Our Personal Pulitzer Amsterdam Hotel Review

We recently stayed at the Pulitzer Amsterdam hotel and loved it. Here is a full, in-depth Pulitzer Amsterdam hotel review to help you plan your experience.

We booked a stay at the fabulous hotel, Pulitzer Amsterdam, through the Fine Hotels & Resorts Collection with American Express. We used our travel hacking skills to book an extraordinary experience at an extraordinary hotel.

By using the Fine Hotels & Resorts booking option with my American Express Platinum card, I was able to get several great added amenities with my stay. This made my experience that much more memorable and magical. It truly ended up being a trip of a lifetime.

You can end up checking out why it was named one of the best travel credit cards to consider. We highly recommend this card. If you sign up using my link, you will get 60,000 bonus points just for signing up.

That’s worth over $800 of free travel and will give you exclusive access to lounges, $15 in Uber credits each month, a $200 travel voucher each year, and access to the Fine Hotels & Resorts booking option. With the Fine Hotels & Resorts booking with the Pulitzer Amsterdam, I was able to receive the following incremental benefits from this exquisite hotel:

• Early check-in of 12 pm (this is clutch after an 8.5-hour flight on Delta Airlines)
• Free daily breakfast: at the Pulitzer Hotel this equaled out to be 32 euros per person each day at both of their restaurants: Pause (a quaint breakfast and lunch spot near the lobby where they served breakfast until 4 pm) and Jansz (a phenomenal restaurant with a breakfast buffet until 10 am). These are both amazing restaurants.
• $100 restaurant and bar credit that could be used at Pulitzer Bar and Jansz Restaurant

All of these were great benefits that added to our overall experience. Pulitzer Bar has amazing drinks and hard-to-beat canal views, so these added rewards were definitely taken advantage of.

Pulitzer Amsterdam Hotel Review

Let’s get into our Pulitzer Amsterdam hotel review and why it’s one of the best hotels in the Netherlands. We will break down our entire experience to help you make an honest decision on whether you should book the hotel or not. Some highlights of our time at the Pulitzer Hotel Amsterdam include:

• The historic hotel as a whole, including lobby experience, service, and location
• Experiences
• Hotel room detail
• Dining experience

Let’s get into the good stuff:

Pulitzer Amsterdam Overview

Pulitzer Amsterdam was founded by Peter Pulitzer. Our private tour revealed that the Pulitzer family purchased a few canal homes and then continued to purchase surrounding homes for the years to come.

The theory was, “your neighbor only sells their house once.” Over time the family acquired 25 different 17th and 18th-century canal houses that comprise the hotel today. As you are walking through to your room you can see the wall colors change. This signifies that you are walking into a new canal house.

Each canal house – and guest room – has a story to go with it. With over 400 years of history attached to the houses, each room has a special story and theme based on its history from the Dutch Golden Age. The hotel offers 225 different rooms, of which 25 are suites.

As far as location the hotel overlooks two of Amsterdam’s most picturesque canals, the Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht canals. The hotel is situated just between the main downtown of Damrak and Jordaan, which gives you a combination of quietness and adventure within steps of each other.

This hidden neighborhood features intimate guest rooms, quiet inner gardens/terraces, meeting & event spaces, a garden café, a hotel bar, and a restaurant that serves beautifully crafted dishes.

Each canal house comes with a unique story that you can read upon check-in. The hotel is kid-friendly which makes it easy to explore and keeps them busy during your journey in Amsterdam. Check out the aerial view of the hotel, which highlights the sheer size of the hotel spanning both canals. What an outline of canal houses. You simply can’t find that in Amsterdam.

Lobby & Hotel Design

Pulitzer Amsterdam is a long, windy maze with what feels like thousands of hidden spaces. The decorator used the history of each canal house to make a story. It is easy to get lost here. The hotel design is not confusing, but the sophisticated art and thoughtful design make anyone want to get lost for a few hours.

As you’re busy getting lost through the intricate yet simple design watch the wall colors slightly change. This color change means you’ve just crossed into a new canal house.

In one of the canal houses, the design of the stairwell winds up for what seems like forever. Spoiler alert – it’s only 5 floors. Whoever lived here had a lot of cash. A mirror at the top makes it look like the stairs go on forever. The beautifully carved railing sends you back in time…

As we continued through our tour we soaked up all the art we could. The walls were covered!

There were creative signs in each of the elevator bays. It helps keep things in perspective when you’re heading down for complimentary brunch (cava included).

