Centrum, as it sleeps
The ideal room for this format is a quiet one, and in Centrum that takes a little thought. Hotels on the Damrak and around the Nieuwmarkt face streets that stay awake past midnight, while rooms at the back of the same buildings, over courtyards or narrow alleys, can be almost silent. The canal-house hotels along the Herengracht and Keizersgracht grow quieter still once the tour boats have moored for the night. Summer brings a particular problem: many older hotels in the centre have no air conditioning, and an open window lets in exactly the street noise a slow session is trying to leave behind, so ask the desk for a fan or a room with cooling. Whatever the room, a little preparation helps. Turn off the overhead light, leave one lamp on low, and put your phone face down on silent. The women who work the old city know its hotels well, and she will often adjust the room within a minute of arriving, curtains closed and lamp moved to the far side, as if she had stayed there herself.