Rooms and doors of Leidseplein
The hotels around Leidseplein are a mixed programme: big-name properties on the square and along Stadhouderskade, smaller ones stacked above cafés on the side streets, and a run of modest canal-house hotels along Leidsegracht and Kerkstraat. What they share is a front desk that has seen everything. Guests come back from concerts at two and from the casino at three, in groups, in couples and alone, so a woman walking in with a structured bag at half past one is the least eventful thing to cross that lobby all night. The district's rhythm matters more than its buildings. Between eleven and three the pavements are full and taxis crawl, which means a woman on foot beats a car to almost any address. After the clubs close the crowd thins sharply and the hour turns into one of the quietest in the city, which many readers prefer. A review is always better written once the audience has gone home.