No matter where you explore inside the Pulitzer Amsterdam you are sure to find hidden gems in every corner. We were astounded by the intricacy of design, attention to detail, and most importantly, extremely impressed with the way the designer conserved history with a modern tone.

See Related: Best Museums in Amsterdam

Inner Garden and Terrace

The design of the lobby is fantastically done with modern Dutch design. However, no luxury hotel in Amsterdam would be complete without a traditional Dutch inner courtyard and garden. Depending on the location of your room, you’ll likely walk through the bright, airy Pulitzer Garden on the way to your room.

Given the prime location of Pulitzer Amsterdam, you’d expect to hear nothing but noise. Nope. These tranquil inner gardens are nothing but pure bliss and it’s a great spot to enjoy the stars at night or start your day with a coffee. Or, if you are traveling with kids, it’s the perfect spot to let some energy out as you can see the swings and children’s toys make it extremely friendly for families visiting Amsterdam.

Experiences

For guests looking to leave Pulitzer Amsterdam to experience the city (it’s hard to leave the hotel!), there are a handful of ways to get some new travel experiences by using the offered up services of the hotel. Our favorite experiences were:

• Boat tour: With the boat tour you can ride around in their own boat and fabulous cruiser (as seen in the featured image). Here are some other top tours in Amsterdam to consider.
• Walking tour like a local with concierge: Get a behind-the-scenes look at Amsterdam from a local perspective. Staying at Pulitzer Amsterdam, you’ll be within easy walking distance of iconic landmarks such as the Anne Frank House, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, and Dam Square.
• Black bike rental: Commute like the locals with black bikes that have bells.

You can use this handful of travel experiences to explore Amsterdam or you can use these sites to book tours instead. We usually opt for “DIY” experiences since we’ve visited a few times. If it’s your first time in Amsterdam take the boat tour. You will learn all about why the houses are painted black and all sorts of fun facts.

Recommended Experience: Each year Pulitzer Amsterdam hosts the Prinsengracht concert in front of the hotel. This is held on the 3rd Saturday in August of every year. We were staying at the Pulitzer Amsterdam during this and witnessed the entire orchestra concert, which included a cocktail party after. 

Get a taste of what Prinsengracht is like at the Pulitzer Amsterdam. Staying at the Pulitzer Amsterdam while the concert was underway was a truly wonderful experience. We had a few drinks and met some locals that were attending the concert. Highly recommend trying to book it this weekend!

This was a great secret that we randomly encountered on our trip. We really lucked out! We knew the Grachten festival was going on but didn’t realize this was right outside the hotel.

Even with all the commotion and concert attendees, the Pulitzer Amsterdam staff did not miss a beat. They continued to be helpful, and attentive, and go above and beyond. Here’s a look into how busy it was:

We are absolutely making this trip an annual event! There are hundreds of more activities within walking distance of the Pulitzer Amsterdam. Check out our post for a few hidden gems of Amsterdam to consider during your stay.

Classic Rooms

We were pleasantly surprised at the size of our classic room at the Pulitzer Amsterdam. It was nice, spacious, and cozy, with the ultimate shower. This is somewhat hard to come by in Amsterdam given the small spaces inside slim, tall buildings.

See Related: Best Travel Accessories

Overview of Twin Bed Comfort Room

We stayed in an interior room that featured some very unique designs. We booked the twin bed comfort room. The Pulitzer Amsterdam did a great job at converting our twin bed into a king bed so we could be more comfortable.

Afterward, we didn’t even notice there were two separate beds! Here is how the bedroom looked before it was converted to a king-sized bedroom. See the headset for the bed?

Our side of the canal houses was shaped like that. The other side of the house is shaped like a point, so that side has beds with a pointed top. We loved the illumination and shape of our beds.

The beds also have great reading lights that made it easy to read while one of us was sleeping. And the USB ports were very helpful since we only had one converter with us. Our room looked out to the bike wall:

Amenities

Here are some features included in our hotel room at Pulitzer Amsterdam:

• Heated bathroom floors
• Each night you get complimentary refills on stroopwafels and water (both sparkling and still)… Yes, please!
• Every room has some sort of book shelving attached to it
• Crystal glasses including a decanter for liquor if you so wish to indulge
• Full walk-in showers
• Marble bathroom tiling
• Nightly turndown service (I love this!)
• Free wifi
• Room service from any of the excellent restaurants on site
• A plaque detailing the history of your room and canal house

Fun fact: the hotel designer slept in every single room to pick out furniture and arrange the room in a cozy way that brings out the history and culture of each unique canal house. Look for your unique features when you stay! Our room was great, but we also checked out the suites. Next time we’re booking the artist suite – read on for details.

