Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky review: a grand, stylish Amsterdam stay
The scene is set inside this hotel's belle époque-era Winter Garden: an exclusive jewel box courtyard of palms and peacock colours, accented beneath a 19th-century glass roof. As for the clientele, this is where dapper chaps and well-heeled ladies breakfast late and attend evening high society balls. The lavish restaurant is surely the Dutch capital's best example of turn-of-the-century ambience and both the Winter Garden and its encompassing hotel owe much of their charm to the name above the entrance: Adolf Wilhelm Krasnapolsky, a Polish tailor who arrived in the city in 1856 and set about creating a swinging scene that's lasted until today. But that's not to say Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky is old-fashioned. Yes, it's wonderfully nostalgic, but that marries with Anantara's renowned light touch to make it a classically modern affair, and its rooms and dinner jaunts are a rare and luxurious thing. As for service, it's refreshingly hands-off, unlike so much of Amsterdam's cut and thrust these days.
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Score 8/10If you're familiar with the Anantara brand, you'll know it for its plush hotels in Thailand, the Maldives and the UAE. It's a similar deal here, as there are 402 rooms, the largest of any in the company's globe-trotting portfolio, and they are spread across 55 canal houses, all of which have been geometrically puzzled together like one giant optical illusion from the Dutch mind-bender MC Escher. The silky colour scheme in each of the rooms is soft and neutral — swan white, porcelain, chiffon and chrome. There is also modern ergonomic Dutch design and a spectrum of deluxe and premium rooms that come with oversized windows, rooftop or canal views and bathrooms of ivory marble and polished wood. For the pick of the bunch, opt for the bumper-sized Grand Premium Dam View, with bathtub basking in natural light.
Score 9/10 That Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky has become the focus of chit-chat in the Amsterdam food scene is largely because of the chef Tristan de Boer, born and bred in the city. He is chef de cuisine at the one-Michelin-star White Room, a restaurant as beautiful as the Winter Garden and an ode to the history of the French brasserie. The original restaurant, De Witte Zaal, opened in 1885 and maintains its handsome look with gilded mirrors, marble pillars and striking torso sculptures. Food-wise, it unites the best French ingredients (macarons, ceps, artichokes à la barigoule) with the Dutch kitchen (smoked mackerel, north sea crab, black caviar). Whatever you do, dress up. The hotel's other two talking points are Grand Café Krasnapolsky, a Viennese-style fantasy of cakes, macarons and meringues and a bar focusing on the art of tailoring and created as a hat's tip to Krasnapolsky. Though it's short on subtlety (spot the thimble lights, sewing machine, jumbo pair of scissors, measuring tape edging the counter bar), the Tailor is still fresh and fun for a hotel bar.
• Read our full guide to Amsterdam• Best boutique hotels in Amsterdam
Score 8/10With so much history, this is a hotel that has a lot to say. Cue a hotel archivist who puts on mini exhibitions (free, year-round) and with snippets that you actually want to know about (Martin Luther King once gave a speech here, for instance). There is also a spa (no pool) and a fitness centre with a 360-degree climbing wall. Bicycles can be booked too.
Score 9/10Over the years, Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky has become a monument for locals, with 'Meet me by Kras' becoming a common shorthand. For that reason, there's collective gratitude for its location, right on Dam Square, facing the National Royal Palace, ten minutes' walk from Amsterdam Centraal station and in the mix of the city's loveliest streets. Next door is Wynand Fockink, opened in 1679 and the oldest distillery in Amsterdam.
