Inside the Amsterdam Social Hub which inspired Glasgow's take
From Clydeside to canals and beyond, Scottish entrepreneur Charlie MacGregor mixes student accommodation and hotels
It is located on the banks of the River Amstel, a waterway whose edges are lined with houseboats complete with floral displays and bikes propped up outside, with the occasional brightly-coloured kayaker quietly paddling through the water.
The Social Hub Amsterdam City is my home for a two-night stay in the wonderful Netherlands capital, and located a scenic walk of about 30 to 40 minutes from the city centre.
The property is part of the growing presence across Europe of The Social Hub brand - a concept mixing hotel and student accommodation that is the brainchild of Scottish entrepreneur Charlie MacGregor.
The Amsterdam-headquartered group earlier this year debuted its first UK property, in Glasgow’s Merchant City, and its boss (who grew up in Edinburgh) said he was proud to be “coming home… Scotland has been on my wishlist for a long, long time”.
While I love Glasgow, I am rather more excited about the prospect of heading to the Dutch metropolis, having been instantly and indelibly smitten by the city the first time I saw its calming, canal-lined streets.
After the quick flight from Edinburgh into Schipol, I take a train and then the underground, getting off at the Wibautstraat station, with the hotel just a few minutes’ walk away.
The property has a young, bright, bustling vibe, enhanced by the cafe and shop in the lobby. After checking in, I head up to my room, a compact, comfy space with a student-y vibe, including a grey-led industrial colourscheme, and desk underneath shelves giving a burst of colour with bright-covered books and plants. There is a double bed (which has a sign saying “right here waiting for you” above it, giving a rather edgy dimension to the space) and a TV.
I set off by tram for my first activity of the trip, a visit to the famous Rijksmuseum, which is billed as the Netherlands’ national museum, displaying more than 8,000 works of Dutch art and history. I make sure to take a look at Rembrandt’s famous The Night Watch, which is large both in stature - about 3.8 metres high and 4.5 long - and significance.
I then take a stroll around the surrounding area, the city’s museum quarter that is a work of art in its own right, full of high-end boutiques, cafes, and restaurants.
After heading back to the hotel, I have dinner at its in-house restaurant, and the menu is an eclectic and international mix, but I pounce on the opportunity to try Dutch speciality bitterballen, crispy croquette-meatball hybrids that are apparently a popular snack in Amsterdam bars and are traditionally served with mustard.
The following day I get a proper look around The Social Hub Amsterdam City, and see its amenities including a co-working space on the top floor with excellent views of the city, bikes you can hire, and a shop selling items such as sweatshirts made by Makers Unite, a charity that employs people including asylum-seekers and refugees to give them a new career in textiles, and with a view to “shifting narratives around migration globally”.
I then head into Amsterdam on foot and spend an enjoyable morning pottering around the canal belt, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is also home to photography museum Foam. It has a lovely cafe, and is currently hosting an exhibition titled Rebels, showing the works of punk and hip-hop photographer Janette Beckman.
That is followed by a trip to the Willet-Holthuysen House, a 17th-century canal house that was bequeathed to the state in 1895, and has been preserved to show how its former occupants, the Willet-Holthuysen couple, lived.It also often hosts a contemporary exhibition, with the current offering titled Grand March: A Historic House through a Ballroom Lens, showcasing the underground ballroom culture providing a catwalk for gay and trans people, and while the two worlds are centuries apart, the more modern of the two’s opulent outfits, trophies, and artfully laid out copies of Vogue magazine fit in very well with the house’s decor and furnishings in rich colours including sapphire-blue wall coverings.
After a rest back at the hotel, I hop back on the underground for a trip up to the more northerly part of the city to Chateau Amsterdam, billed as Holland’s first urban winery - and a partner of The Social Hub and airline KLM. It says it imports grapes from all over Europe (including Bordeaux and Tuscany) and makes its own wine on site, using everything from traditional clay amphorae to steel and concrete tanks, allowing it to “innovate and experiment with new flavours and experiences” in a highly eco-friendly way.
It in fact has quite the origin story, explaining that it can trace its history back to when founder Remy came home from school aged 15, and saw three concealed bottles of wine on the dining table next to a tasting sheet with his name on it. “The first 5,000 wines were bottled, labelled and corked in 2018. The rest is history.”
The venue offers wine tastings, and has a large restaurant in a warehouse-style space, with a clientele that seems to be largely Dutch, and therefore a welcome contrast to the more touristy offerings in the city centre.
I’m told the procedure is to have four courses - who am I to argue? - and I’m glad I take up the suggestion as the food is lip-smackingly excellent. The bar is set very high from the starter, crispy softshell crab breaded and fried with a lightly fragrant fennel salad and rich, juicy kalamata olives, followed by a hearty, warming tagliatelle ragu, the delicious pasta as yellow as Homer Simpson and served with parmesan and saffron butter. It goes very well with an accompanying glass of On Cloud Nine, a tasty Pinot Noir.
Then comes my last day, and I head out on a highly relaxing boat trip through the canals, where I learn facts including how Amsterdam is home to more than 170 nationalities, some 800,000 people altogether (and many more bicycles) as well as in excess of 1,200 bridges.
I am already compiling a mental note of what I would like to do on my next trip, including Moco Museum, with Moco short for modern and contemporary, and another townhouse, in this case home to works by Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, and more.And Warhol in fact once said: “The world fascinates me.” I share his thoughts, particularly when it comes to the amazing Amsterdam - and its ever-unfolding appeal.
Rooms at The Social Hub Amsterdam City start at £134 per night including breakfast and taxes. The Social Hub Amsterdam City, Wibautstraat 129, 1091 GL Amsterdam, +31 20 214 9999.
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