Conservatorium is a gorgeous five star hotel ideally located in central Amsterdam. Situated on Museumplein the hotel is perfect for visiting the city’s main museums, including the Van Gogh Museum and the recently reopened Rijksmuseum as well as glamorous shopping streets like P.C Hooftstraat and Van Baerlestraat.
The hotel is a member of Leading Hotels which says “this architectural masterpiece is exceptional, combining history with contemporary design”. Designed by Piero Lissoni, the hotel has a very modern feel, with lots of clean lines and the occasional splash of colour. This combines with the high ceilings of the nineteenth century Neo-Gothic architecture to create an stunning ambience. Rodney Bolt of The Telegraph described Conservatorium as “a stylish design explosion in a 19th-century bank building”.
Everybody who stays at Conservatorium is very well looked after. Each guest is allocated a ‘personal host’ who acts as their own concierge. This should be particularly helpful for less able guests.
The access and facilities for less able guests sound very good too. In fact, they have been kind enough to provide us with extra information on the hotel’s accessibility – some of which is much more specific than could be worked out with the naked eye. The entrance is step free and at 95cm wide, is easily wide enough for average wheelchairs (75cm width). Inside, wherever there are steps there is an alternative route (for instance, to get to the public toilets, which are upstairs, there is a lift available) and the flooring is a combination of tiles and carpet. There are two adapted toilets for disabled guests in public areas – these are 15 metres from the main area, with natural stone floor, two grab rails and a sink at wheelchair height (they do not, however, have a floor to ceiling mirror).
Conservatorium has two bedrooms which are equipped for less able guests. These have been very well designed for wheelchair users, with wardrobes, mirrors. plugs and entry key card system at a lowered height. The bathroom has a wheel in shower, with shower seat and grab rails and the sink is at 82cm height. It basically has all the adapted facilities one would expect.
Conservatorium combines beautiful design with a good level of accessibility. We’re going to give the hotel a provisional 2.5 BBS Ticks with a good chance of being pushed up to a 3 when we’ve audited it.