In most places in Amsterdam, the municipality no longer allows new hotels. There was still a kind of shortcut through the zoning plan. But as of November 1, 2021, that will no longer work.
There are a lot of hotels in Amsterdam: 533, with about 40,000 hotel rooms. Even more hotels do not add anything for Amsterdammers. Since 2017, the municipality has therefore only given permission for the construction of a hotel under strict conditions. In the overnight stay policy, Amsterdam is therefore divided into ‘no areas’ and ‘no, unless areas’:
- In the no-areas, no permission is given for the construction of a new hotel.
- In the no-unless areas, permission for the construction of a hotel is only given under strict conditions.
In the no-areas it is almost impossible to build additional hotels. The no-areas have also gotten bigger. This can be seen on the old and new map with no-areas (PDF, 412 kB). A ground lease contains agreements about what can be built on the plot, and how much. In order to be able to build a hotel, the agreements in a ground lease must be adjusted. Because the municipality will no longer cooperate with this from 1 November 2021, the last shortcut to new hotels is now really closed.
Still more hotel rooms
About 2,400 new hotel rooms will be added in the coming years. This has to do with the space that the zoning plans previously offered. But in the no-areas, it stays that way. In most of the city, including the Centrum and West districts, the municipality is now introducing a hotel stop.
Only with added value
A new hotel is only possible in neighborhoods where the hotel can still have added value due to the development of the neighbourhood. Like at IJburg Strandeiland. In addition, it must be a unique and special hotel concept and meet strict requirements in the field of neighborhood involvement, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.
Find out more: Overnight stay policy Amsterdam, Leasehold contract