PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

In a courtly building that was a 15th-century convent, a 16th-century royal guesthouse, the 17th-century headquarters of the Amsterdam Admiralty, and the 19th-century Town Hall, the Grand is grand indeed. To reach the lobby, walk through a courtyard with a fountain, then pass through a brass-and-wood revolving door. Enjoy afternoon tea in the lounge area amidst Art Deco and stained-glass windows; Oriental rugs grace black-and-white marble floors. All this elegance, and only a vigorous stone's throw from the Red Light District. Individually styled and furnished rooms reflect the different phases of the building's past and are about the last word in plush. Most have couches and armchairs. Views are of 17th-century canals, the hotel garden, or the courtyard. You can have a tolerably priced lunch or dinner at the Art Deco-inspired modern French brasserie The Grand, run by star chef Andrew Gaskell. This jacket-and-tie joint sports an abstract expressionist mural, Inquisitive Children (1949), by Cobra-movement artist Karel Appel.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Amsterdam, 15th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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