The Lakeside Boutique Bolt-Hole, Just a Short Sail From Amsterdam
With just 14 rooms and a design straight from a Dutch still life, De Durgerdam is an old-fashioned sailor’s inn reworked for modern-day aesthetes.
Less than 20 minutes by car from Amsterdam’s centre—or a little longer by slow-sailing saloon boat—you’ll find Durgerdam. The sleepy former fishing village on the shores of the IJmeer, a “bordering lake” in the hinterlands of Amsterdam Noord, is made up of little else than clapboard cottages and fishing boats bobbing among the tall reeds. However, it recently gained a claim to fame as home to one of the city’s most intriguing new hotels, De Durgerdam.
Compared to Amsterdam’s central hotels, De Durgerdam whispers an invitation to slow down and exhale. This intimate inn opened its doors last year but feels like it has been here forever, thanks to its location in a 17th-century lodge once used by sailors on the East India trading route. The transformation comes courtesy of Aedes, the Amsterdam hospitality group and property investor, which also had a hand in Soho House Amsterdam and the new Rosewood Amsterdam in the city’s former Palace of Justice.
Design at De Durgerdam marries rustic romance with of-the-moment lakeside charm. Every corner seems conceived with a painterly eye: walls are doused in misty taupe, seafoam greens, or flax-fibre curtains, and an original steep wooden staircase creaks with age. The honesty bar, stashed beside a wood-burning fire, is especially inviting and encourages long lazy evenings.
Spread across the main building and an unconnected outpost, rooms are serene and sensual with handpicked antiques, the odd seashell, and glowing lamps. Each is different, though many have lake views. Bathrooms are clad in deep-toned tiles and brass fittings, a nod to old-world craftsmanship, and some offer freestanding tubs under skylights, through which to watch the gulls wheel through the skies.
The beating heart of the hotel is De Mark, a ground-floor, top-notch restaurant with outdoor seating in warmer months. Local ingredients are plated with poetic precision. For example, many a meal will start with tomato tartare and house-made sourdough, grilled on a live fire, and end with artisanal Dutch cheese boards from Fromagerie Kef. The dining room feels like the spot to be and is already attracting crowds, while the lower-floor, six-seat private wine snug is a candle-lit dream for those looking for some privacy.
There’s not much to do here, but that’s the point. You might borrow one of the hotel’s Veloretti bikes to ride the dike path to the nearby milk farm, spend the morning paddleboarding on the cool lake, or simply sit on the wooden jetty and watch the ever-changing light flit across the still water. It’s the kind of place that reminds you peace and quiet is not only a rarity but also the ultimate luxury.
