Amsterdam's Hotel Nadia, and The Stairway to Heaven

From the covered sidewalk on Raadhuisstraat where the entrance to the Nadia Hotel is, the only evidence of the establishment is a tall, narrow wooden door with a lighted hotel sign hanging above. Our rooms were reserved in my name, so I went ahead with my luggage and pressed the black button for reception near the door. There was a buzzing sound and I pushed the heavy door open, struggling to get my suitcase past the door and into a narrow hallway. Once inside I heard a voice…

The Stairway to Heaven

But there didn’t seem to be a person attached to the voice! It spoke in accented English, instructing me to climb the stairs. I craned my neck to see up the unending flight of VERY steep, red-carpeted stairs in front of me. The stairs curved to the left near the top (I think there’s no such thing as a Dutch stairway that DOESN’T curve). I still couldn’t locate the person that the voice was coming from. There was a prominent RECEPTION sign on the wall at the top of the steps. Above it was a small window...with a friendly face looking out. That’s where the voice was coming from.

There was a narrow hall to the right of the stairs, but no indication of an elevator. My heart froze...would I have to drag my suitcase up those stairs?! I asked the friendly face in the window “Do I carry my suitcase up?” The voice said “No. You can leave the luggage at the bottom of the stairs.”

I obeyed. Climbing those incredible stairs all I could think of was: this must be what it’s like when you go to heaven. St. Peter is way up there, looking down at you from a tiny window that says RECEPTION, telling you in a kindly voice to leave all your worldly belongings behind…just climb the steps…ascend. It felt like I was climbing the Stairway to Heaven.

A friendly welcome at the Nadia; The Angel Mo smiling down from the Reception window.

Hello Kitty

The Nadia Hotel is a heaven of sorts, inhabited by a staff of friendly, helpful angels who really want you to be happy and comfortable. They carry your heavy luggage up and down those stairs without complaint. They place beautiful fresh flowers in your room. If you need advice on getting around in Amsterdam, or getting a good meal for a good price, the Nadian angels are there to help. And there’s a friendly Nadia Hotel cat, too! The kitty’s name is Hello. We discovered Hello on our way to the breakfast room. A window in the hallway looks out into an emergency stairwell. Hello’s kitty platform is attached to the other side of that window. This is where the friendly cat hangs out, surrounded by his favorite toys. We asked the staff in the breakfast room if we could enter the stairwell and pet Hello. Of course! The Nadia cat was happy to be adored by strangers. When I visited the kitty for the last time, my parting words were "Goodby, Hello."

A few of Nadia Hotel's Dutch curios

The Nadia does its best to give its guests that cozy gezellig feeling. Everything is wood paneled, and colorful  Dutch knickknacks are everywhere: dozens of tiny Dutch canal houses and windmills, colorful wooden shoes (clompen) in all sizes, little ceramic statues of Dutch couples kissing (wearing mini-clompen), and more statues of smiling Dutch girls in traditional costume, carrying tulips, of course. 

The hotel is part of a monumental shopping arcade that was built in 1899. It was designed by architect Adolf Leonard vanGendt and his sons. VanGendt is famous for designing Amsterdam's beautiful Central Train Station. The four-story arcade building curves with the street. Shops occupy the first floor. A covered arched "gallery" roof covers the sidewalk in front of the building. When it was built, individual residences occupied the upper floors. The Nadia Hotel was made from some of the townhouses, including the round corner tower at the canal end of the Arcade. The roof of the Arcade has a variety of gables and balconies. Sculpted stone creatures adorn the facade: some are mythical (gargoyles, dragons) and others depict real animals (roosters, crocodiles!) 

         The vanGendt Arcade, Raadhuisstraat; the Nadia Hotel occupies one corner of the Arcade

The Nadia Hotel has very small rooms, steep winding stairways and no elevator. It's not the ideal hotel for everyone. But for adventuresome travelers who are looking for an affordable home-away-from-home in Amsterdam, in a great location just a 10 minute walk from Dam Square, this is a wonderful place. The staff treats you like family. And it's just like visiting the house of your Dutch Oma (grandmother), with all those knickknacks to make it so nice and gezellig. As a bonus, you can have your photo taken in the ground floor hall while you are standing in Nadia Hotel's gigantic wooden clompen (with a view of a Volendam windmill as a backdrop). Heavenly.