Goedde Mittag, A’dam, always nice to be here.
House & Hotel Magazine feature the “Conservatorium”, located nearby the Rijksmuseum.
The Conservatorium Hotel amused the House & Hotel Magazine, we fall in love with this beautiful place, leave it to visionary owner Georgi Akirov to unveil a one-of-a-kind hotel following the meticulous transformation of one of Amsterdam’s most iconic buildings.
Amsterdam is always charming, friendly dutch are cycling along the narrow cobbled roads adjacent to the water, under the lime and plane trees and up and over the gently arching bridges. Dogs are sleeping on the roofs of canal boats, tourist boats cruise down the canal, pausing to point out black-painted brick buildings of interest. Besides this A’dam was always a funky place since the 70’s.
You will find lots of individually designed hotels.
The dearth of beds has not helped Amsterdam to capitalise on the treasures that make it famous, notably its significant art collections, its romantic canals and its wonderfully preserved architecture.
Amsterdam has had to catch up and fast. The city has created a lot of new trendy hotel rooms, good example of this trend is the Consevatorium hotel.
It is a large sandstone building which is now home to the Conservatorium Hotel Amsterdam, named after the Sweenlinck Conservatorium of Music, a previous tenant of the building to oversee the evolution of the property and combine a classic and contemporary aesthetic with great aplomb.
Conservatorium Hotel Amsterdam represents the first property of the luxury hotel collection The Set and the ethos of delivering a holistic experience is visible throughout the hotel. It pays tribute to the Amsterdam Conservatorium’s legacy as soothing classical music selections echo through its vaulted ceilings. Several communal dining outlets – three cafes, restaurants, and bars – will offer guests the opportunity to enjoy convivial outings and discover new local flavors and culinary talents. The 129 rooms and suites provide a respite for the weary, while the Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Center promises to replenish and refuel in the most inspired of settings. The attention to detail is nowhere more visible than in the caliber of personalized service: one that always seeks to forecast a guest’s needs and surpass expectations.
Personally I went back to my study time in A’dam twenty years ago @ the Universiteit van A’dam and enjoyed to ride my bicycle.
About: A’dam: Amsterdam has numerous fine museums, among them the Stedelijk (modern art), the Rijksmuseum (classical Dutch painting and Asian art), and the Van Gogh Museum. The Anna Frank-House, the hiding place of the Franks during the Nazi occupation, is also open to the public. The city naturally has a number of buildings belonging to the Amsterdam School style of architecture, among them Het Schip by Michel de Klerk (1919). Designed as an apartment house it is today home to the Amsterdam School Museum.
You should try the trendy Cafe-Bar-Resto “Pulitzer”.
For the perfect break, our resto tip in A’dam: Ciel Bleu
The restaurant is on the 23rd floor of the Japanese owned Okura hotel in Amsterdam. The picture windows across one side of the dining room give a fine view over the city. The dining room is luxurious, with generously spaced tables set out with fine linen tablecloths, and comfortable chairs.
The wine list stretches over 19 pages and is very well chosen, with excellent growers from around the world.
An array of nibbles appears as you browse the menu. We started with cannelloni of green apple and caramel with goat cheese and dried figs.
It was refreshing but best was a “shake” of sweet and sour cucumber with green apple mousse and a dried mushroom, which had great depth of cucumber flavour.Yummy.
First up was deep fried soft shell crab with avocado and beansprout salad, alongside langoustine with a spicy mango chutney. The soft shell crab was very good with a clever mix of tastes. Next was a cornetto of scallop with truffle mascarpone, served alongside a single cooked scallop with green pea coulis and black truffle, and a Parmesan mousse. The scallop itself was beautifully cooked. I enjoyed it.
Strips of cod were garnished with almonds, garlic and coffee and served alongside a warm foam of “belle de Fontenay” potatoes and horseradish. I never find cod the most exciting of fish, so overall for me the dish was just nice.
My partner had a fine piece of turbot, fried on farm bread and topped with paletta Iberico bellota pata negra, with lardo di Colonnata, glazed black salsify and a dressing of Amontillado sherry. The fish itself was perfectly cooked and had lovely flavour, the sherry dressing a clever foil to the fish, while the pata negra was interesting.
For the main course, saddle of roe deer was served with black pudding cream, cannelloni of green cabbage and dried ribbons of venison with clove jus. The deer itself was excellent, though perhaps this dish had a flavour more than was really needed.
We had cheese, of course, we are in Holland and fennel ice cream with star anise, white chocolate ice cream, mango and soufflé of vanilla and yoghurt with Oreo biscuit crumble and coconut ice cream. It finished off the meal.
Overall I feel this is a fantastic two star level restaurant, the Chef was engaging and clearly passionate about his job.
Give it a try, its worth it, especially when you are interested in architecture.
Dui, meet you on Prinsengracht in A’dam.
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