Hôtel Droog

The Dutch design collective's new endeavour is only a hotel in the loosest sense of the word, adding a multi-layered design destination to a city full of hidden hotspots.

Two Dutch design icons are adding hotels to Amsterdam this year. Marcel Wanders' Andaz is scheduled to open in mid-October and Hôtel Droog will be ready to host its first guests from earlier in the month — but it's fair to assume the two spaces won't compete with each other. In true Wanders' style, Andaz will most likely scream luxury accommodation, whereas it's debatable whether Hôtel Droog can really be called a hotel at all.

The project is an extension of the Staalstraat store, so passers-by won't notice many changes from the outside, save for new signage announcing "Hôtel Droog". It's hard to shake the preconceptions of what a hotel should be, though, and visitors may be a tad confused with what awaits inside. "We've separated the various functions of a hotel into a different kind of hospitality experience," explains Droog's Machiel Brautigam. The aim is to bring a new cultural hub into the city centre. Instead of merely providing a bed for the night, Droog wants to offer a holistic destination in which you can eat, drink, shop, visit exhibitions, receive beauty advice, or even attend a design-related lecture.

But with so many different programmes going on, where exactly are the beds? Well, while you can actually spend the night here, there's only one room. It's located on the highest level overlooking the surrounding rooftops. The light, airy space is decked out in Droogness, giving the brand a chance to showcase new products. While it may function as a glorified showroom, if guests are looking for immersion in Dutch design, they'll definitely get what they came for. The rest of the complex offers more opportunities to do so, while also including contributions from further afield.

Top: The garden, by French designers Claude Pasquer and Corinne Détroyat, is a hybrid of fantasy and reality, where astroturf meets greenery and wire-mesh flowers sprout from the earth. Above: Overlooking the garden, the café is intentionally above street level. On one wall hangs Berend Strik’s <em>A Stitch In Time</em>, a reinterpretation of Rembrandt’s <em>De Staalmeesters</em>, a painting that once hung in the same space — Top: The garden, by French designers Claude Pasquer and Corinne Détroyat, is a hybrid of fantasy and reality, where astroturf meets greenery and wire-mesh flowers sprout from the earth. Above: Overlooking the garden, the café is intentionally above street level. On one wall hangs Berend Strik’s *A Stitch In Time*, a reinterpretation of Rembrandt’s *De Staalmeesters*, a painting that once hung in the same space

The street-facing store — which has always been a spot for the design-conscious to peruse the latest products — remains relatively unchanged, but visitors are now lured into a large exhibition area beyond. Currently hosting Fantastical Investments — the result of Droog Lab's study on consumption habits in Russia — the exhibition room can also be adapted for various other events. From here, visitors can already catch a glimpse of the garden, which is enough to further stir one's curiosity.

The concept space featuring Weltevree’s product range, including outdoor tubs and stoves

It's a rare treat to encounter a homely garden that's open to the public in Amsterdam. Once a year, private patches of greenery are revealed during the city's Open Garden Days, but now Droog offers one all year round — albeit on a much smaller scale. While the garden has actually been there since March, it's only now starting to reach it's potential. Brautigam concedes that they also missed the nesting season, so it won't be until next year, once Spring returns, that things will really begin to blossom. The haven — by French designers Claude Pasquer and Corinne Détroyat — is a hybrid of fantasy and reality. Astroturf meets greenery and wire-mesh flowers sprout from the earth. Brautigam says that the garden reflects Droog's interest in biodiversity; manmade objects — such as a beehive and birds' nests — encourage nature to thrive where it can. The space is also designed for human interaction. A mushroom-shaped wood-storage unit with a hidden chair in the back faces additional seating to accommodate small meetings.

The "hotel" is home to three concept stores, the first of which is almost an extension of the garden. Quite fitting, then, that Weltevree's product range includes outdoor tubs and stoves. By re-creating an exterior setting, the team hopes to offer a semi-authentic experience for customers. Upstairs, the remaining retail outlets are more literal adaptations of hotel-related aspects: Cosmania — or the "beauty room" — stocks cosmetics rarely found in the Netherlands, while Het Kabinet, the "dressing room", offers exclusive fashion labels.

Instead of merely providing a bed for the night, Droog wants to offer a holistic destination in which you can eat, drink, shop, visit exhibitions, receive beauty advice, or even attend a design-related lecture

Cosmania — or the “beauty room” — stocks cosmetics rarely found in the Netherlands

Overlooking the garden, the café is intentionally above street level — a decision the Brautigam says was made to "maintain some exclusivity". On one wall hangs A Stitch In Time, a specially commissioned work of art by Berend Strik. The artist reinterpreted Rembrandt's De Staalmeesters — a painting that once hung in the same space — by working into a photograph with embroidery and stitches. While the café feels like yet another showroom for Droog products — because it is — it's also intimate enough to make visitors imagine they've stepped into someone's studio apartment (if that someone had the curating prowess of the powers that be at Droog).

How does the brand plan to spread the word about its latest venture? It doesn't, really. Droog is relying on word of mouth to pull in the punters, and it seems to be working already. "People are starting to realise there's a café upstairs and a clothes shop in the back," says Brautigam. "They're bringing their friends back to take a look." And while Hôtel Droog may only be a hotel in the loosest sense of the word, it adds a multi-layered design destination to a city full of hidden hotspots. Tracey Ingram

Het Kabinet, the “dressing room”, offers exclusive fashion labels, including Isabel Marant, Maison Martin Margiela and Hussein Chalayan

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