Hotel New York — Restaurant in Rotterdam

This was a most disappointing experience after we had been looking forward to staying at Hotel New York for a number of years. The hotel feels as if it has got a crisis of identity and whilst it is a very interesting historic building, I do not feel that it has been well developed into a 4 star hotel. The prime focus of the hotel appears to be the bar/restaurant which is in the prime position at the front of the hotel and is clearly very busy. This makes it very noisy and not a good place for a relaxing birthday dinner. You approach the hotel from the rear and the entrance is tucked away in a corner. It is not well signposted, has weeds growing around rht paving and has a number of steps up to the reception making it very difficult for anyone with impaired mobility. I could not find any mention of this problem on the hotel web site and it was never mentioned when I asked about access before I booked. There was no porter service and only one luggage trolly which was of limited use because of the number of stairs. Many rooms are only accessible by stairs and there were 2 steps in our room. There is no parking at the hotel but there is an excellent private parking garage adjacent to it but this needs to be booked and cost us 54 Euro for 2 days. The room was not to 4 star standards and lacked a number of things like fridge, USB charging points and easily accessible power sockets. The bed side light switches were also a long stretch from the bed. The bathroom had been modernised and was very good, it is a shame that the room had also not been given a suitable makeover. Food in the restaurant at dinner was very good but the overall dining experience was spoilt by the noise levels and hussle and bussle, it was more like a city centre bar than a 4 star restaurant. The breakfast buffet was nothing special and the staff at breakfast clearly did not want to be there. We ended up cutting short our stay because the difficulty of accessing the hotel was causing my Wife distress as she has impaired mobility. The hotel has a fabulous location and a great history but I do not feel that it has been developed very well. The developers should take a look at the Titanic Hotel in Liverpool to see what a great job can be done of developing such an old historic building. If we had not been to the Delft WestCord hotel and had an excellent stay, I would be avoiding this...

IN MEMORIAM GERARD KAMPHUISEN - THE LIGHT OVER RIVER MAAS + MENETOU SALON Again, reading some other critics, you are shocked how "banalized" Internet is. And, also, how falsely pretentious. In fact (I was - for reason- as in other case, one of the HIStORIC Clients, sorry), the emplacement (please note the word) of (today) Hotel New York is an absolutely historic one, but also standing for a hell of pain, emigration, HAL. The building was initially the Head Seat of Holland America Line, thus HAL. ART DECO. Wonderful. - For a very long time, I had a reprint, done by the Dutch fotomuseum, of a Cas Oorthuys Picture in my office (in Munich), showing the forefront of the building as a kind of shipyard. The print a real masterpeice, showing the old towers in brick of the building, great.

To understand what happened, it has to be noted that setting up the building as restaurant (that was the "motor") and hotel in the beginning of the 1990s was very courageous, and - to the difference of today - it was not mainly commercial, but a project of urbanization (think about urbanization, at large extent, in Berlin, namely SO 36). Kop van Zuid was "Entwicklungsgebiet", and Erasmus bridge (a technical masterwork, spectacular) did not exist. You had to come by watertaxi, but the old one, wooden, "Barkasse", which I still like. I came many, many times, and sometimes in urgency. Thus, you are entiteld to the last remaining rooms, one was 104, one of the former board rooms on the Maas side. About 35 square meters, but if it is about some (many ) millions, it does not matter. Or the floor above, the rooms with balcony, looking straight to river Maas. The custom was to call up, and to discuss (in 90 seconds) the booking. I even ended up to have two booking files, one on my true name, and another, very close, on the possible Dutch-Jewish Version of my name. What an honour, if you are German, the German Bombers destroyed most of the City, and you are allowed to stay at Hotel New York. - In the morning (bring along a powerful camera), the light on river Maas, going downwards, is something you will never forget. - Have breakfast and take...

Hotel New York

Hotel New York is located in the iconic former headquarters of the Holland-America Line, dating from 1901. In 1993 this historic landmark was given a new purpose with the opening of Hotel New York.

Despite numerous improvements, the building still reflects its rich history, shaped in part by the hopes and dreams of thousands of migrants who embarked on a new adventure from here: a life in the land of opportunity: America!

Let us surprise you with all that Hotel New York has to offer today.

Hotel New York over the years

A journey through history

1872     Opening ‘Nieuwe Waterweg’, connection to the North Sea.

1873     In 1873 the Nederlandsch Amerikaanse Stoomvaart Maatschappij company was founded by Antoine Plate and Otto Reuchlin.

1896     Officially renamed ‘Holland-America Line’.

1901     The headquarters were built in Jugendstil style by architects J. Muller and Droogleever Fortuin

1908     The construction of a warehouse at the back of the headquarters. 1917 With the completion of a second tower in 1917, the facade got the iconic shape it has today.

1971 Due to increasing aviation competition, the Holland-America Line’s (HAL) decides to end the timetable on New York and focuses more on the cruise ship from America.

1977 Holland-America Line’s (HAL) headquarters moved to Seattle.

1984 The HAL sells the administration building to a project developer.

1988 In 1988 squatters took possession of the building. A year later, the municipality of Rotterdam decided to buy it for 26 million guilders. 1993 On Wednesday, May 5th, Hotel New York officially opens.

2006 Hotel New York is now operated by WestCord Hotels.

A KLM House and 25 year anniversary 2016 On October 7th, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines chose Hotel New York as its 97th miniature Delft Blue House, like they do every year to mark their anniversary. These houses, filled with Bols Jenever gin, have been gifted to business class travellers since the 1950s, and have become highly sought after collectors items.

2018 Hooray: 25 years of...