Zoku Amsterdam

A standard hotel room is organized around a singular piece of furniture: the bed. At Zoku Amsterdam, located in the Eastern Canal District, a kitchen table is the central feature. It’s a welcome admission of a basic fact that most travelers already know — that a hotel room, particularly in an urban location, should be more than a place to sleep. This is Amsterdam. You’re not unplugging your devices, you’re not on a getaway to a tropical island. You have work to finish up, e-mails to answer. Maybe you’d like to make your own coffee, maybe you’d rather grab a few pastries from the corner bakery than go out for breakfast.

Zoku is one of a wave of new hotels that don’t just accept that reality, but embrace it, offering up smartly designed lofts that merge work and living space. The hotel’s slogan is “the end of the hotel room,” and while technically you can still check into a room that’s just a room — the tiny but efficiently laid-out Zoku Room — the draw here is Zoku’s series of cool and colorful modern lofts. Screens and sliding doors cleverly separate the elevated sleeping area from the kitchen and work area. And everything’s functional; the kitchen is stocked with everything from olive oil to a garlic press to a Tupperware set, while the workspace features scissors, staplers, and extra pencils. They’ve got the details covered: organic linens, fair-trade towels by Max Havelaar, Muuto furniture, 32-inch Smart TVs, a sophisticated LED lighting system. It’s enough to make you want to stay for the whole week, or even longer, and that’s exactly the idea.

The word “zoku” is Japanese for family or tribe. In other words, even though the hotel’s lofts make excellent venues for working, you’re not expected to hole up in your room all afternoon just because you have a deadline. The hotel contains a range of light-filled, open-plan “social spaces” that encourage communal work and play, including a living room, an airy kitchen, a bar, and work spaces. There’s even the (Almost) Everything Store, a 24-hour boutique where you can buy almost anything you might have forgotten to pack. Or everything you need when you decide to extend your stay.