Rooms and doors of Oud-West
Most readers in Oud-West have rented an apartment rather than a hotel room. The typical flat takes one floor of an old house, reached by a very steep stair, with a living room at the front, a bedroom at the back and a small bathroom squeezed between them. Some have been carefully renovated, with underfloor heating and walk-in showers; others keep their original narrow proportions. A few hotels line the Overtoom and the streets near the park, and one occupies part of the old tram depot. There are no night porters in most of these places, so the street door is opened by you, which keeps the arrival private. Some rental hosts leave a key box by the door and a long list of house rules about noise after ten; a quiet visitor at eleven breaks none of them, and she will leave the stairwell as silently as she climbed it. The area is lively in the evening, with neighbours cycling home late and cafés closing around one, but the side streets turn residential and quiet almost as soon as you step off the main roads.











