Dull hotels are two a dozen usually. Lobbies. Lifts. Some potted plants. The ‘trad’ hotel might be efficient but it’s not usually much of an aesthetic experience – more, in fact, an anaesthetic experience. Remco Kuiper, director of sales and marketing for Amsterdam’s Park Hotel and MOMO Restaurant, Bar and Lounge is confident that real design flair, high quality bedding, fantastic ambient lighting and innovative food is what guests really want from a hotel. Clean rooms and efficient room service is not enough anymore. “When you walk into the Park Hotel it’s like walking into someone’s living room,” he says. “It’s very much a contemporary design with book shelves, a fireplace, a gallery zone with contemporary art on the walls… we’re very different.”
This kind of design confidence is a blast of energy in the conservative hotel industry. It’s not just about contemporary design and enough space and light. It’s also about huge amounts of detail. “We have really good showers in all guest rooms and suites and we have fantastic beds – Scandinavian Jensen beds. We only use Egyptian linen and we also make sure there are plenty of UK sockets. We have a lot of British guests and we want to make sure that they find plugging in any appliances or computer hardware a very straightforward experience. There’s no faffing around with adaptors or anything like that.”
Kuiper is especially proud of the beds. All Park Hotel beds use Jensen Original Zone system mattresses with great back support and a soft shoulder zone, quite unlike most offerings from run-of-the-mill conventional hotels.
The Big Relax
Following an extensive revamp of its three main historical buildings, the Park Hotel offers a broad spread of suites – from superior rooms to junior and business suites, plus new split-level loft suites. “These are very distinctly designed,” says Kuiper. “All have marble bathrooms with a large screen plasma television, iPod docking station plus kitchenette and a separate toilet downstairs.”
All the loft suites have sweeping views over central Amsterdam and its tree-lined canals – a very special experience. Alternatively, the superior rooms are designed for luxurious calm with plenty of storage space, a flat screen television, laptop safe and internet access – plus, of course, the Jensen bed/mattress system providing a really good night’s sleep. In addition, access to the hotel’s state of the art gym, the Park 24H Workout, is free of charge for all guests.
Food and drink is another thing that the Park Hotel does well – really well. Take MOMO breakfasts, for example. “Even our breakfasts are unique,” says Kuiper. “We have the full standard fare but we also pay attention to providing lots of small non-standard type food. The salmon in the breakfast rolls is very good. There’s a lot of unusual Asian dried fruit for a healthy start to the day. Quite a few Asian dishes. It’s a very special experience – more exclusive.”
The Park’s integrated MOMO Restaurant, Bar and Lounge blends the flavours and colours of the Far East with the style and sophistication of the West, creating a true destination restaurant. “MOMO is really a very elegant social meeting place within the hotel,” says Kuiper. “There’s a fantastic range of cocktails at the bar or you can have a terrific PanAsian lunch or evening meal. It’s a very special and unusual venue. If you want something genuinely different, this is it.”
Meet me at the Park
Kuiper says this four star Amsterdam city centre hotel is also increasingly a prime location for business meetings and special events. “We do very well in the meeting hotel sector, I would say. That’s because if you have a meeting or event in the Park Hotel, then it’s not a typical meeting.” The three board rooms are fully equipped with audio and video technology including iPod docking stations, ergonomic executive furniture and Nespresso coffee machines; but the modern, contemporary design is a far cry from typical business sterility. “There’s a lot of good, low-key lighting. The meeting rooms don’t feel like traditional meeting rooms. That means people are happier to be in them. It’s not a standard experience; it’s chic and stylish.”
The combination of location, considered design, sophisticated luxury and high tech offerings make Park Hotel Amsterdam the city’s premier hotel for travellers and businessmen in the know; but all this chicness and style doesn’t carry an exorbitant price tag. The Park Hotel works hard to keep prices as competitive as possible, and although it definitely has a boutique ‘feel’ to it, at 189 rooms it deserves a class of its own.
All this luxury, calm and culinary pleasure can be lost on those guests who just need to find a place to flop for the night. While the Park Hotel won’t turn anyone away for wanting just to sleep well, staff and management obviously want their guests to really savour their stay.
City centre location
Of course, there is always so much to see outside the hotel too. Here, the hotel is perfectly situated: on the lovely Singelgracht, bang centre on one of Amsterdam’s city centre canals. Within walking distance is the Van Gogh museum and PC Hooftstraat, Amsterdam’s Fifth Avenue. Just across the road from the hotel is Amsterdam’s beautiful Vondel Park. And right on the doorstep are hundreds of galleries, exhibitions, theatres and cinemas. “We’re located very close to the famous Leidseplein, the Museumplein, and very close to the luxury fashion district,” says Kuiper.
“It’s an absolutely fascinating part of Amsterdam and so convenient for just about everything.” It’s also about atmosphere. Amsterdam has that knack – a unique knack – for combining a sense of small-town convenience and informality with big city galleries, museums and an avant-garde creative atmosphere. It’s a very attractive combination and one the Park Hotel also exudes.
Despite the difficulties of the global recession, the Park Hotel has managed to keep occupancy levels up throughout the downturn. “During the recession a lot of big hotels cut costs and staff,” says Kuiper. “Many fired employees. We didn’t. In fact, we spent more, more on advertising and marketing, more on staff training and guest satisfaction initiatives. We never lost our focus of being the best four star hotel in Amsterdam. And we think that investment has paid off, and will pay off further into the future.”
Park Hotel: tel: +31 20 671 1222; info@parkhotel.nl; www.parkhotel.nl; MOMO Restaurant, Bar and Lounge: tel: +31 20 671 7474; info@momo-amsterdam.com; www.momo-amsterdam.com
