Oud-Zuid, as it sleeps
The hotels here give a slow session room to breathe. Suites in the five-star properties on the Van Baerlestraat and near the Museumplein have sitting areas, deep armchairs and bathrooms large enough for a bath before or after; townhouse hotels on the side streets toward the Vondelpark offer high ceilings and tall windows with heavy drapes. That space shapes the session in small ways. There is room for her to set the bottle and towels on a side table, room to move around the bed without interrupting the rhythm, and room for a couple to take turns without one of them waiting in the bathroom. Doormen and night staff are used to visitors dressed for the evening, and she arrives looking like one of them. Where reception likes visitors to announce themselves, send us the name she should mention. A bath drawn half an hour before she comes is an excellent start, because warm skin takes more readily to slow touch.