Price B&B doubles from £264Restaurant YFamily-friendly YAccessible Y
Mike MacEacheran was a guest of Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky (anantara.com)
• Best boat hotels in Amsterdam• Best hostels in Amsterdam for a backpacking break
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Times
9 hours ago
- Times
Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky review: a grand, stylish Amsterdam stay
The scene is set inside this hotel's belle époque-era Winter Garden: an exclusive jewel box courtyard of palms and peacock colours, accented beneath a 19th-century glass roof. As for the clientele, this is where dapper chaps and well-heeled ladies breakfast late and attend evening high society balls. The lavish restaurant is surely the Dutch capital's best example of turn-of-the-century ambience and both the Winter Garden and its encompassing hotel owe much of their charm to the name above the entrance: Adolf Wilhelm Krasnapolsky, a Polish tailor who arrived in the city in 1856 and set about creating a swinging scene that's lasted until today. But that's not to say Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky is old-fashioned. Yes, it's wonderfully nostalgic, but that marries with Anantara's renowned light touch to make it a classically modern affair, and its rooms and dinner jaunts are a rare and luxurious thing. As for service, it's refreshingly hands-off, unlike so much of Amsterdam's cut and thrust these days. This article contains affiliate links, which may earn us revenue Score 8/10If you're familiar with the Anantara brand, you'll know it for its plush hotels in Thailand, the Maldives and the UAE. It's a similar deal here, as there are 402 rooms, the largest of any in the company's globe-trotting portfolio, and they are spread across 55 canal houses, all of which have been geometrically puzzled together like one giant optical illusion from the Dutch mind-bender MC Escher. The silky colour scheme in each of the rooms is soft and neutral — swan white, porcelain, chiffon and chrome. There is also modern ergonomic Dutch design and a spectrum of deluxe and premium rooms that come with oversized windows, rooftop or canal views and bathrooms of ivory marble and polished wood. For the pick of the bunch, opt for the bumper-sized Grand Premium Dam View, with bathtub basking in natural light. Score 9/10 That Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky has become the focus of chit-chat in the Amsterdam food scene is largely because of the chef Tristan de Boer, born and bred in the city. He is chef de cuisine at the one-Michelin-star White Room, a restaurant as beautiful as the Winter Garden and an ode to the history of the French brasserie. The original restaurant, De Witte Zaal, opened in 1885 and maintains its handsome look with gilded mirrors, marble pillars and striking torso sculptures. Food-wise, it unites the best French ingredients (macarons, ceps, artichokes à la barigoule) with the Dutch kitchen (smoked mackerel, north sea crab, black caviar). Whatever you do, dress up. The hotel's other two talking points are Grand Café Krasnapolsky, a Viennese-style fantasy of cakes, macarons and meringues and a bar focusing on the art of tailoring and created as a hat's tip to Krasnapolsky. Though it's short on subtlety (spot the thimble lights, sewing machine, jumbo pair of scissors, measuring tape edging the counter bar), the Tailor is still fresh and fun for a hotel bar. • Read our full guide to Amsterdam• Best boutique hotels in Amsterdam Score 8/10With so much history, this is a hotel that has a lot to say. Cue a hotel archivist who puts on mini exhibitions (free, year-round) and with snippets that you actually want to know about (Martin Luther King once gave a speech here, for instance). There is also a spa (no pool) and a fitness centre with a 360-degree climbing wall. Bicycles can be booked too. Score 9/10Over the years, Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky has become a monument for locals, with 'Meet me by Kras' becoming a common shorthand. For that reason, there's collective gratitude for its location, right on Dam Square, facing the National Royal Palace, ten minutes' walk from Amsterdam Centraal station and in the mix of the city's loveliest streets. Next door is Wynand Fockink, opened in 1679 and the oldest distillery in Amsterdam. Price B&B doubles from £264Restaurant YFamily-friendly YAccessible Y Mike MacEacheran was a guest of Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky ( • Best boat hotels in Amsterdam• Best hostels in Amsterdam for a backpacking break
Times
9 hours ago
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A chic new stay in Northumberland… for under £170 a night
