Amsterdam is famous for its beautiful canals, so what could be more fun than spending the night on the water? Sweets Hotel offers this option in its bridge houses spread throughout the city. With these tiny houses spread over all neighborhoods of Amsterdam, Sweets Hotel is the smallest, but also largest hotel in the city. We were invited to spend a night here and fell in love with this unique design hotel.
When the bridges of Amsterdam were automated, the characteristic bridge houses in the city no longer had any use. The owners of Sweets Hotel saw the opportunity to transform each of these unique, historic buildings into hotel rooms. The tiny houses are all unique. Each house has a custom-made interior, each house has its own view of the canals and each house shows a different part of Amsterdam. This makes it a exciting new mix of a tiny house and a design hotel.
Our stay at Sweets Hotel started with a difficult choice: which tiny house did we prefer? We studied all 28 and eventually opted for bridge house 301 Westerdoksbrug. The colorful interieur and the view of the Amsterdam lake IJ were the deciding factors for us. We got our check-in instructions for our canal house in advance by email, as this hotel has no reception, lobby or restaurant. You have to check yourself in.
Our bridge house fulfilled all expectations. A spiral staircase descends to the pink bathroom in the basement and leads up to the bedroom upstairs. Te bedroom is high above street level and has windows on all sides, offering a great view of the city in the city, while nobody seemed to notice us up there. We felt like we were hidden in the busy city of Amsterdam.
The view over the IJ lake was fantastic. Especially in the morning when we could enjoy the sunrise from our comfortable bed. Heavy pink curtains hang around the bed which offers a nice contrast to the other more cool colors and materials. Those pink curtains also kept us warm in the winter night, as the air conditioning / heater is also very cleverly installed within the curtains. It was still quite fresh though in the poorly insulated historical house, so make sure to bring your warm pajamas with you if you stay here in winter as well.
Our bridge house was a wonderful hide away for us to retreat, even though it wasn’t an oasis of peace. Hence the earplugs by the bed. The canal house, which is inconspicuous in the street scene, offers a unique hiding place in the busy city of Amsterdam. And that is exactly why we fell in love with this great concept and what makes Sweets Hotel unique.
