by Santorini Dave • Updated: November 26, 2018
Hotel Okura – Contemporary 5-star hotel in southern De Pijp, with some of the city’s best dining.
This 23-storey, Japanese-owned 5-star hotel is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World. With marble floors, Japanese design motifs, ample use of natural wood, and plenty of natural light, Okura is luxurious minimalism personified. The 300 rooms come in neutral shades with king-sized beds, wooden work desks, and Nespresso machines; many have lofty views, too – a rarity in low-lying Amsterdam. Spacious, luxurious bathrooms have walk-in rain showers, free-standing tubs, and Fragonard toiletries. Food-wise, Okura has more Michelin stars under one roof than any other Amsterdam hotel, and there’s an excellent on-site spa to boot. Service is professional, multi-lingual, and unobtrusive.
Hotel Okura – Location
- Address: Ferdinand Bolstraat 333, 1072 LH Amsterdam.
- Nearest Tram: Cornelis Troostplein.
- Area: Serene waterfront location facing the Amstelkanaal that marks the southern border of the hip De Pijp neighbourhood. The nearest tram stop is a 3-minute walk away; the Museum Quarter is a 12-minute ride away by tram, as is the Southern Canal Ring. De Pijp is a compact, walkable neighborhood, with numerous bars, restaurants, and independent boutiques a short walk away from the hotel.
- How to Get There: Take the train from Schiphol Airport to Centraal Station, then tram #25 to Cornelis Troostplein stop. Okura is a 3-minute walk away.
- Handy to: Albert Cuyp Market, Heineken Experience, De Pijp cafes, and boutiques.
Hotel Okura – The Basics
- Ages: There’s a grown-up feel to the hotel, and most guests tend to be couples on a romantic break or honeymoon, and business travelers, but children are also made to feel welcome. Twenty Third Bar is 18+.
- View: Good city views from the large windows in the rooms, and lofty panoramic views of Amsterdam from the Twenty Third Bar and Ciel Bleu restaurant.
- Private Pools/Jacuzzis: Jacuzzi access available at extra charge.
- Laundry: In-room laundry service.
- Parking: Parking available onsite; €40 per day.
- Extras: There are personal trainers in attendance at the gym; the staff can organize quirky, personalized tours of the city; rooms come with remote-control blackout curtains, and Japanese-style multi-function toilets.
- When to Book: Reserve 3 or 4 months in advance for the mid-March to mid-May tulip season, the July and August high season, and the Christmas-New Year period.
- How to Book: Booking.com will have the best rates.
- Phone: 020-678-7111
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.okura.nl/en/
Hotel Okura – Amenities
- Pool: There’s a large indoor pool with adjoining Japanese-style garden.
- Spa: The Japanese-influenced Nagomi Spa is among the best in the city, offering an impressive selection of facials, massages, treatments, manicures, and pedicures.
- Fitness Center: Fitness center with personal trainers.
- For Disabled Guests: One room adapted for wheelchair users.
- For Families: Baby cots available, and babysitting can be arranged on request.
- Activities: The on-site Taste of Okura cooking studio teaches guests to prepare their own Michelin star-worthy dishes.
Hotel Okura – Food and Drink
- Restaurants: There are 4 restaurants onsite with 4 Michelin stars between them. Two-Michelin-star Ciel Bleu (6:30pm-10pm, Monday to Saturday) is located on the 23rd floor, with grand panoramic views and seasonal, French-inspired fine dining. Elegant decor; reservations essential. • $$$$ • At One-Michelin-star Teppanyaki Restaurant Sazanka (6:30pm-10pm), diners get to watch their food expertly grilled on a hot plate in front of them. • $$$ • One-Michelin-star Yamazato (6pm-9:30pm Mon-Fri, noon-2pm Sat & Sun) offers seasonal kaiseki cuisine. • $$$$ • On the ground floor, the informal Serre Restaurant (10am-10pm) is a good spot for a coffee, burger, or light international fare, such as ceviche and goat cheese ravioli • $$.
