From budget-friendly spots to smart canalside residences, these are the best places to stay when you have the gang in tow
Rodney Bolt Destination Expert
Rodney Bolt is an author, travel writer and hotel expert who has lived in Amsterdam for more than 30 years. He writes or contributes to scores of guidebooks, including for Cadogan, Fodors and Time Out, and articles for Condé Nast Traveller, inflight magazines and national newspapers globally. He co-authors the Peter Posthumus crime mysteries, all set in Amsterdam. He can be contacted at: rodney.bolt@telegraph.co.uk.
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Amsterdam, the pint-sized capital of the country with the happiest children in the world, is a great fit for families. Its small scale means you can walk almost anywhere in the centre, even on little legs, and often along canals lined with natty gabled houses. Alternatively, you can bike about town (separately, or piled into a cargo bike), rattle about in trams, or take to the canals in rented boats. Museums have imaginative programmes for children (and helpers invariably speak English); cafés are usually child-friendly, and there are parks and playgrounds aplenty.
The challenging sights of the red-light district are easily skirted, especially if you stick to the historic canal area and hip surrounding neighbourhoods. So, see an old windmill, visit celebrity mice, go hands-on in a museum, or take a swing high above the city – it’s all here. From no-frills hostels to smart canalside hotels, here are the best family-friendly spots to settle in at.
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All our reviewers are either resident destination experts or travel writers that specialise in hotels. Often they will have stayed at a hotel many times and so can see how it has changed for better or worse over the years. They know what makes a great hotel in that particular destination and will compare it contextually against local competition. When our reviewers first visit a hotel, they stay for at least one night, eat one meal in addition to breakfast and will experience all of the facilities on offer. Whichever category of room they stay in, they will see the entry-level rooms in order to assess them.
After their stay, our reviewers then give the hotel six scores out of 10, rating its location, style and character, service and facilities, rooms, food and drink, and value for money. The average of these scores then determines the overall score. Our experts then select reviews for curated lists like this – the best hotels in a particular destination for families, for instance – together with the Telegraph Hotels team.
This is a budget hotel with boutique style and seriously good green credentials. You can expect a warm, welcoming atmosphere, delightfully imaginative design and good food. It’s run with a creativity of thought that puts it in a category of its own and plenty of facilities for guests to enjoy, from bikes for hire and board games to a book exchange and activity evenings (film nights and family-style dinners cooked by a staff member). Other family-friendly touches include a large kitchen for guests to cook their own meals in, plus a Family room that comes with a fold-out couch for the little ones. A sturdy buggy is also available to borrow.
Beds from £ 154
per night
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Pulitzer Amsterdam sits just five minutes' walk from the Anne Frank House and only two or three more to the Royal Palace on the Dam. It is a delightful warren of passages, stairways, leaf-laden garden courtyards, original panelling and little bursts of stucco, but with a fresh, contemporary atmosphere. Zany design touches (many referencing Amsterdam and its past) delight at every turn, and staff are polite and friendly without being gushy. There are a number of family suites with multiple bedrooms, and 30 interconnecting rooms. A "Very Important Kids" programme offers gifts on arrival, bedtime stories, an immersive treasure hunt, travel diaries for older children and more.
From £ 580
per night
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A relaxed, low-key hotel housed in adjacent villas, decorated in a refreshing contemporary style, in the well-to-do Oud Zuid neighbourhood within easy reach of the main museums. Some original features, such as the marble entrance hall, remain intact, though a downstairs lounge-cum-reception area gets a quietly contemporary touch, with chairs from Danish designers HAY. Staff are exceptionally friendly and welcoming, creating a home-from-home atmosphere and there are a number of large family rooms (triple rooms, two with kitchenettes), some with access to a small garden area. Baby cots are available for free, and extra beds (for certain rooms only; check first) for €35 (£30).
