Dam Square, as it sleeps
The hotels here are among the largest in the old city: the grand property facing the palace across the square, the long row of busy hotels along the Damrak, and chain rooms tucked behind the department stores on the Rokin and the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. Their size is useful. A lobby that checks in late tour groups and red-eye arrivals does not keep track of who walks to the lifts, and a woman with a small bag is one more guest among many. Rooms facing the square have a view few cities can match, the Royal Palace and the white column of the National Monument lit up after dark, but they also hear tram bells and the late crowds, so draw the curtains before she comes. Rooms on the Damrak side can be compact, which suits oil well enough, as the massage takes place on the bed itself. Hotels on the Warmoesstraat edge, close to the Red Light District, stay lively later than those toward the Rokin.