Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam

Everything you’d expect from a hotel called the Grand, including a dignified old-world exterior, a location in the heart of the historic city center, every imaginable service and amenity, and a guestbook that reads like a social register, including captains of industry, heads of state, and Mick Jagger. In its first life, around 1400 AD, this majestic building was a convent; a hundred years ago it was the town hall.

However historic the facade, the interiors are 20th-century through and through—rooms are decorated in a contemporary classic style, rather than an overtly historic one. Though you’ll find nods to the more distant past, the Jugendstil windows and Art Deco bathrooms are more representative. These are some of the largest hotel rooms in town, and probably the most luxurious, with plush fabrics and soft sofas and armchairs, as well as all the modern conveniences—must-haves like satellite TV, internet access and 24-hour room service, and such welcome details as Roger & Gallet bath products and full-length bathrobes.

The hotel’s apartments are suitably sprawling, and there are no fewer than three presidential suites, and three Royal Suites thrown in for good measure. A full-service spa and a fine restaurant are the norm for a hotel of this caliber, and it’s hard to imagine being disappointed by either one. And perhaps most incredibly, despite the rarefied air, you’re right in the heart of the city, with canals on either side and Dam Square and the red light district a short walk away.