- Lounge/Bar: Twenty Third Bar is a hip evening nightspot, with stellar cocktails, snacks from the Michelin-starred kitchen of Ciel Bleu, and panoramic city views. Open daily until 1am. The art deco Lobby Bar serves over 60 different cocktails, as well as light bites.
- Breakfast: Not complimentary. Extensive breakfast buffet available from 8am-11am in La Camelia; €29.50 per person.
- Room Service: Available from Serre Restaurant around the clock.
Hotel Okura – Rooms
- Room Types: Superior • Superior City View • Executive • Executive City View • Superior Junior Suite • Superior City View Junior Suite • Executive Junior Suite • Executive City View Junior Suite • Executive Corner Suite • Emerald Suite • Royal Suite • Baron Okura Suite • Presidential Suite • Imperial Suite
- Smoking Rooms: Hotel Okura is 100% smoke-free.
- Best Room: The 2-story Imperial Suite features a private cinema, tremendous panoramic city views from its location on the 17th and 18th floors, an anonymous private entrance (if you happen to be a privacy-seeking celebrity), free-standing baths in the bathrooms, and a state-of-the-art gaming system.
- For Families: Family rooms available.
Hotel Okura – Local Transport
- Walking: Albert Cuyp Market is an 11-minute walk, the Heineken Experience is 14 minutes away, and numerous cafes, restaurants, bars and independent boutiques are within a 10 to 15-minute radius of the hotel. Walkable to the Museum Quarter and the historic canal ring.
- Tram: From the nearby Cornelis Troostplein stop, tram #26 runs north to Centraal Station via the Medieval Centre, while tram #12 runs west to Museumplein.
- Taxis, Uber: Taxis and Uber charge around €35 from the airport to the hotel. Within the city, Uber rides cost around half of taxi fares. It’s often quicker to walk, cycle, or jump on a tram.
Hotel Okura – What’s Nearby?
Recommended Nearby Tours
- Boaty – Drive your own boat along peaceful Amstelcanal before hitting the busy waterways of central Amsterdam. No prior experience necessary. Start location: 2-minute walk.
- Ajax Bike – 3-hour cycling tours of De Pijp, central Amsterdam, and the countryside. Customized tours possible, and bicycles available for rent. Start location: 15-minute walk.
Best Nearby Restaurants and Cafes
- Stroom in De Pijp – Trendy, industrial-style café with a large outdoor terrace, packed on sunny days. Wholesome brunches, great coffee, imaginative salads, and good service. 3-minute walk.
- Omelegg – A couple dozen omelette combos, shakshuka, scrambled eggs, and sandwiches. Inexpensive and filling. 4-minute walk.
- Volt – Tapas-style bites and Mediterranean mains, such as pasta dishes and chorizo-stuffed squid. 4-minute walk.
- CT Coffee & Coconuts – Triple-level former art deco cinema turned popular brunch spot. Light, globally-inspired dishes the rest of the day. 5-minute walk.
- Sir Hummus – De Pijp branch of this homage-to-the-chickpea café. Choose the size of your hummus bowl, and pile on the toppings, from spicy aubergine to roasted pine nuts. 6-minute walk.
- Par Hasard – Arguably the best Belgian fries in the city, along with a supporting case of ribs, steaks, and burgers. 7-minute walk.
- SLA – Flagship branch of Amsterdam’s wildly popular hipster salad bar. Organic wines and smoothies too. 8-minute walk.
- Surya – One of the most consistent Indian restaurants in town, with a good mix of Madras and vindaloo curries, tandoori dishes, and plenty of vegetarian options. 8-minute walk.
- Scandianavian Embassy – Minimalist surroundings, coffee sourced from Scandinavian micro-roasteries, plus Scandinavian snacks. 9-minute walk.
Best Nearby Bars and Breweries
- Brouwerij Troost – Superb craft brewery with a dozen own beers, brewed in copper vats here. Excellent bar food. 3-minute walk.
