Would you like to stay in a repurposed watch house on one of Amsterdam’s canal bridges? The Lloyd Hotel is developing unused bridge watch houses into small hotel rooms in a chain called Sweets.

AMSTERDAM’S UNUSED BRIDGE WATCH HOUSES TO BECOME SMALL HOTELS

The Lloyd Hotel is collaborating with architecture firm Space & Matter to develop the bridge watch houses into small hotels.

These “brugwachtershuisjes” are scattered around Amsterdam. Eighteen in total have been mapped and tagged as future hotel spaces. These watch houses were previously shelters for the bridge operators who were in charge of opening the bridges to let ships and tall boats pass. Now the bridges are remotely operated and there is no need for personnel to staff them all the time. The structures, some of which were designed by famous architects like HP Berlage and Piet Kramer, can now be repurposed!

Sweets Hotel

Wouldn’t you love to stay in one of these unique places with beautiful water views?

The hotel chain will be called Sweets, a fun play on the word “suites”. Stay tuned and we will keep you updated as the project develops. Perhaps you can be the first to book your stay in a bridge house hotel! In the meantime, check out these other unique repurposed lodgings in Amsterdam:

Leidinghuis: sleep in a converted gas factory building in the Westerpark
Faralda: stay in a converted crane used for shipbuilding
Hotel de Windketel: one of Amsterdam’s smallest hotels

For more information, visit architects Space & Matter and Sweetshotel.amsterdam.

Are you fascinated by these bridge houses? Check out Cafe de Sluyswacht, a very old watch house that is now a cafe. Other ideas to convert these structures include a small cafe and club in Noord. How fun!