Location
Westerpark
The Windketel is located in Westerpark, a neighborhood known for its unique park on
the site of Amsterdam’s former gasworks, now the location of events ranging
from fashion shows and concerts to craft and food markets. There’s always
something going on, and that makes this neighborhood the ideal home base for
culture-loving visitors. The historic Jordaan neighborhood is only a ten-minute
walk away.
The park
The neighborhood’s
centerpiece is the Westerpark, visible from Hotel de Windketel’s northern
windows. The architecture of the gasworks is itself an attraction. All the
buildings have been renovated and converted for culture or leisure activities.
It’s the site of markets, restaurants, cafes, TV studios, dance venues,
cinema’s and theaters. It’s home to many festivals, too, including Amsterdam
International Fashion Week and the Holland Festival.
Sustainable
architecture and a rich history
Hotel de Windketel is on
the site of the city’s former water works, now known as the ‘Eco-Neighborhood’,
the Netherlands’ first automobile-free, sustainably built neighborhood. Urban
planners and others interested in sustainability come from around the world to
visit the neighborhood. The Eco-Neighborhood’ was built in 1997 and contains
many green spaces, 600 dwellings and a number of industrial buildings (now
landmarks) built around 1900, the Windketel among them.
Watertorenplein: an oasis of tranquility
The Windketel stands
at the center of the Watertorenplein (Water Tower Square), near the 34-meter-high
white steel water tower. The square is very quiet and feels more like a village
than a city. The main source of visitors, besides the residents themselves, is
Cafe Restaurant Amsterdam, located in the former pumping station of the water
works.
National
landmark
The compact, octagonal
brick tower was built in 1897 as part of Amsterdam’s water works. It contained
a giant copper kettle and expansion reservoir (‘windketel’) that helped
regulate pressure as drinking water stored in on-site reservoirs was pumped
through the station (now Cafe Restaurant Amsterdam) into the city.
In 2003, it was converted into a luxury apartment for two. In the same year, it was designated a national landmark.
Dining in
the neighborhood
Café-restaurant
Amsterdam
Watertorenplein 6
Monumental interior, always welcoming, child-friendly, lunch and dinner menus,
open 10:30 - 24:00
De
Bakkerswinkel
Polonceaukade 1
For
breakfast, lunch, high tea or just to grab a sandwich on the go, open 08:30 -
18:00
Pacific Parc
Polonceaukade 23
For lunch, drinks, dinner
and dancing. Alternative, terrace, reasonably priced, 11:00 - 01:00
Café-restaurant Piet de Gruyter
Van Limburg Stirumstraat 4-6
Neighborhood cafe. Cozy,
for coffee, lunch, a drink, dinner, 10:00 - 01:00