Rooms dressed like models at The Exchange

May 11, 2012 | by Marije | Fashion, Spots

About the author

The vodka in my Bloody Mary. My appetizer, main course and dessert. My safe haven, the sunshine at my festivals and the home in homesick. The city that I know so well but love to get lost in.

Most Amsterdam locals would never take a stroll along Central Station’s main street, also known as the Damrak. And I can’t blame them. The street is designed for tourists: it’s filled with souvenir shops, kebab sheds and voluptuous girls serving drinks. Topless. But please take a minute to look bit closer. Right across the Beurs van Berlage you’ll find a tiny door with ‘Hotel’ written above it. Not very mind blowing at first sight. Look again. This is the gateway to a world where fashion meets architecture, design meets functionality and Amsterdam meets Europe.

Hotel The Exchange exists out of 3 buildings and has 61 rooms, ranging from 1 to 5 stars. Each room has been designed and dressed by graduates and alumni from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI). They vary from dramatic Marie Antoinette styled love huts with golden framed mirrors and red velvet love seats to minimalistic rooms based on the unfortunates living in a cardboard box. The fabrics used in the rooms are specially developed by the textile museum and this ads to the individual look and feel. Who would have thought that an eighties sweater could be used to dress the ceiling of a bedroom? Or that sleeping in a ball gown would actually be comfortable?

Fashionable birds

The Hotel does not only host a fashionable hotel but also features a restaurant (Stock) and a 230 m2 store (OPTIONS!). The counter of restaurant Stock is made up out of gold bars, referring to the nearby Beurs van Berlage. The walls are covered with the cutest drawings of birds all wearing a fashion accessories made by the establishers of the hotel. Including the construction workers. To me Options! is a souvenirshop 2.0. It sells lots of designer bike gear but you will also find hand crafted notebooks from Berlin, special tea that is only served in Stock and pillows of the same fabrics used in the hotel. Downstairs furniture is sold and the hotel is planning on organizing all kinds of workshops. Both the shop and the restaurant feel very much like London. As does the whole concept: the integration of eating, sleeping and shopping is something Amsterdam is only just discovering.

Hotel The Exchange is part of The Red Carpet Project, a big clean-up of the old centre. I can honestly say this hotel did a great job. The Rokin is one step closer towards becoming a soft and classy landing into the city of Amsterdam. Craving a shallow beer after this responsible design adventure? Don’t worry, Teasers is just around the corner.