I really enjoy taking trips in early May. It’s right around my birthday, school vacation crowds are generally avoided, and what better way to kick off the warm-weather months? This year, my boyfriend Tim and I visited Amsterdam. I have to admit, this city wasn’t really high on my bucket list, but I’m so glad we chose it! We went from May 1 to 6, but our sightseeing time amounted to about 3 1/2 days (with travel, time change, etc.) This sounds like a very short time to travel over 3000 miles away, but we were able to do everything we planned and more at a leisurely pace.
This is the first post in my little series about Amsterdam. The idea of writing one huge post was a lot to handle, so Tim had to great idea of dividing it. Let’s start with the hotel!
When we went to Copenhagen last year, we found a great hotel, but it was a little ways away from the city center. This time, we knew we wanted to be closer to everything, and we made the perfect choice. Kimpton De Witt is a boutique hotel located in Amsterdam’s City Centre. According to Travel+Leisure, it recently opened where a Crowne Plaza was previously located. The front desk and restaurant/bar staff were very kind and helpful. We especially enjoyed chatting with the bartender at Wyers, who assured us that traveling by train and bus over 50 miles for a tulip field was overrated! There was also a complimentary wine hour for guests from 5 to 6 pm, which I thought was very thoughtful. We enjoyed relaxing with our drinks before dinner in the open-air courtyard section of the lobby.
The room itself was also really lovely. I loved the soothing blue and grey-toned color scheme. It reminded me a little bit of my own apartment! 
The housekeeping was very reliable and thorough too. I loved that they had full-sized shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel in the bathroom. And the geometric tiling was a great nod to Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher! The only negatives were that the room was a little small, there was no refrigerator (but maybe that’s standard in this part of Europe?), and there were some gross-looking marks on a little cardboard sign in the bathroom (I’m a germaphobe!) Regardless, I’d definitely stay here again and highly recommend it to others. The hotel’s convenient central location enabled us to make the most out of our little trip.
Do you have a hotel recommendation for Amsterdam? Have you ever stayed at a Kimpton property before? Let me know in the comments!
