Last updated on January 09th, 2022
You’re going to love reborn Rotterdam. So much more than just the second city of the Netherlands, this is one of Europe’s contemporary architecture hubs, the home of soaring built ideals and of museums with collections ranging from the Old Masters to the newest young talents.
Set on not one but two major rivers, the Maas and the Rhine, your transport is water taxi, bicycle, super-efficient subway or on foot in this most walkable of cities. You’ll may be surprised at its no-nonsense approach, as well as by its superb restaurants and jumping nightlife. Cafes have become a local obsession, too. Your urban break has just become seriously interesting.
Real Quick : The best luxury hotel in Rotterdam is the Mainport Design Hotel, well located on the Maas River banks. It has a top rated spa and wellness centre as well. In our opinion the best boutique hotel is Suitehotel Pincoffs, located in the Kop van Zuid boasting views of the Erasmus Bridge. Read on below.
What are The Best (Luxury) Hotels in Rotterdam ?
1. Mainport Design Hotel – Luxury
When nothing less than the best will do. Set in a mansion that was once home to aristocracy, the Dukes’ Palace lives up to its history in each of its 110 rooms and suites, with a restrained elegance that’s the key to its appeal. The fully equipped spa is very much of the present. Breakfast is in a room that speaks of the elegance of times gone by. The hotel’s main restaurant offers contemporary cuisine. Tired of sightseeing? Relax in the large, private garden. Bliss.
2. Rotterdam Marriott Hotel – Luxury
For up-market, perfectly placed elegance, Rotterdam Marriott Hotel is the ideal choice. This full-service, modern hotel is perfectly placed for your urban adventures, situated directly adjacent to Central Station. There’s low-key, contemporary style in 228 bedrooms and deluxe suites, all furnished in neutral tones and many with views over this vibrant area of the city. There are several tempting in-house dining options, including a buffet breakfast room and The Millen, a high-end top rated restaurant. Parking is available.
3. Room Mate Bruno – Great Value
Looking for hip? Look no further. Room Mate Bruno’s on-trend industrial chic is set in a converted tea warehouse in the trendy Pakhuismeesteren district, with easy connections to Central Station. Exposed concrete beams combine with vibrant colours, attention-grabbing sculpture and landmark design pieces to grab your attention as you walk in. Rooms are similarly striking, with highly contemporary decor conceived by renowned interior designer Teresa Spey. Choose from accommodation including deluxe suites and duplexes. There’s a welcoming breakfast room and a destination lounge bar. Right next door is The Foodhallen, with tastes of dishes from around the world.
4. citizenM Rotterdam – Great Value
Affordable luxury is all yours at citizenM Rotterdam. The signature ethos is of necessary luxury without any frills, a philosophy that begins at the self-service check-in and continues up a feature spiral staircase into relaxed, highly contemporary lounge areas. There are 151 guest rooms, many with views over the river and close to some of Rotterdam’s main landmarks. canteenM offers guests breakfast snacks and a bar all day, every day. In the heart of the city, this delightful hotel has some of Rotterdam’s best value boutique accommodation.
5. nhow Rotterdam – Best Views
History meets millenial design in the historic centre. Grand Hotel Casselbergh takes three canal-side historic townhouses with an ultra-modern annex seamlessly attached and adds everything from an extravagant spa in the ancient basement to an elegant salon-style lounge. The decor is traditionally luxurious in the wood-beamed heritage buildings and mid-century modern in up-to-the-minute annex accommodation. There’s parking, too.
6. PREMIER SUITES PLUS Rotterdam – Top Hotel opposite Central Station
You couldn’t be closer to Central Station if you tried. Just five minutes’ walk and you’re at home in a spacious apartment with, if you choose a higher floor location, city centre views. All apartments are serviced, decor is tastefully neutral yet welcoming and each has a handy kitchenette for the real home-from-home feel. Ideal for families or for any other group holidays. You’ll start your day right in the heart of the city. This aparthotel’s “Superior” one bedroomed apartments can sleep two adults and two children. Each has a dining and lounge area, with a well-equipped kitchenette. Decor is both minimal and tasteful, very much in the contemporary Dutch style. The reception is staffed 24 hours a day and the apartments are serviced, too. Best aparthotel in Rotterdam !
7. Hilton Rotterdam – Luxury
Want to stay in a luxurious modernist landmark? The Hilton Rotterdam is the perfect choice, a symbol of Rotterdam’s regeneration that’s now designated a national monument. Effortless service is offered in accommodation with deluxe style in neutral tones and far-reaching views from the higher rooms. The location is perfect, close to Central Station and within easy walking distance of key places. Dining options include a full buffet breakfast, a Michelin-starred restaurant and a top-level cocktail bar. There’s valet parking.
