February 2026
One of our favorite hotels, The Dylan, is in Amsterdam. Why someplace new for this stay?
The Dylan has, of late, been our home base in Amsterdam – and we know we’ll return there because we love it – but as we get to know Amsterdam better, we thought we should branch out and try something new. It’s always fun to explore different parts of a city.
Sir Adam is quite close to the historic center of town, but getting there requires a ferry ride from Amsterdam Centraal Station across the IJ River. How did that work out?
It was both amazingly convenient – running every 10 minutes or so 24 hours a day – and free. The ferries (two are typically running at any given time) shuttle thousands of pedestrians, bicycles, and other people-powered vehicles across the river each day on a ride that takes only a few minutes. Most of the passengers looked like locals. We loved studying their ferry-riding tactics and even picked up a tip or two for ourselves.
The hotel is housed in an iconic building in Amsterdam Noord that used to house the Royal Shell Laboratory (Shell Oil). What makes the building notable?
First, the building is a tower – 100 meters tall – so it’s a landmark on the banks of the IJ in what is a relatively low-slung city. It was designed in 1966 and originally called Toren Overhoeks (tower across the river). We have a love for concrete buildings, and this one is interesting because the tower is placed diagonally in relation to the substructure and the tower’s roof ornamentation.
After Shell sold the building to the municipality of Amsterdam and after a significant redesign and renovation, the tower re-opened in 2016 as A’DAM Tower; it is now home to Sir Adam; a handful of restaurants, bars, and nightclubs; an observation deck, featuring the “highest swing in Europe;” and the offices of music and creative companies, including Sony Music. The tower has a distinct personality, for sure.
The hotel is listed as one of Amsterdam’s best in several of our go-to resources, but we were both a little concerned that the vibe might be a bit too young and a bit too “party party.” Were those concerns borne out?
The hotel definitely caters to the younger crowd and strives to offer an experience, not just a hotel stay. For example, accessing the elevators requires a somewhat complicated interaction with a monitor that asks where we’re going (different than just swiping a room key). Once we figured that out, we were instructed to get in a particular elevator, which turned out to be the “karaoke elevator” (each one has a theme). When we arrived on our floor, we exited to a foyer and hallways painted black with very low mood lighting that made it somewhat difficult to navigate to our very sunlit room. What a contrast; our pupils had to make a quick adjustment. People were definitely partying all around us — from our room, we could see the entry an underground nightclub on the hotel’s plaza, which had lines to get in until the early morning hours – but we never felt too out of place or too old. Everyone at the hotel seemed happy to see us, even if we did look like their parents.
How would you describe the room?
The room was fun with an aesthetic that I might call “rock n’ roll chic.” On the wall hung a guitar; and alongside the mini bar, which featured the ingredients and instructions for a kopstoot, was a turntable with a handful of albums.
The highlight of the room was definitely the windows, which extended fully across two walls. We had a great view of the river and of Amsterdam Noord, and I loved sitting in the window seats and watching the never-ending (truly never-ending) activity down below.
As you well remember, I spent a lot of time offering ideas for what I would do if I ran the hotel. Inside the rooms, it was clear that the housekeeping staff were paying attention to the things people notice: smoothing the bedding, making sure the shower is sparkling, dusting the furniture surfaces. But our room – I’m guessing all rooms – could use some attention to detail. Dust had built up inside the electrical outlets, and the soap and lotion dispensers at the bathroom sink needed a good wipe down near the pumps. The painted trim along the floor and the doors were black, and anything black shows every nick and dent; sending a maintenance team around to regularly engage in deep cleaning and paint touch-ups would take the guest experience to the next level.
It’s quite possible that many guests don’t care about these details, but we’ve seen them done so well at other properties – we had just come from two in London: the Raffles OWO and Dorset Square (entry coming soon) – that it’s hard not to notice.
Are you glad we tried Sir Adam?
I am. It was fun to see the creative reuse of the Toren Overhoeks, and it was equally fun to experience a new part of a city we are getting to know better. Amsterdam Noord is worth spending some time in. We had dinner at three places we likely wouldn’t have found if we hadn’t been staying across the river from central Amsterdam, and we had a great walk through Noorderpark on our final morning after getting coffee and breakfast at a local place full of Amsterdammers; we even stumbled on the chalkmill d’Admiraal, the last remaining wind-powered chalk and trass mill in the world.
Stay details:
- Sir Adam Hotel, Amsterdam Noord
- 4-night stay: Feb. 5-9, 2026
- Sir Corner City View, #405
What we did, where we ate:
- Dinner at Taqueria Coba
- Drinks at The Butcher Social Club in the hotel
- Coffee at Sango Specialty Coffee
- Basilica of Saint Nicholas
- Oude Kerk and Minne Kersten exhibition: There’s Always Another Twist
- Soup at Soup en Zo
- Metamorfoses exhibit at the Rijksmuseum
- Stocking cap purchase at De 9 Heren (lovely conversation with proprietor who gifted us a bottle of wine from his home region of Maastricht)
- Beer and dinner at Oedipus Brewery in Amsterdam Noord
- Dinner at Restaurant Baracuda (robot server)
- Excursion to Haarlem (20 minutes outside Amsterdam via train)
- Brunch at Hare of the Dog
- Haarlem walking tour:
- Grote Markt
- St. Bavo Church
- Bakenessergracht Canal and Hofje van Bakenes
- ABC Architectuurcentram Haarlem exhibit
- Peek in courtyard at Frans Hall Museum
- Cookie at Good Bear
- Haarlem train station
- Dinner at Cafe Verlan
- Breakfast at Cafe Keppler
- Walk through Noorderpark to chalkmill d’Admiraal,
- Tour of the Royal Palace
- Earrings purchase at SAS Design
- Drinks at Hotel Pulitzer
hotelling.org 