone floors and comfy box-spring beds. You can tell the owners have a background in interior design. There are nine spacious suites, and some even have a kitchen.
The hotel is just outside the centre of The Hague, around the corner from the Peace Palace and Panorama Mesdag. That puts you halfway between the city centre and the beach at Scheveningen.
#14 Bunk Hotel in Utrecht
Check prices and availability | Sleeping in a church? At Bunk Hotel in Utrecht, you can. When a listed church becomes a hotel, you know it’s going to be a memorable night, and Bunk lives up to it with a lobby in the soaring church hall, private rooms and sleeping pods.
Walk in and the central hall will make your jaw drop. The old organ of the Westerkerk is still there, along with other original features, but the design is fresh and modern. The shared space feels like a mix of hotel and hostel. There are no dorms, though: the sleeping pods sit somewhere in between, and the private rooms are just as well designed.
#15 Hotel Karel in Arnhem
Check prices and availability | We’ve saved the smallest for last. Hotel Karel has just four suites and sits in the up-and-coming Spijkerkwartier, right next to the centre of Arnhem. Suite 2, with its claw-foot bath, is our favourite, but every suite has its own charm. Some have a steam shower, others a whirlpool bath, so check which one you’re booking!
These days the hotel goes by Boulangerie Hotel Karel, and the name says it all: downstairs is its own bakery, where you can have breakfast and lunch. There’s also a bistro, Bistrot Kareltje.
