Netherlands: Amsterdam – Sweets Hotel

September 20, 2019
Unique Lodging
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🌉 Sleeping in a Bridge House — Amsterdam’s Sweets Hotel

After two rather splendid nights in a converted tramcar at the Hotel Not Hotel, I decided it was time to move on. Well, I say “decided” — the truth is they wouldn’t have me back for a third night. The place only does two nights, so the choice was, shall we say, somewhat made for me. Still, I was genuinely glad of the push to try somewhere new.

I’d been toying with the idea of staying on a houseboat. Amsterdam has around 2,500 of them moored along its 165 kilometres of canals, and every guidebook tells you it’s something you absolutely must do. Which is all very well until you see the prices, at which point the romance evaporates rather sharply. So I did what any sensible Englishman does when confronted with something wonderful that costs a fortune — I found a cheaper alternative and convinced myself it was better.

🏠 28 Rooms, 28 Bridges, One Very Clever Idea

What I found was a bridge house on the canal, run by Sweets Hotel. The concept is gloriously bonkers: 28 former Amsterdam municipal bridge houses — little operational cabins that once housed the bridge-keepers who manually operated the city’s drawbridges — converted into individual hotel rooms, each one sitting on a different canal bridge, scattered across the city. Amsterdam began automating its bridges in earnest from the 1990s onwards, leaving these handsome little structures redundant. Sweets Hotel, which opened in 2018, had the inspired idea of turning them into boutique accommodation. Collectively, they function as a single hotel, albeit one spread across a sizeable chunk of the city.

📱 There’s an App for That (Obviously)

As you might imagine, running a reception desk for 28 rooms distributed across several square kilometres would present something of a logistical challenge. The solution, as it invariably is these days, is technology. There is, of course, an app. The whole thing runs via Bluetooth, which worked perfectly well once you’d got it connected — and getting it connected required an Internet connection, which our particular bridge house was a little shy about providing. This did cause us a moment of mild panic, standing on a canal bridge in Amsterdam at dusk with our bags, unable to get in. The solution, as it so often is in the Netherlands, turned out to involve a nearby bar. A quick trip, a connection found, and we were in. Sometimes the old ways are best.

🛏️ Compact, Cosy, and Surprisingly Complete

The bridge house was small. And when I say small, I mean genuinely, authentically, eye-wateringly small. These weren’t originally designed as living spaces, of course — they were working cabins built by the Amsterdam municipality from the late 19th century onwards, just large enough to house a bridge-keeper and whatever levers and wheels were needed to haul a drawbridge up and down. Nobody was thinking about wardrobe space or a generous bathroom when they put these things up.

🚿 The Ensuite — Bless Its Compact Little Heart

There was an ensuite bathroom, which was both a relief and an achievement. Calling it compact would be generous — it was the kind of space where you needed a clear plan of action before going in. Pivot left, don’t drop the soap, try not to bang your elbow. You know the sort of thing. But it worked, it was clean, and frankly after a day tramping around Amsterdam’s cobbled streets and bridges, you’re not looking for a spa. You’re looking for a hot shower and somewhere to sit down.

😴 The Bed — The One Thing That Mattered Most

What saved everything — and I mean this without a trace of sarcasm — was the bed. It was, rather wonderfully, amazingly comfortable. For a one-night stay, that is really the only thing that counts. You can forgive a great deal of spatial inconvenience when you sleep like the dead. And we did.

🎒 The Earnest Traveller’s Checklist

Everything you actually needed was there — the bridge house was well equipped in that quietly efficient Dutch way. The Dutch, it’s worth noting, have a long tradition of making excellent use of very small spaces. They’ve been building tall, narrow canal houses since the 17th century precisely because land was expensive and every square metre had to earn its keep. That same sensibility carries through to Sweets Hotel. This is tiny living done properly: everything has its place, nothing is wasted, and it all makes perfect sense once you stop expecting it to be a Premier Inn.

The one piece of advice I’d offer any prospective guest is this — travel light. Seriously. Leave the enormous wheelie case at home. A weekend bag, perhaps two if you’re feeling optimistic. Any more than that and you’ll spend half your stay performing an elaborate luggage Tetris that no one needs.

