Hotel Okura in Amsterdam Offers Rare Spacious Rooms
Spacious rooms are hardly common in Europe, but in Amsterdam, the Hotel Okura provides guests with plenty of room to roam. The Japanese-owned hotel chain opened its Amsterdam location in 1971, and started to renovate its rooms five years ago, with the goal of creating the largest five-star guest rooms in the city. Its standard guest room is now 538 square feet, up from 280 square feet. (What was once two rooms is now one.)
The extra space allows for a large bathroom, with floor to ceiling windows, flat screen TV, high-tech heated toilets, large tub and thoughtfully designed showers -- rather than having the drain in the center of the shower, where water could unpleasantly pool around your feet, the floor slightly slopes towards a drain near the shower door. Rooms on the executive floors (17-22) offer lovely views.
If a standard room is still too cozy, Okura's premier suite, simply called "The Suite" is also available. Clocking in at over 5,000 square feet, this space originally was divided into 18 rooms over two floors. The in-suite frosted glass staircase is lit by LED lights, and can be customized to suit. A recent guest had the hotel light the staircase in red to match her shoes. "The Suite" runs about €10,000 a night.
About half the rooms are complete now, and the rest are slated to be finished by years end. The construction is for the most part well-contained, although since the lobby is half under construction now, making your way to the elevator bank involves a bit of a detour. When you book, ask for a renovated room away from the construction.
