The Best Boutique Hotels In Leeuwarden and Friesland, Netherlands

This sleek hotel lies roughly 300 metres beyond Leeuwarden’s historic town walls and therefore is within walking distance from many of the city’s main landmarks, including Oldehove tower and the Fries Museum. The hotel’s exterior has an almost minimalist design, complete with white, geometrical outer walls and lines of panelled windows. There are 28 rooms located inside the hotel – each of which is equipped with luxurious beds, air conditioning and espresso machines. Other facilities at Stenden include large conference rooms and a highness restaurant that mainly serves refined, modern dishes inspired by Dutch cuisine.

The building that houses this boutique hotel once served as Leeuwarden’s main post office and was designed in a stately manner befitting an important, civil institute. Many of the building’s original fittings are still present and match wonderfully with the hotel’s welcoming, jovial ambience. For instance, Post-Plaza’s on-site grand-café features incredibly high ceilings with exposed timber beams while its outer facade includes stunning red-brick motifs that recall other classic pieces of modern Dutch architecture such as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Around half of the hotel’s rooms are located within the former post office and the rest are found within an adjacent equally magnificent building that originally contained a bank.

Anyone searching for central, easily accessible accommodation should definitely check out this charming, historic hotel on stationweg, as its entrance looks directly onto Leeuwarden’s main railway station. The hotel has plenty to offer guests aside from centrality, including an impressive range of simple, cosy rooms, daily breakfast buffets and an on-site brasserie. It is possible to book package deals with Hotel Oranje that include two nights at the hotel, a three-course meal and a trip to either Ameland or Schiermonnikoog islands.

The Dutch Royal family once lived inside the palace that would become Fletcher-Hotel Stadhouderlijk Hof and there are still many visual reminders of their presence spread around the building and its surroundings. The palace was converted into a hotel in the late 1990s and currently features 28 stunning rooms that range from deluxe suites with four-poster beds and jacuzzis, to more modest ensuite lodgings. There’s also an on-site restaurant in the hotel that has a lovely landscaped terrace.

This modest down-to-earth hotel doubles up as one of Leeuwarden’s most popular pubs and features a charming, rustic bar area complete with brown wooden furnishing and old school brass taps. The hotel’s rooms are mainly located upstairs and contain all the essentials, including beds, desks and closets. Many of Leeuwarden’s main sites are basically on Hotel ’t Anker’s doorsteps due to its central location on Eewal.