5

Airbnb Art House in Amsterdam

I’ve written quite a bit about my last Amsterdam trip lately – about the street art, the Saturday farmer’s market and a relaxing afternoon in Vondelpark – but I haven’t told you where we stayed yet.

P1010293

Depending on the city, Airbnb has become one of my new favourite options for finding accommodation.

P1010292

You stay in the home of a local (they usually are not there except to give you the keys) so you end up with a much more genuine experience of the culture.

P1010290

Many times you will find that your host will give you great advice on the area – where to eat or explore – that you wouldn’t have found on your own.

P1010279

In Amsterdam, Leslie, Carolina and I set up camp for a long weekend at the Art House B&B on Zandstraat, right in the centre of the city, within the inner canal ring.

P1010280

Turned out we made a great choice.

P1010277

It was clean.

P1010276

It was bright.

P1010274

It had the right mix of eccentricity and convenient location.

P1010272

It also had two lovely cats who made our weekend and who enjoyed our lavish attention.

Screen Shot 2013-09-14 at 09.43.35

The house is spacious and airy, a converted warehouse style building.

P1010271

There are huge glass windows at the front.

P1010270

The cats hang out downstairs and greet you when you leave for the day.

P1010269

We were woken early each morning by the sound of church bells next door, which wasn’t ideal, but it got us up and moving pretty early!

P1010256

Ray was a great host and gave us some suggestions on places to go.

P1010254

In this case, the host lived there, but he stayed in a separate part of the house from where our rooms were.

P1010250

And that was fine because it was a huge place!

P1010245

He even brought up tea and some snacks one of the nights we were there.

P1010253

He did play classical music loudly throughout the house all day, which could have been a bit much if we were there a lot, but we were mostly out and about.

P1010240

The music added to that slightly eerie art house atmosphere.

P1010239

The best part of the the experience was Ray’s eccentric art collection which he has gathered from a variety of places.

P1010238

There were nods to all different religions – Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism and others.

P1010237

That was mixed with erotic sculptures and other decor with an element of sexuality.

P1010236

It had a modern feel with a gothic twist.

P1010232

Some of the decor would have suited a medieval castle.

P1010235

We walked up a winding staircase to get to our rooms.

P1010230

All in all, it was a really fun place to stay – very different from anywhere I’ve stayed before and way more interesting, quirky and creative than a hotel.

P1010228

I think all of us would agree that we’d stay there again.

Let me know your favourite place to stay in Amsterdam in a comment or if you have a great Airbnb recommendation in any other city!

 

You Might Also Like

5 Comments

  • Reply
    Maryam @ www.softandcosy.com
    September 14, 2013 at 1:36 pm

    Trying to convince my husband to try Airbnb when we’re in California next month but he’s having none of it!! Will have to keep working on it cos its clearly worth it!!

    • Reply
      littleobservationist
      September 14, 2013 at 1:47 pm

      Yea, it’s definitely worth it! I’ll be using it again in Boston in October. You can find some real gems and most of the time it’s cheaper than a hotel. We did it in NYC as well and had a really great experience there. Where are you going in CA?

  • Reply
    Leslie
    September 14, 2013 at 2:38 pm

    It was a wonderful stay; I can’t wait to go back! It’s now my 3rd favorite place in the world behind London and pretty much all of Austria. Great job in detailing the house, and love the cats! They were so friendly. Oh…and love the pirate affection I was sending out. 🙂

    • Reply
      littleobservationist
      September 14, 2013 at 6:34 pm

      Yea, it was great! The cats especially. Amsterdam is without a doubt one of my favourite places in the world too 🙂

  • Reply
    The Platine in Paris: A Marilyn Monroe Themed Hotel | Little ObservationistLittle Observationist
    September 25, 2013 at 11:01 am

    […] we travel, we try to avoid boring chain hotels and seek out the quirkier places to stay. Airbnb has a lot of fun options, but sometimes there are boutique hotels that win over the local apartment […]

  • Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.