Alnwick is abuzz. A hotel has just opened in this small Northumberland town, 30 miles north of Newcastle. And it offers a blend of 21st-century comfort, facilities and gastronomic cooking on a scale unmatched in its hospitality scene. Even so, despite the brand-spanking newness of the project, Bailiffgate hotel reminds many locals inescapably of their youth. The reason? 'Most of us went to school here,' Bernard Bloodworth, the general manager, said last week when I was the first travel writer to check in. 'The buildings were part of the Duchess's School which, from 1979, has been the town's only high school. And ever since we opened, people have been in to see how it's changed.' Apparently their first memory of any room is of the teacher and the subject they taught there — Mr Matthews for French, perhaps, or chemistry with Miss Oliver. The first time he walked in, Bloodworth did it too. Before a globe-spanning career in hotel management, he was also a pupil — as was the footballer Lucy Bronze, one of the stars of England's European Championship-winning team in 2022. A lot has changed since the school moved to a new site in 2016. At vast expense, the Georgian houses that front the property have been rescued from dry rot and sketchy foundations. At the back, less distinguished buildings have been supplanted by a handsome sandstone extension that wouldn't look out of place in a Cambridge college. But that hasn't broken the personal connections that still bind locals and staff to the building. Probably that's why it feels so comfortable in its own skin so soon after it opened. In other words, the recent past is proving a valuable asset for a hotel that wants to get off to a flying start. But the happy hum is not the most remarkable thing about it. What elevates the Bailiffgate into the superleague of recent hotel launches is what lies just across the road; and it comes with a much longer history. No one knows exactly when Alnwick Castle was built. The earliest written evidence mentions it in 1138. But it's clear from its curtain wall and its 15th-century barbican that it became a mighty fortress, and both are right there in front of you when you step onto the hotel's doorstep. Barring the odd crossbowman and a rumbling portcullis, they're in full working order too. • The UK's best walking holidays We can thank the Percy family for their miraculous state. In the 716 years since they bought it, both they and their fortress have seen some torrid times — sieges, rebellions, battlefield disasters, a beheading. But they've proved themselves a tenacious clan, as well as resourceful and capable stewards of the building. Now, under the 12th Duke of Northumberland, it's enjoying something of a renaissance. Launched in 2001 by the present duchess, its garden has grown to include a famous collection of poisonous plants as well as cascades, fragrant roses, formal flowerbeds and the world's largest play structure for kids: a labyrinth of slides, towers and covered walkways known as Lilidorei (adults £21.45, children £17.60; Meanwhile, in the castle — where the duke and his family still live, for some of the year — a recent restoration project has made its 19th-century state rooms mind-bendingly opulent once more (adults £21.55, children 11.35; Each year an estimated 600,000 visit the castle and gardens. Many remember Harry Potter's first broomstick lesson in the Outer Bailey. It featured in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 2001. • 100 of the Best Places to Stay in the UK Now the hotel has given us another way to enjoy this extraordinary monument. Owned by the duke and his family, the Bailiffgate is operated by the Bespoke Hotels group, and the only way to get closer to the castle at night would be to take your pyjamas over the road and ask the Percys if you can snuggle up with them. You might, however, prefer the privacy of your hotel bedroom. The Georgian Suites in the old school buildings are the most atmospheric and impressive of the 48 rooms. With giant beds, rolltop baths and enough room to educate a class of 30 kids, they'll bestow an almost ducal sense of personal space on your visit. Nearby, in the new annexe, the castle view rooms are the pick of the doubles. Here, the decor is a little too polite for my tastes, but the medieval walls outside add a welcome sense of wow, while mustard-coloured chairs and well-planned lighting brighten the mood indoors. Superking beds promise a good night's sleep too. In summer B&B doubles start from £185; in winter that drops to £167. Meanwhile, down in the kitchen, the chef Paul Blakey and his team are cooking up a storm. 