The gorgeous Amsterdam American Hotel got its name because the founder of the original hotel, CAA (Cornelis Alidus Anne) Steinigeweg, spent many years in the USA and helped establish a Dutch settlement on Grand Island, New York. Steinigeweg ensured that architect Ed Cuypers adorned the Viennese Renaissance–style building with abundant Americana – life-sized Native American chiefs and their squaws as well as a 4m heraldic eagle over the entrance.
Completed in the early 1880s, less than two decades later it had already become too small and was demolished to make way for the magnificent replacement you see today. Also in Viennese Renaissance style and topped by a belltower, the new hotel opened at the turn of the 20th century; its art-nouveau design is the work of architect Willem Kromhout.
The hotel's Café Americain , a heritage-listed showpiece with a beautifully restored art-nouveau interior featuring stained glass, exquisite light fittings and murals, has long been affectionately dubbed 'Amsterdam's living room'.
