Pulitzer Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Soon, the dust covers will come off the Pulitzer Amsterdam’s first stage of restoration and renovation. The project to repackage the former 45 year-old Hotel Pulitzer is an immense one involving the careful peel, nip and tuck of twenty-five 400-year old canal houses along the Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht canals. When fully open, the hotel will have 225 guest rooms. 

Taking his cues from the storied past of the buildings, the hotel’s creative director Jacu Strauss parlays his years as Tom Dixon’s senior designer to incorporate original canal house elements such as ceiling beams and fireplaces mixed with vintage writer’s desks, headboards that reflect the gables of the canal houses, Persian rugs and crystal bead chandeliers, and modern pieces by local designers such as Anouk Beerents and Piet Hein Eek. ‘Each canal house has its own story to tell,’ he says.

For now, 80 rooms – kitted out with Le Labo amenities and, this being Amsterdam, a bike repair set – are being prepped for their close-up alongside the bar and restaurant. If nothing else, the hotel makes the most of its proximity to Amsterdam’s main sights including Nine Street, Jordaan, the Rijksmuseum and Anne Frank’s house.