🌳 Vondelpark — Amsterdam’s Green Lungs

Just a short stroll from the bridge house sits Vondelpark, the largest city park in Amsterdam and almost certainly the most famous patch of green in the entire Netherlands. It covers around 47 hectares and has been a beloved fixture of Amsterdam life since it opened in 1865, originally as a rather genteel private park for the city’s well-heeled residents before it was handed over to the public in 1953. These days it gets around 10 million visitors a year, which rather tells you something.

🚲 Walk at Your Peril

It is absolutely worth exploring, but go in with your eyes open — the place is substantial. The sensible option, and the one taken by roughly everyone else, is to hire a bike and join the great Amsterdam cycling circus. We, naturally, decided to walk it. This was fine in the way that standing in the rain without an umbrella is fine — technically survivable, but not entirely recommended. The paths are a constant stream of cyclists who treat pedestrians with the same mild contempt that Amsterdam cyclists reserve for, well, everyone who isn’t on a bike. Stick to the grass. Seriously. The grass is your friend.

🏡 Porsches, Privet Hedges and Proper Money

The real hidden pleasure, though, is what lies just beyond the park’s edges. The residential streets surrounding Vondelpark — particularly around the Apollobuurt and Oud-Zuid neighbourhoods — contain some of the most expensive and elegant houses in Amsterdam. These are the kinds of streets where the gardens are immaculate, the brickwork is original Victorian Dutch, and the cars parked along the kerb read like a brochure for Stuttgart and Maranello. Rows of Porsches, Mercedes and the occasional Ferrari sit there with the quiet confidence of things that cost more than most people’s houses. Worth a wander, even if only to feel briefly and pleasantly inadequate.

🍺 Gent aan de Schinkel — Dinner Across the Bridge

When it came to finding somewhere to eat and drink, we didn’t have to look far. Literally across the street from our bridge house sat Gent aan de Schinkel, which is either a very convenient coincidence or the universe finally doing us a favour for once.

The place has a covered outdoor terrace — properly covered, not that optimistic Dutch kind where someone has balanced a parasol over a picnic table and called it al fresco dining. We sat outside during what can only be described as a determined Amsterdam shower and remained entirely dry. The beer was excellent, which in the Netherlands is more or less a legal requirement.

🌉 The Noisiest Neighbour We Never Expected

The menu ran to solid, traditional Dutch fare — the sort of hearty, no-nonsense food that makes perfect sense in a country where the weather is frequently trying to kill your spirits. They were also, pleasingly, very happy to veganise one of the vegetarian options especially for us, which was genuinely kind rather than the usual theatrical sighing you sometimes get in restaurants when you mention dietary preferences. It was absolutely delicious. What it was called, I couldn’t tell you — Dutch is one of those languages that looks like someone sat on a German keyboard and went with it.

As for noise, the bar itself was lively but we barely heard a peep from it inside the bridge house. What did keep us entertained — and occasionally startled — was the bridge right next to us cranking itself up and down throughout the evening to let boats pass through the canal below. Magnificent, in a slightly alarming sort of way.

SWEETS Hotel, Amsterdam

SWEETS hotel is a genuinely original concept — 28 former bridge keeper’s houses scattered across Amsterdam, each converted into a self-contained one-bedroom suite for two. The bridge houses date back to the 17th century and were originally used to operate the city’s canal bridges. Since 2017, they have been individually redesigned as hotel suites, each one different in layout, size and setting. Some sit in the middle of busy intersections, others overlook quiet residential lakes. All have canal views. Inside, expect modern interiors, free Wi-Fi, air conditioning, an espresso machine and a comfortable bed. Check-in is handled via a mobile app. Note that all guests must be aged 21 or over, and the houses are not wheelchair accessible.

Planning Your Stay

Location: 28 bridge houses across Amsterdam (central booking address: Veemarkt 173, 1019 CG Amsterdam)
Website: sweetshotel.amsterdam
Telephone: +31 (0)20 740 1010
Approximate cost: From around €125–€150 per night (low season); up to €240+ in high season. Optional breakfast is available at an extra charge.