Good Hotel — Amsterdam, Netherlands

Seating area featuring simplistic furniture, pale flooring and dark walls with photographic artwork
(Image credit: TBC)

With social sustainability a hot topic on the agenda of innovative hospitality concepts, Good Hospitality Group in Amsterdam proves that a satisfactory night’s sleep can be combined with acts of kindness. The non-profit organisation, launched by Dutch entrepreneur Marten Dresen in 2012, has just put Good Hotel, their very first initiative, to sea. Moored on the IJ waterway less than a kilometre from Amsterdam central station, the lodgings are built on a repurposed pontoon. Although designed by art director Remko Verhaagen and designer Sikko Valk, the hotel – a real looker – is much more than just another pretty design property. During the course of the year, one hundred long-term unemployed locals will be given the chance to receive extensive training in the hospitality sector, upon which they are then offered a three-month employment contract at the hotel. 

After an inaugural 12 months in the city, the vessel will voyage across the Atlantic to its final destination in Rio de Janeiro, where it will open permanently in time for the 2016 Olympics. While next year, the group sets its sights on Antigua in Guatemala, where a 35-room property will provide training for graduates of the Niños de Guatemala school.

Grey room separator with industrial-style shelving, looking through to the seating area

(Image credit: TBC)

A view along the wooden dining table with hanging lightbulbs and artwork

(Image credit: TBC)

Alternative view of the dining table, with wooden slats and copper lights

(Image credit: TBC)

Seating area with pale sofa, wooden coffee tables, dark walls, and photographic artwork

(Image credit: TBC)

A view of the bar with cream tiles and a wooden bar top, wooden stools and exposed pipework and cables on the ceiling

(Image credit: TBC)

Alternative view of the bar

(Image credit: TBC)

Reception area with metal, geometric counter and "Good Hotel" on the wall behind

(Image credit: TBC)

Bedroom in neutral tones and with a striped fawn and white throw, metal and wood shelving unit, and pale floor

(Image credit: TBC)

ADDRESS

Westerdoksdijk 38

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