The streets at night
Night comes early to Oud-Zuid. By six the museum crowds have drained toward the trams, by half past ten the concert audience has spilled onto the Van Baerlestraat and gone home, and by midnight the avenues belong to cyclists, dog walkers and the soft rattle of the last trams. That quiet is an asset. Hotels in this district employ attentive night staff who have seen every kind of late guest and are trained, above all, to look at nobody. Your visitor arrives in a good coat with a small bag, crosses the lobby as though she holds a reservation of her own, and messages you from beside the lift. In apartment buildings with a concierge, it helps to mention you are expecting a guest. In the older mansion blocks, where the staircase is shared and polished to a shine, simply meet her at the front door.
