T+L Reports: Open Bar in Amsterdam

The patrician building that houses Amsterdam’s premier boutique hotel, the Dylan, was originally constructed in 1772 as the city’s first theater. More than two centuries later, the canal-side edifice is again hosting a spectacle—but this time around, it’s of the Hey-is-that-who-I-think-it-is? sort, now that the hotel’s bar and lounges have become center stage for the Amsterdam social scene. Newly open to the public, the multilevel spaces are fresh off a several-million-euro renovation (courtesy of local talent FG Stijl, one of Europe’s most in-demand design firms) that’s replete with attention-grabbing details, among them gold-leaf walls, vermilion leather wing chairs, and a mammoth wood-and–cattle horn bar. All of these extravagant elements somehow fit in perfectly—not unlike the clientele, a ceaseless parade of Margiela- and van Noten–clad giants and giantesses with hearty laughs and killer bone structure. The Asian-accented bar menu is an abbreviated version of the award-winning restaurant’s. Sample Madras samosas and tiger prawns in rice-noodle dough while you sip a signature ginger cocktail, then sit back and take in the show. 384 Keizersgracht; 31-20/530-2010; cocktails from $15.