The Dylan hotel flaunts its assets a little more modestly. Located on the Unesco-protected Keizersgracht (the Emperor's Canal), the hotel conceals its virtues from passers-by behind a 17th-century façade that sets it back from the vernacular architecture either side of it.

The stone-arched gateway is all that survives of Amsterdam's first theatre, which was built here in 1632 but destroyed by fire in 1772. A Catholic almshouse replaced it. The building stayed under the church's ownership until 1998, when it was turned into one of the city's first boutique hotels.

Designed by Anouska Hempel, The Dylan preserved the building's history: baker's ovens remain in the brick walls of the Michelin-starred restaurant, and timber beams and herringbone brick floors channel through the lounge. But it also introduced its own peculiar style of subtle luxury to Amsterdam.

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