Hotel description

All the big stereotypes about Dutch hotels (freaky modernist design, low-budget student digs) are right out the window — Seven One Seven is as traditional and as haute-luxury as they come, just eight sumptuous rooms (six of them actually suites) in a landmark 19th-century house along the Prinzengracht, outfitted in absolutely classic style by the former owner, the fashion designer Kees van der Valk.

The hotel’s own promotional materials sell Seven One Seven as “executive suites,” which is understating things a bit, or else today’s executives have a greater taste for the fabulous than we ever suspected. These suites seem built for romance, all rich fabrics and classic objets d’art, with Bang & Olufsen entertainment gear, sprawling plush beds and vast luxurious bathrooms stocked with Hermès products.

Privacy and discretion are quite obviously the order of the day, and in an eight-room guest house you can get as much personalized attention as you need. A lavish breakfast is served in-room, downstairs in the Stravinsky Room, or in fair weather outside on the patio. After that it’s out into the city: this is no five-star, just a particularly swank pied-à-terre, and a well-placed one at that, close by to the Spiegelstraat, the museums, and any number of cafes, bars and restaurants.