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Rodney Bolt

Our resident expert selects the best hotels for canal views, sumptuous cuisine and superb cocktails

between two major canals. It is a delightful warren of passages, stairways and sudden open spaces, with many an original feature intact. Staff are polite without being gushy. Many rooms have fine canal views, modern art and cheeky touches (such as an archway built of books). In the restaurants, the cooking is full of quiet surprises (roast cauliflower and wild mushrooms, with hidden flavours of lemon and sweet pine nuts).

W Amsterdam

W, housed in an erstwhile telephone exchange building, brings a touch of New York pizzazz and snap-to-it service to Amsterdam. Sparky staff are on the ball. Rooms are fairly spacious, with high ceilings, large mirrors and open-plan bathrooms. Espresso machines, iPod docks and large TVs are standard. Breakfast in Mr Porter steakhouse on the top floor of the Exchange is a hot contender for the very best in town, with imaginative salads offered alongside the customary buffet. The rooftop lounge bar is your spot for wickedly adventurous cocktails. It’s located on the outskirts of the city, but has excellent proximity to the business district. Interiors are uncluttered with subtle nods to Japanese design. Staff are unobtrusive yet wonderfully efficient. The Nagomi Spa features a traditional Japanese indoor garden and a pool. Rooms feature Japanese-style toilets, remote-control blackout curtains and inbathroom TVs. Between the five restaurants at the Okura, the hotel holds four Michelin stars. Breakfast, although pricey, is a magnificent buffet spread. An Amsterdam landmark, which began with a coffee shop in the 1860s, and expanded in fits and starts through various buildings to form a grand hotel on the city’s main square. The interiors have art deco overtones. The hotel runs like a well-oiled machine. Minimalist rooms have espresso machines and docking stations. A light and spacious 19th-century Winter Garden is the setting for a substantial breakfast buffet each day. The café and brasserie is popular for its sinfully delicious cakes.