Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the Netherlands at its most architectural. After much of the historic centre was destroyed during the Second World War, the city chose reinvention over reconstruction, becoming a laboratory for Modernism, high-rise architecture and radical urban planning. That experimental spirit continues today in buildings by OMA, MVRDV and countless younger Dutch practices, while surviving pre-war districts and former harbour warehouses add texture to the skyline. From the Cube Houses and Nieuwe Instituut to Katendrecht and the monumental port, Rotterdam is a city that rarely treats architecture cautiously.

Food and drink share the same international outlook. The city’s history as one of the world’s great ports has created a remarkably diverse culinary landscape, with strong Indonesian, Surinamese, Cape Verdean, Chinese, Turkish and North African influences. Market stalls and neighbourhood restaurants coexist with ambitious chef-led kitchens, natural wine bars, craft breweries and some of the Netherlands’ most interesting cocktail spots. Former docklands such as Katendrecht have become particularly good places to eat and drink, often inside warehouses and industrial buildings that retain their original rough edges.

Rotterdam’s most interesting hotels naturally embrace architecture and adaptive reuse. Modernist landmarks, former warehouses, historic offices and bold contemporary buildings offer a refreshing alternative to the more traditional hotel landscape elsewhere in the Netherlands. At DNA Hotels, we curate the places where architecture, food and Rotterdam’s unapologetically experimental character come together—hotels that capture a city whose greatest attraction is its determination never to look like anywhere else.