Escorts in Amsterdam West

West is broad. The Westerpark anchors the north, with the Westergas complex of former gasworks buildings now holding restaurants, a cinema, a brewery and event halls, and the Haarlemmerweg running along its edge. South of that, the Kinkerstraat and the De Clercqstraat cut through the Kinkerbuurt, with De Hallen, the old tram depot, at the centre of it. Further south again the Overtoom runs parallel to the Vondelpark, whose western half is in this district. Sloterdijk, in the north west corner, is a railway junction with a skyline.

Inside the ring, sixty minutes and comfortably so. Trams cross the district in every direction, the Kinkerstraat is ten minutes from the Leidseplein, and the Westerpark is a short walk from the Haarlemmerdijk. Sloterdijk is different: a quarter of an hour further by tram or train, on the far side of the ring, so the desk quotes seventy-five minutes there. In the evening peak the Haarlemmerweg and the Overtoom both slow down, and a bicycle beats a taxi on either.

The one address detail that matters here is the street, because the district is long and two hotels can share a name on a sign and be a kilometre apart. Give the desk the street and she goes to the right door.

The Jordaan starts on the other side of the Singelgracht, a five minute walk from the Westerpark. Oud-Zuid is the far side of the Vondelpark, fifteen minutes through it on foot. Amsterdam Centrum is a straight tram ride down the Kinkerstraat and the Leidsestraat. Amsterdam Noord is across the water from Sloterdijk and quicker via Centraal. From Sloterdijk the airport at Schiphol is a direct train of about a quarter of an hour, and the airport hotels keep their ninety minute notice all the same.