'Although quality is paramount, we're not chasing AA rosettes or Michelin stars,' Bloodworth told me on arrival. But if Team Blakey's performance on a Monday night was anything to go by, they should. It's easy for busy dishes like theirs to become muddled, but my wild mushroom starter with crumb-coated poached egg, hash browns, frisée lettuce and red coriander was a multitextured, multifaceted delight. Every flavour played its part and nothing seemed out of place. Even better, it cost £10, with mains starting from £20. It was no wonder that the expansive dining room, decked out with bentwood chairs and tweed-green upholstery, was full on a rainy Monday night. Meanwhile, at lunchtime on Tuesday, a twice-baked goat's cheese soufflé, flooded with a gentle fondue and just a hint of black truffle, was another showcase for Blakey's subtlety — and at £14, his very reasonable prices. • Read our full guide to the UK Next year, beyond the hotel's big terrace, the old gym and library will become a spa. But in the meantime the only thing I wished for amid all this comfort and feasting were some proper paintings on the walls. Admittedly, that's a big ask when the Percys are supplying them. They're unlikely to lend the works by Titian, Canaletto or William Dobson — England's first great home-grown artist — which adorn the castle's state rooms. But the full-size reproductions of family portraits that hang in their place strike a flat and synthetic note in such resonant surroundings. Surely, there must be a storehouse of original engravings and estate maps they could raid. This, however, is a minor niggle. After all, if you want authenticity, just walk outside — as I did, repeatedly. In part, that was because I had come by train, blasting up to nearby Alnmouth from London in three and a half hours, before taking a £13 taxi into town. After that, day-tripping to the coast by bus seemed a journey too far. But mostly it was because Alnwick itself will reward several days of gazing. Never more so than when the skies clear and the midsummer sun shines long into the evening. At that time of day, the northern end of town falls silent, except for the odd rasp of a rook, and a great big bowl of parkland beckons, beyond the River Aln. You turn left at the old school's front door, walk three minutes down a hill, and there it is, green and thoughtful, across a bridge. By now, the sun will have reached round far enough to bathe the castle's northern walls in rich golden light. If you want a lesson in how lovely Northumberland can be, this is where to get it. This article contains affiliate links, which can earn us revenue Sean Newsom was a guest of Bailiffgate hotel, which has B&B doubles from £167 ( and LNER, which has London-Alnmouth one-way fares from £44.70 (
Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
Amsterdam is celebrating 750 years – here's how to enjoy a summer weekend in the city
Amsterdam is a city that celebrates individuality, encourages quirkiness and delights in difference. It has a long history of riches and rebelliousness. The glory-days of the 17th century, the über-cosy 1800s, the counter-culture explosion of the 1960s – they've all left tidelines along Amsterdam's canals: opulent gables, Rembrandt and Van Gogh, barrel-lined cafés, gardens of rare blooms, marijuana-selling 'coffeeshops', and Miss Marple bicycles. Now Amsterdam is sweeping into a new Golden Age, making a fresh mark with galleries, sharp shops, award-winning restaurants and hipster cafés. Bristles of audacious architecture have shot up round the city edges but the cobweb of gable-lined canals is still at its heart, with funky stores in the criss-crossing alleys of Negen Straatjes, new galleries to the west in the Jordaan, world-class museums and chic boutiques south around Museumplein, a market and further foodie paradise in De Pijp, and hot new quarters opening up all the time. And here are our other Amsterdam guides, providing inspiration for hotels, restaurants, shopping, bars and cafés, attractions and free things to do (plus the best hotels near Amsterdam airport). In this guide: What's new in Amsterdam this summer Festivities: Amsterdam turns 750 Amsterdam has been celebrating the lead-up to its 750th anniversary all year, with a vast programme of exhibitions, festivals, concerts and more. On June 21, 15km of the city's ring road close for all-day celebrations, including DJ sets, street food and choir performances. Other anniversary events include a free Isamu Noguchi exhibition at the Rijksmuseum until October, showcasing the renowned sculptor's works. An Amsterdam Eats exhibition is also on at the Allard Pierson Museum until early September, that walks through the history of the city's culinary scene. Concerts: Sounds of the Future From August 15 to 24, venues along the canals – homes, gardens, terraces, concert halls, churches and outdoors – host the Grachtenfestival. Amsterdam's rising young musical talent take to the stage to perform classic and jazz concerts in alluring settings. It's the place to hear those who are teetering on the brink of fame. Museum: Photography exhibition Huis Marseille makes imaginative use of its two quite exceptional 17th-century canal houses (complete with ceiling paintings by Jacob de Wit) in Memento, running from June 28 to October 12. More than 100 photos from its rich photography collection track the changes, tangents and curious surprises of photography over the past 25 years.