See Related: Things Amsterdam is Famous For

Pulitzer Amsterdam Suites

We were fortunate enough to get a thorough tour of the property. We experienced the Art Collector’s Suites and the Standard Comfort Suite. These are some of the extraordinary suites that you should know in our Pulitzer Amsterdam review.

Art Collector’s Suites

The Art Collector’s Suites were outstanding and feature quintessential Dutch excellence in interior design. The art and design were cozy, unique, and comfortable all in one. Check out the living room of the Art Collector’s Suite at the Pulitzer Amsterdam from the picture above. Pretty amazing…

We wanted to take home that chair – and all the art! Walking through the room of the Art Collector’s suite was a nice treat. The living room wasn’t the only amazing part. The walkway into the living room was inspiring. Not just unique.

The suite features art – old and new – with modern twists. If you look closely at the large picture. It is a modern take on the last supper. Clever! The Pulitzer Amsterdam also offers suite options for families.

We saw a few suites that had cots added in, or two bedrooms so that families could stay there comfortably. It is a family-friendly hotel – a unique feature in Amsterdam. The best part? Every suite has a private entrance so that guests can feel like locals.

See Related: How to Plan a Girls Trip to Amsterdam

Dining Options at Pulitzer Amsterdam

There are plenty of dining options at the Pulitzer Amsterdam for every taste. All with distinct flavors and dining experiences. Their three restaurants are Pause, Jansz, and Pulitzer Bar.

Pause

Pause Restaurant is a casual option for diners and hotel guests. They offer lighter fares with both indoor and outdoor dining options. The sunroom offers a lot of bright light inside to feel like you are dining outside in a quiet, cozy setting.

At Pause, my wife and I opted to have most of our breakfast dining there – they serve breakfast until 4. It was a great setting to wake up and get your day started. The full breakfast consisted of everything you could want possibly want in a tower of croissants, prosciutto, Dutch cheeses, and more.

Alternatively, you can order from the a la carte breakfast menu if you want something lighter and quicker. The service was excellent and the room was bright enough to help us start planning our day exploring.

Restaurant Jansz.

The waiting room at Restaurant Jansz. is amazing. It’s styled like an old apothecary with bottles and bays of waiting around you. Restaurant Jansz. is a dining experience based on the 17th-century craftsman Volkert Jansz.

Mr. Jansz was an excellent craftsman with a keen taste for style and a passion for conversation. He had more of a feminist approach to his lifestyle, which inspired the deep pink drapery and design throughout the restaurant.

We dined in the restaurant on our first night in the hotel. We loved the experience. The restaurant has canal-side seating as well as kitchen and dining room experiences.

We started with scallops that were cooked perfectly with excellent flavor. I had the New York hangar steak, my wife had the salmon with black rice – a recommendation from our server. Both are excellent options, especially paired with Italian wine. We didn’t have dessert, but we should have!

See Related: Snaptravel Review: Is it Legit?

Pulitzer’s Bar

A canal view bar with exquisite paintings? Sign me up! When traveling we tend to opt for shorter dining experiences rather than a multi-hour dining experience every night. We were glad to spend some of our food and dining credit at Pulitzer Bar.

We ordered the bitterballen and a couple of drinks to go with it. Our favorite dish in the Netherlands is bitterballen with a Heineken. It is always a good idea. After that, we wanted to experience their Hemingway-inspired cocktails.

I was amazed. The bartending staff simply just asked what we usually drink and prefer. From there, they made a drink to my taste and liking. I don’t like making decisions on vacation, so this was perfect. The design and decor were cozy, yet fun.

I felt at home in the Pulitzer’s Bar. It was a place that I never wanted to leave given the perfect blend of an excellent cocktail within reach and an unabated canal view. The views of the canal and the bustling crowd made me excited to explore the nightscapes of Amsterdam.

Final Thoughts

The Pulitzer Amsterdam offers a one-of-a-kind experience that you simply can’t find in most European cities. Amsterdam is a city that boasts varying cultures, experiences, and adventures. Staying in a hotel with this type of class, history, and character can truly enhance your overall travel experience and moments.

We were not hired to write this post or endorse the hotel. We booked it on my own and it ended up being one of the best trips of our lives. Thank you Pulitzer Amsterdam. I hope to see you real soon.

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