8. Hotel New York – near Cruise Port Terminal
A superb heated pool is just one of the wellness attractions at Hotel Navarra Brugge, a short walk from the main historic attractions of Bruges. There’s a spectacular spiral staircase inside and a delightful garden to bask in outdoors. Add a jazz bar and accommodation in a listed historic monument and the Hotel Navarra Brugge marks itself out as something very special. Your room decor is cosy and smart, breakfast is sumptuous and there’s private parking.
9. Bilderberg Parkhotel Rotterdam – Great Value
Not many central Rotterdam hotels have a 100 year history or a delightful secret garden. In fashionable Oude Haven, close to Rotterdam’s renowned Museumpark and within walking distance of Central Station, Bilderberg Parkhotel Rotterdam has both. Relaxing, deluxe reception rooms are matched by an award-winning restaurant and bustling bar. There’s luxury accommodation in the sensitively renovated original buildings, looking over the serene garden, and in a soaring contemporary tower. All accommodation has neutral decor with stand-out pieces. There’s parking for those who need it.
10. Euromast – Unique
The only choice for a unique Rotterdam high. Choose one of the two suites at the top of Euromast, a 1960s observation tower that’s one of Rotterdam’s landmarks, and you’ll wake up with the city spread out beneath you. The suites are located 100m up, just above the tower’s brasserie, where a lavish breakfast is offered, and on the same level as the viewing platform. Decor is minimalist, with deluxe bathing options, and a wraparound view that’s the real star of this experience.
11. The James Rotterdam – Affordable
For affordable indulgence in one of Rotterdam’s newest deluxe hotels, The James can’t be beaten. Located close to Central Station, The James’s design-led accommodation is in the new Dutch style, characterised by geometric wallpaper and mid-century furnishings. Jutter Speijs is a 24 hour “food market” with breakfast or snacks available throughout the day, while drinks can be taken in the relaxing lounge area. Elevator car parking can be booked.
What are The Best Boutique Hotels in Rotterdam The Netherlands ?
Combining old-fashioned style – think leather wing back chairs – with contemporary detailing, Suitehotel Pincoffs has justly won awards for its highly personal service. Set in a 19th century customs building, itself a national monument, accommodation is in high-ceilinged rooms with exposed beams in those set higher in the building. An elegant breakfast room and bar looks out onto a relaxed terrace, with water taxis available nearby along with many of the city’s attractions. Top boutique hotel !
Choose this boutique hotel in happening Hoogkwartier for a intimate, deluxe experience. There are just 94 guest rooms, boasting murals of old and new city scenes with furnishings in mid-century modern style, echoed by the highly contemporary decor. Among the accommodation options are rooms and top suites with large outdoor terraces, a rarity in this city. A relaxed lounge area welcomes guests and there’s a breakfast bar and 24 hour room service.
3. Stroom
Here’s a hotel that rips up the boutique experience and starts again – and then some! This is hip Rotterdam at its finest, a hotel in a reimagined electricity sub-station with industrial detailing retained. Exposed steel stairways characterise the form-follows-function approach. Bedrooms are mostly pure white and luxury is never far away, with carefully chosen designer pieces. There’s an in-house bakery, a brasserie, espresso bar and the luxury of a roof-top terrace. This is a deluxe destination for the millennial traveller.
Hold the front page! Close to both the Market Hall and the Old Harbour, The Slaak Rotterdam invites you to step back into 1950s mid-century modern style. Set in what used to be newspaper press room, The Slaak has just 74 rooms and suites with exposed concrete beams and a highly individual take on the 1950s aesthetic. Imagine yourself as a hotshot reporter at Didcot34, a bar and restaurant with signature over-the-top style. Ownership by the Marriott group guarantees great service.
What are The Best Bed and Breakfast in Rotterdam Holland ?
1. Rooms on Water – Bed and Breakfast
This unique experience allows you to live Rotterdam’s maritime history by staying on a tastefully converted boat in the city’s heart. Rooms on Water offers group accommodation for up to 12 in six compact bedrooms each with a porthole out onto the river. There’s an outdoor terrace above deck and a large living area with skylights. The location is ideal, aptly right next to the Maritime Museum, with other attractions within easy walking distance. Unforgettable and one of the best b&b’s in the city.
2. Alberti – Bed & Bike – Bed and Breakfast
Live – and cycle – like a local. Choose from two delightfully furnished ensuite rooms, minimally elegant in the Rotterdam way, each with two city bicycles provided free of charge. Rotterdam in the Netherlands is a cycling city and your own bikes provide the ideal way to live like a real local on your daily adventures. The location is a great start in the greenery of a residential district close to the city centre, with museums, the riverside and other attractions an easy ride away along Rotterdam’s extensive network of cycle paths.