- Glou Glou – Jovial wine bar with over 40 French wines by the glass, as well as numerous organic wines. 7-minute walk.
- Café Gollem – Dedicated craft beer bar, serving numerous local brews, as well as over 200 bottled beers from around the world. Special tastings often held with participation of local brewers. 11-minute walk.
- Café Binnen Buiten – Cozy, wood-paneled bar, lots of seasonal and draft beers to choose from, and an idyllic canal-side terrace for sunny afternoons. 12-minute walk.
Nearby Shopping and Cool Shops
- O My Bag – Stylish leather bags and accessories for men and women, from purses and clutch bags to satchels, wallets, laptop covers, and travel bags. 7-minute walk.
- Cottoncake – Women’s apparel, from vintage biker boots and Sita Murt knits to handcrafted Monocrafft jewelry and Samsoe jackets. In-store café serves great espresso and all-day breakfasts. 10-minute walk.
- The Girl Can’t Help It – Stylish, 50’s-inspired ladies’ fashion from dresses and trench coats to tops and skirts. 11-minute walk.
- Anna & Nina – Eclectic earrings, accessories, clothing, and interior design that reflects the nomad-like travels of the store’s owners. 11-minute walk.
- Charlie + Mary – Sustainable, environmentally-friendly clothing design by Charlie + Mary, and brands such as Qnoop, Dedicated, People Tree, and Nulla Nomen. 11-minute walk.
- Record Mania – Old-school vinyl shop with records embedded in the floor, and numerous rare recordings by the likes of the Beatles, Johnny Cash, and Eric Clapton. 11-minute walk.
- Blond – Fun and colorful plates, mugs, and other kitchenware, with fun designs (beach scenes, cakes, blondes) courtesy of the shop’s blond owners. 11-minute walk.
- Brick Lane Amsterdam – Relaxed boutique specializing in individual, London-inspired designs. 11-minute walk.
Nearby Market or Grocery
- Albert Cuyp Market – 3 blocks of street stalls, including numerous stalls selling fresh produce, inexpensive streetwear, and furry clogs, and a few specializing in traditional Dutch edibles, such as raw herring and stroopwafel. 11-minute walk.
Hotel Okura – The Hotel
The hotel lobby has comfortable seating areas.
An extensive breakfast buffet is served from 8am to 11am in La Camelia.
The Lobby Bar serves over 60 different cocktails, as well as nibbles.
The Twenty Third Bar on the 23rd floor is renowned both for its panoramic city views, and its cocktails. Popular with guests and Amsterdammers.
Since Amsterdam has few genuinely tall buildings, the city views from Twenty Third Bar are among the city’s loftiest and best.
The two-Michelin-star Ciel Bleu restaurant combines panoramic city views with fine, French-inspired cuisine. Dinner only. Reservations essential.
Michelin-starred Yamazato offers seasonal kaiseki cuisine in minimalist surroundings.
Watch your food cooked in front of you at the Michelin-starred Teppanyaki Restaurant Sazanka.
Open all day, Serre Restaurant serves casual brasserie fare such as burgers and ceviche.
The garden area is particularly pleasant when spring flowers are in bloom.
There’s a large indoor pool with an adjoining Japanese-style garden, open from 7am to 10pm.
The award-winning Nagomi spa (also open from 7am to 10pm) is among Amsterdam’s best, with a full range of massages and beauty treatments.
The smallest of the rooms, Superior rooms are still spacious by Amsterdam’s standards and comfortable, with rain showers in the bathrooms, and Nespresso machines.
Superior City View rooms offer excellent panoramic views of the city.
Executive rooms come with desks, and are popular with business travelers.
Panoramic views of Amsterdam are a feature of all Executive City View rooms.
Superior Junior Suites come either with or without panoramic city views. Shy guests, take note: glass-walled bathrooms are a feature in all the rooms and suites.
