.jpg)
Today at the Keukenhof, the most famous tulip garden in the Netherlands and the largest flower park in the world, visitors of all nationalities are striding past more than 7 million spring-blooming bulbs. Some are painstakingly planted in color-blocked swoops and columns (the theme of the 2017 show is “Dutch Design”), and others run on gently beneath linden trees, looking half-wild. The gardens are a brief attraction, open for only eight weeks until late May, and the spring bloom kicks off the prime tourism season in nearby Amsterdam. The capital city is gamely overrun with its own flowers and garden-hoppers, and there is no lovelier time to visit.
The hotel of the moment is the stylish, higgledy-piggledy Pulitzer, newly reopened last year following a head-to-toe renovation, which sprawls through 25 townhouses and a substantial private garden. The bedrooms are contemporary and characterful (private bar carts, homemade stroopwafels, bicycle repair kits), and many have enchanting views of the Prinsengracht or Keizersgracht canals. Public spaces in the hotel are full of curios (ornate jars of sweets, walking sticks) and are sensibly arranged with clusters of comfortable chairs, tables, and power outlets. Every effort has been made to anticipate the needs of guests, and the concierge is top-notch: For our trip to the Keukenhof, a staffer swiftly arranges transportation to and from the hotel and secures admission tickets in advance, so we’re able to sidestep a jaw-dropping line. The property also owns one of the prettiest vintage boats on the water, the Tourist, which makes daily circuits through the canals.
The main restaurant at the Pulitzer, Jansz, is an elegant, easygoing place with marble tables and gray wainscoting, packed with regulars from the surrounding neighborhood. A pared-down version of Jansz’s approachable menu—braised meatballs, Caesar salad, hamburgers—is also available at the sunny in-house café, Pause, which stretches into the hotel’s tulip-filled courtyard.
Amsterdam is uncommonly rich in beautiful dining rooms; a ten-minute walk from the Pulitzer is the White Room, a soaring rococo space with lime-washed herringbone floors, serving modern European cuisine under gilt cornicing. The dishes are precise but the presentation lighthearted; one of the signature courses involves a pile of twigs set over dry ice, so that the nibbles on top (tubular cheese puffs) appear to be roasting. Just up the road is Vermeer, which has a set of three appealingly bare rooms awash in natural light. The menu is dominated by vegetables, skillfully prepared with a level of imagination more usually reserved for prime cuts. The most memorable dish among many is a pile of pillowy morels, served with a meaty beetroot tartar.
The nicest views over Amsterdam are from the tables at Ciel Bleu, the two-Michelin-star stalwart on the 23rd floor of the Hotel Okura, located in the fashionable De Pijp district. The menu is French with lashings of the East; a few gently cooked slices of Wagyu beef anchor the tasting menu, and the excellent wine pairings include a zingy sake from Akita. It’s a restaurant made for pushing the boat out—the lavish ingredients and fathoms-deep carpet declare it so—but the affable staff keep the atmosphere light.
In the museum quarter, one the best lunches in town is served at Rijks, the chic canteen attached to the 19th century Rijksmuseum. The restaurant is handily a destination in its own right (sending out plates such as creamy green gazpacho cut with burrata, and slow-cooked beef with pimentos), but combined with a spin through the Dutch masters next door, it’s the first reservation to make before your next trip to Amsterdam. The excellent Van Gogh Museum is also within shouting distance, so it might be expedient to book twice and come back for dinner.