Escort Amsterdam West: Markets, Gasworks and Easy Evenings

In the north of the district, the Westerpark wraps around the Westergas, a former gasworks whose brick halls and tall chimney now host restaurants, a cinema, concerts and weekend markets. Nearby, the Spaarndammerbuurt holds some of the finest Amsterdam School architecture in the city, including the curving brick housing block known as Het Schip, now a museum. Further south, Oud-West gathers around De Hallen, a converted tram depot with an indoor food hall, a cinema and small shops beneath its high roof.

Between them run the everyday arteries: the Kinkerstraat for shopping, the Ten Katemarkt with its stalls, the Overtoom leading towards the Vondelpark, and the canals of De Baarsjes around the Erasmuspark. On a warm evening the cafés around the Bellamyplein and the quays of the Kostverlorenvaart fill with neighbours rather than sightseers.

Hotels here are smaller in scale than in the centre, and often more personal. Boutique and design addresses sit in converted schools, workshops and townhouses in Oud-West, many a short stroll from the Vondelpark. Near the Westerpark you will find modern hotels beside the cultural park, and to the northwest, around Sloterdijk station, larger business hotels serve guests with meetings in the surrounding offices and a quick train to the airport. Receptions tend to be friendly and informal, and several of the smaller properties close their front desk in the evening.

West borders the Jordaan, where seven of our companions live, so about an hour after confirmation is normal for Oud-West and the Westerpark. Trams along the Kinkerstraat and the Overtoom are frequent, and taxis can usually pull up at a hotel door without the detours of the canal ring. For business hotels around Sloterdijk, allow up to an hour and a quarter, because the roads near the A10 interchange slow down at the end of the working day. Late in the evening the district is calm and journeys often run ahead of schedule.

If your boutique hotel has an unstaffed entrance after a certain hour, say so when you reserve and plan to open the door for your companion yourself, so she is never left waiting on the pavement. Hotels beside the Westergas get busy on concert and festival nights, when the park paths fill up and taxis queue at the gates, so an earlier arrival or a pick-up point on a side street helps. Near Sloterdijk, several office and hotel towers share similar plazas, which is why the exact hotel name is more useful than the station.

West rewards guests who like to wander. Many evenings start with small plates in the food hall at De Hallen or a cocktail near the Westergas, followed by a short walk beneath the trees of the Westerpark and a relaxed return to the room. Tina, confident and easygoing, shares the district's taste for record shops, craft cocktails and fashion. Jasmin, bubbly and curious with a flair for mixology, brings a playful spark to a bar hop of one or two stops, and Nora, spirited and warm, loves flower markets and a glass of champagne, turning any evening into a small celebration. For a longer evening of bars and music, see our night out experience.

The canals of the Jordaan begin just east of the Westerpark, and Oud-Zuid, home of the Vondelpark, lies directly south of the Overtoom. You can compare every district in our areas overview.