On my recent visit to Amsterdam I decided to try a new hotel. The Room Mate Aitana Hotel located on IJDock, a short walk from Central Station. I’d heard about this newly redesigned quay from a friend and was thrilled to discover that it’s open for business. To be frank, it was four days of architecture/urban design porn.
It’s a dead-end island - one road in and out, although with another pedestrian/cyclist bridge for easier access - so it’s not like they’re fighting traffic. Nevertheless, looking down from my hotel room, it’s clear that cars are told how much space they can use. No arrogance of space here. The allocated spots are outside the hotel entrance, for taxis and pickup/drop off. There is also an underground car parking garage on the island.
There is underground bike parking to be had as well. Clearly marked with a big pictogram and a lovely pictogram set in stone. I wandered in and it was virtually empty. But bikes were always parked up on the street… near the pictogram. You can see what I mean in the photo at the top of the page.
I parked on the sidewalk outside the Aitana hotel, where there is a weird abscence of bike racks, even though there were always loads of hotel bikes and rental bikes, including my OV Fiets. When you’re working on the BiTiBi.eu Bike-Train-Bike project, you ride an OV Fiets bike share bike in Amsterdam. It would be rude not to. Plus it’s just a brilliant system.
Here are some photos from inside the Aitana hotel. Loads of design details and goodness. Although I could live without the psychadelic hallways, but hey.
Outside the hotel, whichever way I looked at the architecture and design on the island, it looked amazing. In every light and even at night.
So many details to behold. The view of the river only added to the potpourri of images. A constant flow of ships and barges.
IJ Dock is mixed use. I could see life in some of the 56 luxury apartments and some shops and cafés were open (grab breakfast at Bagels and Beans instead of the hotel, which is otherwise a fantastic place to stay). It looks like there are still vacant offices in the various buildings, so the place is just heating up with activity. The Palace of Justice is at one end and a police station at the entrance, so this is not the place you’d want to engage in criminal activities.
The brown space, above, will be transformed to green as a vertical lawn once spring comes. A nice detail.
Bizarrely, it’s tricky to find helpful information about the little island, despite the efforts to build such interesting buildings. There is a website, but it’s only in Dutch - http://www.ijdock.nl/. Here’s the location on Google maps.
Nevertheless, IJ Dock is a wild, weird and beautiful place. I’ve definately found my new home away from home when I’m in Amsterdam. Check it out if you’re in town.
