Swissôtel Amsterdam is a four-star, 111-room hotel at Damrak 96, on the corner where Damrak opens onto Dam Square. It sits behind a historic façade linked to architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage, roughly a 10-minute walk from Amsterdam Centraal and two minutes from the Royal Palace. Expect a compact, business-friendly city hotel with an unbeatable address rather than a design-led boutique property.
Swissôtel Amsterdam at a glance
- Address: Damrak 96, 1012 LP Amsterdam, Netherlands (+31 20 522 3000)
- Category: Four-star city hotel, part of Accor’s Swissôtel brand
- Rooms: Around 111 rooms and suites, including 17 city-view suites; some booking sites list 114
- Room sizes: Classic and Premium rooms are 20–21 m² (215–226 sq ft); Swiss Select rooms are 25 m²
- Check-in / check-out: From 15:00 / until 12:00
- Included: Free Wi-Fi and free access to the TechnoGym-equipped fitness room
- Policies: 100% non-smoking property; pets are not accepted
- Best for: Short city breaks, first-time visitors who want to walk everywhere, and business travelers needing a central base
The Berlage connection, explained honestly
Marketing copy often compresses this hotel’s history into “a 19th-century building by Berlage.” The fuller story is more interesting and more accurate.
Hendrik Petrus Berlage designed the building at Damrak 95–96 in 1899 for the Amsterdamsch Wisselkantoor, a currency exchange affiliated with the Amsterdamsche Bank. The structure at number 96 was demolished in 1985, and the hotel opened on the site in August 1986. What guests see today is a hotel completed in the 20th century behind a preserved historic streetfront, with interiors refreshed in 2011 and a full room renovation in 2013 — not an intact Berlage interior.
If you came for Berlage’s actual masterpiece, it is a five-minute walk north along the same street. The Beurs van Berlage, built between 1898 and 1903 as Amsterdam’s third stock exchange, is a national monument and the building most often credited with breaking Dutch architecture away from historical revival styles. Berlage conceived it as a Gesamtkunstwerk, commissioning artists for its tilework, reliefs and sculpture, and it now hosts exhibitions, concerts and conferences.
Rooms and what the soundproofing really means
Rooms are contemporary, restrained and — by international standards — small. A 20 m² Classic room is normal for a protected building in Amsterdam’s canal-belt core, but travelers used to 30 m² city rooms should set expectations accordingly.
- Classic Room (20 m²): King or twin beds, bath and shower, ergonomic workspace
- Premium Room (21 m²): Slightly larger footprint, upgraded furnishings
- Swiss Select (25 m²): The most space in the standard range
- Suites: Junior and City View suites add separate lounge space and Dam Square outlooks
- Standard in every room: Air conditioning, flat-screen TV, in-room safe, minibar and a Nespresso machine
The hotel describes its rooms as sound-proofed, and it applies an asterisk to that claim — a signal that performance varies by room. Dam Square generates late-night noise from trams, street performers and groups heading to and from the nearby nightlife streets. If quiet matters more than a view, request a room facing away from Damrak and Dam Square when you book, and again at check-in.
Dining: ROYAL98 and breakfast pricing
ROYAL98 is the hotel’s ground-floor restaurant, facing Dam Square with its own street entrance at Damrak 96. The kitchen is built around an Italian core — fresh pasta, thin wood-oven pizza and bread from an in-house bakery — alongside salads, smoothies and granola available to take away.
- Hours: 07:00–23:00 daily (some listings show a 22:00 close, so confirm for late arrivals)
- Breakfast service: 07:00–10:30 midweek, until 11:00 on weekends
- Breakfast price: €23.50 adults, €11.75 for ages 5–11, free for children under 4 — verify current rates before booking a rate that excludes breakfast
- Guest rating: Roughly 4.2–4.3 out of 5 across several hundred Tripadvisor reviews
- Reservations: +31 20 737 3410
Because the hotel has a single restaurant, dinner variety comes from the surrounding streets rather than the property itself. That is rarely a drawback here: hundreds of restaurants sit within a 10-minute walk, though quality on Damrak itself skews toward tourist traps.
Facilities for work and downtime
- Fitness: Swissôtel Amsterdam Fitness with TechnoGym equipment, free for guests
- Business centre: Available to all guests, with meeting and event rooms on site
- Room service: Offered 24 hours according to major booking platforms
- Bicycle rental: Available through the hotel — useful, though central Amsterdam traffic is demanding for first-time city cyclists
- Not on site: No spa, pool or parking garage; drivers should plan for a park-and-ride on the city edge
Location: what you can actually walk to
This is the hotel’s decisive advantage. Dam Square is the geographic and historic center of Amsterdam, and the Dam tram stop is directly outside, connecting to Museumplein, Leidseplein and the western canals.
- Royal Palace of Amsterdam: about 2 minutes on foot, across Dam Square
- National Monument: on Dam Square, directly opposite
- De Bijenkorf department store: about 2 minutes
- Beurs van Berlage: about 5 minutes north along Damrak
- Amsterdam Centraal station: about 10 minutes north
- Anne Frank House: about 15 minutes west — book timed tickets well in advance
- Schiphol Airport: roughly 20 km, reached by direct train to Centraal in about 15–20 minutes
Shopping sits on three sides: Kalverstraat for high-street chains, Nieuwendijk and Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal for smaller shops, and the Nine Streets a short walk west for independents. The De Wallen red-light district begins a few minutes east, which is the main reason light sleepers and families sometimes prefer a canal-belt address instead.
Who should book here — and who shouldn’t
Book it if you want to arrive by train and walk to almost everything, you value a reliable four-star standard over character, or you are in town for meetings in the center.
Look elsewhere if you need a spa or pool, want a genuine historic-interior experience, are traveling with a pet, need a large room, or you are a light sleeper who would be unhappy with tram and street noise close to Dam Square.
Frequently asked questions
Is Swissôtel Amsterdam actually on Dam Square?
Almost. The official address is Damrak 96, 1012 LP Amsterdam, at the point where Damrak meets Dam Square, so the hotel overlooks the square and the Dam tram stop is directly outside.
Did Berlage design the current hotel building?
Not the hotel itself. Berlage designed Damrak 95–96 in 1899 for a currency exchange, but number 96 was demolished in 1985 and the hotel opened in 1986 behind a historic façade. Berlage’s Beurs van Berlage, built 1898–1903, is about five minutes’ walk away.
How many rooms does Swissôtel Amsterdam have?
Published figures vary between 109 and 114 depending on the source and date. The hotel’s own room-comparison page lists 111 sound-proofed rooms and suites, including 17 city-view suites.
How much is breakfast at ROYAL98?
Published rates are €23.50 for adults, €11.75 for children aged 5 to 11, and free for children under 4. Breakfast runs 07:00 to 10:30 on weekdays and until 11:00 at weekends. Confirm current pricing when booking.
Does Swissôtel Amsterdam allow pets or smoking?
No to both. It is a 100 percent non-smoking property, including guest rooms, lobby and hallways, and pets are not accepted.
How do I get there from Schiphol Airport?
Take a direct train from Schiphol to Amsterdam Centraal, which takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes, then walk about 10 minutes south along Damrak or ride one tram stop to Dam.
