Quotes of the Day

With its majestic Rijksmuseum and gorgeous Van Gogh depository, Amsterdam is a must on any culture vulture's tour of Europe. But your brush with art doesn't have to end at the museum exits. These days, you can stay in hotels that are part accommodation, part art space, part salon.

Occupying a former orphanage on a preserved, 19th century red-brick square, the Hotel Arena, tel: (31-20) 850 2420, was an art center-cum-hostel until it went upmarket some years ago, and six new, mostly duplex suites have been added. These showcase work by the Netherlands' hottest artists and designers, including Piet Hein Eek and Marcel Wanders, and the overall look is conspicuously contemporary. Arena also houses Tonight, the city's nightclub du jour, built in an old chapel.

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A little more self-consciously arty is the Winston Hotel, tel: (31-20) 623 1380. Housed in converted terraces in the middle of Amsterdam's gritty red-light area, the Winston boasts an art academy, as well as several twin-bed "art rooms" designed by young up-and-coming conceptualists. There's everything from the stark sculpture of Nicolas Touron (who has covered the walls of room 407 with 600 kilograms of "crooked ceramic objects") to the installations of Orna Wertman (whose giant jigsaw puzzles-cum-installations plaster room 503).

The prize for the quirkiest hostelry in town goes to Xaviera Hollander's Bed & Breakfast, tel: (31-20) 673 3934. You won't find much art here, but you will find artists and creative types aplenty, drawn by the frequent presence of celebrity owner Xaviera Hollander, author of the best-selling 1971 memoir The Happy Hooker. The former New York City-based sex columnist trades in matters of the soul these days rather than the flesh, organizing house parties and bringing home arty waifs in the manner of an old-style salonière. Her grand old house in Amsterdam's southern suburbs has only two guest rooms, so book well in advance. If the mistress of the house is around, be prepared for anecdotes that will lend real spice to your stay. In fact, with hotels like these, who needs museums?

• Andrew Dembina
• If your hotel room looks like an art gallery, you must be in Amsterdam