Jordaan, as it sleeps
Two things about the Jordaan are worth knowing before she arrives. The first is the stairs. Canal houses were built with stairwells that climb at an angle closer to a ladder than a staircase, and guesthouses rarely have a lift, so tell us which floor you are on; she has climbed hundreds of them and will carry her bag up without comment. The second is the windows. Dutch habit leaves plenty of lower windows uncurtained, and some rentals here offer only thin blinds facing the street, so check what yours can close before the lamp goes down. Houseboats deserve a note of their own. The bed usually sits in the bow beneath a low ceiling, the bathroom is compact, and the hull shifts gently when a boat passes, which most guests find adds to the hour rather than spoiling it. For an evening booking, the quarter is at its quietest after eleven, when the brown cafés on the Westerstraat and around the Noordermarkt have emptied and the canals belong to residents again.