Hotel review: nhow Rotterdam, Netherlands, one for the Dutch design buffs

The minimalistic, design-driven nhow Hotel Rotterdam.

CHECK-IN

Ah, the charm of the typical Dutch city. Canals criss-crossed with low arched stone bridges loomed over by rows of lopsided lolly-coloured houses, each one teetering towards the water-edge. To that fairytale scene the citizens of the Netherlands' second biggest city may well declare, "what rot". Modern-day Rotterdam, after all, is, aesthetically, the antithesis of post-war Europe with all but a small section of it levelled by ruthless World War II Nazi blanket bombing. Instead of recreating the destroyed city in its pre-war image, Rotterdammers pursued a contemporary building style with the famed port today the embodiment of modern architecture and urban design. Where could be more appropriate, then, to check into than the minimalist nhow Rotterdam? This 274-room hotel is set inside one of the world's most striking skyscrapers dominating Wilhelminapier, a revitalised former docklands area a little removed from the main Rotterdam action.

THE LOOK

You'll find the minibar located in the lobby in the form of a nifty self-service, cash-free shop offering all manner of take-out goodies.

This relatively affordable hotel, a member of a Spanish-based boutique-style chain, is part of the De Rotterdam (The Rotterdam) mixed-use "vertical city" complex designed by the renowned and controversial Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. A symphony of concrete, steel and glass, one of the three, 42-storey interconnecting towers houses the 23 funky floors of what is the first hotel for which Koolhaas designed both exterior and interior.

THE ROOM

nhow Rotterdam's marketing slogan is "art, architecture and one hell of a view". True to the assertion, my light-filled, all-white (with selected red offsets) 30 square metres premium room comes with breathtaking skyline vistas framed by the elegant swan-shaped Erasmus Bridge, opened in 1996. With its unadorned concrete and glass look, the room feels a little like it's emerged straight from a Dutch version of The Jetsons (De Jetsons?). Oh, and you'll find the minibar located in the lobby in the form of a nifty self-service, cash-free shop offering all manner of take-out goodies (really, every hotel should have one).

FOOD + DRINK

Peckish? Directly across the street is Foodhallen (we'll let you guess the English translation), an upscale food court-style complex set inside an erstwhile restored heritage warehouse. Further along is one of the few surviving remnants of pre-war Amsterdam, Hotel New York, the former early 20th century headquarters of the Holland-America Line with its pleasant al fresco riverside restaurant beside the Nieuwe Maas River, a northern distributary of the Rhine. Meanwhile, back at nhow, you'll find the easy-going Gastrobar Elvy with its terrace overlooking the river, city and bridge.

OUT + ABOUT

It was really De Markthal (The Market Hall) and not De Rotterdam which put this Dutch port on the world (albeit mainstream) architectural map. Shaped like a massive upturned horse-shoe, it's home to 100 stalls, shops and eateries, Market Hall, as per its English translation, opened in 2014, also houses 200 apartments within its arch. Nearby is Kijk-Kubus, or Cube Houses, Rotterdam's iconic, if not a little oddball, 1970s-era housing development with one of the complex's flats now a dedicated museum. Elsewhere, the recently-opened Depot is a seven-storey mirrored cylindrical building which serves as the temporary storage facility for artworks from the adjacent Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen undergoing an extensive and extended refurbishment. In the meantime, Depot offers visitors an extraordinary behind the scenes glimpse of how masterpieces are stored and preserved, with a carefully curated selection of the museum's most precious works on full public display.

THE VERDICT

In this very model of the almost totally modern European city, the edgy nhow is a most suitable choice to complement a Rotterdam visit, particularly for the architecture and design aficionado.

ESSENTIALS

Rates start from $A192 per night. Wilhelminakade 137, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Phone [phone]. See nhow-hotels.com

OUR RATING

Four out of five stars

HIGHLIGHT

Rotterdam, especially as viewed from this hotel, is proof that there's much more to the Netherlands than an over-touristed Amsterdam.

LOWLIGHT

The brutalist nature of much of the hotel's design, including the rooms, won't appeal to all guests but, hey, this ain't Amsterdam.

The writer was a guest of the hotel, travelling to the Netherlands aboard the new Norwegian Prima cruise ship. See ncl.com