The Hoxton, Amsterdam

Any hotel chain that’s comfortable calling its smallest room category “Shoebox” is going to get along with Amsterdam just fine. In fact, this notoriously compact city is perfectly suited for the whole Hoxton concept: long on style, if short on space, and easier on the budget than a hotel this stylish has any real right to be. The Hoxton, Amsterdam makes plenty of concessions to its locality, of course — it’s set in a row of five classic canal houses, and, in the interest of preservation, follows their warren-like floor plans. But it brings to the Netherlands an aesthetic all its own, one that owes an obvious debt to industrial East London.

It’s visible in the rooms, where materials like leather and brass contrast with delicate herringbone parquet floors and only-in-Amsterdam canal views. The Shoebox and Cosy rooms are small indeed, though cleverly laid out, while the Roomy and Biggy categories are authentically spacious — and all come with welcome touches of high-end comfort, like rain showers, mini-fridges, and exquisitely comfortable beds. Just as important to the Hoxton concept are the social spaces, and here that means Lotti’s, the brasserie-style restaurant, as well as a lounge bar that spans two levels and a wide variety of moods.