From £ 67
per night
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The best boutique hotels in Amsterdam
Stylish design, soothing colours and friendly service add up to a contemporary yet cosy atmosphere at Hotel V Fizeaustraat. The entry-level "comfort" rooms are amply sized, so you’re not constantly dodging each other or tripping over your luggage, while higher-grade rooms are spacious and come with sofas and easy chairs. Staff are well-informed and friendly, and since the hotel is a little out-of-the-way, the top-quality, not-too-pricey restaurant is a welcome addition (high chairs are available for little ones). Breakfast in The Lobby restaurant is particularly good – an extensive à la carte menu provides such classics as eggs Benedict, and there are sweet treats too: chocolate croissants and American pancakes with all manner of fillings.
From £ 181
per night
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This is the most centrally located of the Amsterdam citizenMs, on a busy street (but reposing quietly behind triple-glazing) a few minutes’ walk from the Amstel river. You step in off a busy street to a reposeful lounge-cum-workspace-cum-café-bar-and-dining area where brightly coloured chairs and sofas abound in sociable clusters, interspersed with funky artwork. The young staff are chatty, upbeat and helpful, bicycles are free to borrow (on a first-come-first-serve basis) and drinks and meals are available from the bar 24/7. Four rooms have single rooms alongside, and have a communal hallway and dedicated entrance door, meaning they can be used as family spaces.
From £ 190
per night
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The best canal hotels in Amsterdam
A simple hotel in an old Amsterdam house close to De Pijp and the main museums. Hotel Dwars offers no services (not even breakfast or a reception desk), but for families simply wanting a clean room and convenient location, it is an affordable option. There are four triple rooms (uncommon in Amsterdam), cots can be provided, and children are made to feel welcome. The owner lives just around the corner, and she or another staff member is contactable by mobile phone during waking hours. There’s a notice board with local café recommendations, and staff can help with practical information, such as where to find laundry facilities.
From £ 143
per night
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How to have a great weekend in Amsterdam
A waterside apartment-hotel in the Western Docklands, offering uninterrupted views across the water and over to the prickling skyline of Amsterdam North. Terracotta-coloured walls, wooden floors and plenty of 1950s retro furniture create a comforting air that makes you feel immediately at home, while carrying a little designer zing. The studio, one- and two-bedroomed apartments feature Auping mattresses for blissful slumbers, bathrooms with both rainwater and hand-held showers, and well-equipped kitchenettes. One of Amsterdam’s most talented and maverick chefs, Ricardo van Ede, is behind the cuisine here, and although it's a bit of a distance from the historical Canal Belt, the centre of town is reachable in 15 minutes by bicycle.
From £ 286
per night
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A former Royal Dutch Navy officers’ quarters gained a new life – though retains something of its military look – as a hip hotel. The location (beside a historic dock, in a military terrain) makes for something a little different; the Maritime Museum is next door, and you’re a few minutes’ walk from the NeMo science museum. Some of the spaces that made up the officers’ mess spaces (the bar, restaurant, games room with billiards table) serve the same function today. There’s also plenty of open space outside for families to enjoy, and although there are no interconnecting rooms or family rooms, there are many singles, suitable for older children.
From £ 249
per night
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A hostel-cum-budget hotel in an early 20th-century academic building somewhat east of the historic Canal Belt. The vibe is easygoing and convivial which suits the mainly young, backpacking crowd who frequent the hostel, though older guests and families are made to feel welcome, too. There are both dormitories and private bedrooms here, plus a good number of family rooms (with a bunk and a double bed) and a two-bedroomed suite with its own kitchenette. They all have laminate floors and jaunty patterned wallpaper, and those facing the park have pretty views. Staff are friendly and informal, and there’s a large playground just outside the door.
Beds from £ 239
per night
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Amsterdam's imposing 1920s Shell laboratory building now houses a convivial youth hostel that’s given contemporary zing by colourful artworks, and its surrounds in hip city quarter Noord. Children are welcome and family rooms (with a double bed and a bunk) are available. The open-plan, multi-levelled communal area makes it easy to get space and privacy, and there’s a play area, a pool table and board games to get stuck into. The breakfast buffet is good-value and a filling starter to the day (expect all the classics plus a pancake machine that little ones will be fascinated by) while the café at reception serves poké bowls, rolls and cakes.
Beds from £ 121
per night
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