Executive Junior Suites benefit from a spacious work/study area and fine details, such as heated mirrors in the bathroom.
One of several bathrooms in the sumptuous Imperial Suite, which also comes with private cinema, and mini-gym.
The Royal Suite bedroom features an oversized Eastborn bed, and premium drinks in crystal carafes in the minibar.
A spacious, well-appointed living area, and panoramic views of Amsterdam are just some of the features of the Emerald Suite.
The palatial Presidential Suite offers fine panoramic views of the city from its location on the 21st floor.
The hotel overlooks the tranquil Amstelkanaal. Nearby, it’s possible to rent your own little canal boat from Boaty.
Since Okura is right on the edge of De Pijp, and many of the neighborhood’s restaurants and boutiques are further north, you can either walk or take the tram up Ferdinand Bolstraat. Nearby is Brouwerij Troost, one of Amsterdam’s most celebrated craft breweries, with the beers brewed onsite in copper vats.
Just north is Stroom, an industrial-style brunch and salad spot with a super-popular outdoor terrace.
A little further up the street is Volt, popular for its Mediterranean-style tapas and mains. Limited outdoor seating.
Kittycorner to Volt is Omelegg, one of De Pijp’s many popular brunch joints where the speciality is eggs – a couple dozen omelettes, shakshuka, and more.
A couple of blocks north, where Ferdinand Bolstraat meets Ceintuurbaan, you reach CT Coffee & Coconuts, one of several terrific brunch spots in De Pijp.
Heading east along tree-lined Ceuntuurbaan from CT Coffee & Coconut, you pass O My Bag, a high-end leather goods boutique.
A couple of doors down is Par Hasard; many Amsterdammers swear by their Belgian fries.
Also nearby is Surya, a reliable Indian restaurant that’s been a neighborhood fixture for years.
Next door to Surya is SLA, a very popular but pricey hipster salad bar that serves organic wines to boot.
If you head south once you reach the southwest corner of Sarphatipark, you come across Glou Glou, a buzzy little wine bar with over 40 French wines by the glass; get here early on weekends to grab a seat.
If you turn the corner north instead, you pass Scandinavian Embassy, one of the neighborhood’s best coffee shops (and there’s quite some competition), with beans sourced from Scandinavian micro-roasteries. Limited seating.
Half a block north, past Sarphatipark, Cottoncake is one of many independent boutiques in the neighborhood; it sells handpicked women’s apparel and jewelry, and you can grab an espresso here as well.
Many independent boutiques are concentrated along Gerard Doustraat, including The Girl Can’t Help It – 50’s-inspired ladies’ fashion.
A few doors down, Brick Lane is all about London-inspired designs.
A little further east is Charlie + Mary, selling sustainable, environmentally friendly designer clothing.
Also nearby is a branch of Anna + Nina, with clothing, homewares, and jewelry reflecting the global travels of the designers.
Also along the street is Blond, cute kitchenware with fun, blond-themed designs that makes a great gift.
A block north of Gerard Doustraat is Café Gollem, one of the neighborhood’s many bars. It’s terrific for locally brewed craft beers, with over 200 bottled brews from around the world as well.
A block south of Gerard Doustraat is Albert Cuypmarkt, an outdoor street market where you can buy anything from furry clogs and knock-off designer gear to fresh fruit.
It’s worth stopping by the herring stall to sample the very Dutch snack of raw herring with pickles.
Raw herring with pickles.
If you have a sweet tooth, it’s also worth visiting the stroopwafel stall.
You can choose from stroopwafel with or without chocolate. Prepare to make a mess.
Head west and you hit Ferdinand Bolstraat again. Record Mania is a worthwhile stop if you’re looking for rare Beatles or Johnny Cash on vinyl.
If you follow the tram tracks in a southwestern direction to the Boerenwetering canal, Café Binnen Buiten is another beer aficionado favorite, with lots of seasonal brews and draft beers; choose between the wood-paneled interior or the canal-side outdoor terrace.