Got to give it to them, the Eurostar is so handy. You pretty much just get on, have a nap, eat some snacks and you’ve landed, thank god for high speed trains. Then 10 minutes later, just like that, we checked in at The Hoxton, Lloyd (they do have a more central location but we decided to coincide with dekmantel and pride so options were sparse!) The hotel itself is in a beautiful big building with a few things I loved:
1. free bike rental (needed in Amsterdam, and probably my favourite part of the trip was cycling around in the sun - only took 15 minutes to get into town where we mainly ate and drank)
2. rooms were modern but also cozy with wooden beams on the roof (waterfall showers here too)
3. cafe that opens up al fresco so you can have a gorgeous morning coffee and soak in some sun
4. a little coworking space that was incredibly well designed so you can check any work (if you must… and thats a threat)
5. late check out is a massive win. We had to last minute change out train to a morning one but otherwise they would have let us keep the room until 3pm. Just email in advance!
I didn’t hang out in this area too much because it’s far too easy to go into town, but if you did want some walkable or under 3 minute cycle spots then:
V R R (modern European yada yada yada, apparently a bakery some mornings though)
Counter (cute little lunch spot with quiche and soup of the day - something lighter)
restaurant esra (Turkish-ish)
louf (de pijp)
There are a few locations of louf, but it was on my hit list from the moment I started researching places to go. Went for a solo breakfast in the morning and I was sold: I love Amsterdam.
Honestly, I had seen pictures of the cheese sandwich and thought it looked kinda dead but had to order one for the culture, and also a back up mustard cheese croissant to be safe, but WAIT! It was amazing: fennel butter (I didn’t know this country was addicted to fennel but that’s amazing news for fennel_lover_98), raisins in the chewy bread and cheese. 10 on all fronts, would eat this every day if I could.
Also, just something incredibly romantic about being in a new country, on the tram and sitting outside with a coffee and double parked on pastries.
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