What are The Best Family Hotels in Rotterdam ?
1. Hotel Emma – Great Value
Family owned and run, Hotel Emma is an intimate three star hotel, just ten minutes’ walk from Central Station. Dark wood floors in all accommodation underline a quietly deluxe no-nonsense style that families will appreciate, with both triple and quadruple rooms available. A buffet breakfast is offered each morning to start your Rotterdam day with real substance. Limited parking should be booked in advance. The roof terrace is the ideal place to wind down.
2. Days Inn Rotterdam City Centre – Affordable
Comfort and ease for your stay in a perfect location. Family rooms are a speciality at the Days Inn, a short stroll from Central Station. These family rooms offer two double beds, with a partition between the two sleeping areas for maximum privacy. There are seating areas and the bonus of city views from the upper floors, with neutral decor punctuated by colourful city murals. Breakfast is offered and there’s a parking garage along with the welcome and security of a 24 hour reception.
What’s the Best Hotel with Free Parking ?
Just minutes from the A16/E16 highway, this efficient and friendly Novotel has free parking for all guests. There’s breakfast available, a bar and an in-hotel restaurant. Neutrally furnished rooms with primary colour accents have panoramic views from the higher floors. Some have sofa beds for group or family accommodation. Kralingse Zoom subway station, for fast links to the city centre, is a ten minute walk away. At the end of the day, a drink on the terrace is recommended.
What’s the Best Cheap or Affordable Hotel in Rotterdam City Centre ?
Sleep in your own sparkling white capsule with double bed and enough storage for all that you need on your visit. There are separate shared bathrooms for men and women, all in the cheerful, open colours that charaterise this hi-tech millenial hostel. Digital natives will feel at home in the bright decor of the lounge, a place to make new or passing friendships. There’s a bar, naturally, and a central location that puts vibrant Rotterdam at your fingertips.
Rotterdam City Centre
Rotterdam didn’t rebuild after the Second World War’s bombing. It remade. The City Centre is new, exciting and forward-looking. Quite simply, you’re spoilt for choice in this most cosmopolitan of cities, where adventurous architecture is the rule, rather than the exception. The three districts of Cool, the City Triangle and the shopping area make up the city centre and each has something very different to offer. You won’t want to miss the amazing ultra-modern covered market that is the The Markthal, with everything from fresh fish to produce on sale all day every day. Pick up the essentials for your riverside picnic before a stroll around Witte de Withstraat, the heart of hip Rotterdam in the Cool district, with literally dozens of pubs, lunch spots, galleries and new fashion outlets. That’s a whole afternoon’s browsing. The City Hall, with its signature 63 bell belfry, is one of the few buildings to have escaped the devastating bombing of the Second World War. The extraordinary lobby is a masterpiece of 1930s Art Deco. Then there’s Oude Haven, the old harbour, by day a picturesque way to see the riverside, by night, a key place to kick up your heels. For those keen on bending a credit card, Beurstraverse and Lijnbaan have all the big names in the central shopping district.
Best Hotels in Rotterdam City Centre
- Mainport Design Hotel – Luxury
- Suitehotel Pincoffs – Boutique Hotel
- citizenM Rotterdam – Great Value
- The James Rotterdam – Affordable / Great Value
What’s the Top Accommodation near Rotterdam Central Train Station ?
The soaring concrete arch that’s the spectacular exterior of the award-winning redeveloped Rotterdam Central Station is characteristic of the embrace this city gives to its visitors and to new styles of design on every front, from buildings to cafes to fashion. Subway links from here whisk visitors in the most efficient way around the city and are worth a journey even if you’ve nowhere special to go. Central Station, though, is far more than a transport hub. It’s a key part of the city centre, an area of vibrant regeneration. Rotterdam calls itself the City of Architecture and it’s not hard to see why. Look around you and you’ll see soaring skyscrapers in a variety of weird and wonderful shapes. Try lunch on the roof of one of them, Het Schieblock, where an urban farm houses vegetables, herbs, fruit and even beehives. At ground level, cafes and restaurants continue the adventurous theme, where you can join office workers on a break or at lunchtimes. After dark, this is the area to find the edgiest bars and night clubs, too. Look to the rooftops for a cool cocktail. For culture of another sort, just around the corner is De Doelen, the city’s main concert hall, rebuilt in the 1960s.
Top Accommodation near Central Train Station
- PREMIER SUITES PLUS Rotterdam Top Aparthotel
- Rotterdam Marriott Hotel – Luxury
- Hotel Bienvenue – Affordable
