Occupying a former bank-turned–music conservatory in Amsterdam’s Oud Zuid museum quarter, the Conservatorium Hotel (27 Van Baerlestraat; 31-20/670-1811; conservatoriumhotel.com; doubles from US$440) looks set to hit all the right notes with its December debut. A two-year makeover of the landmark 1901 building by Milan-based designer Piero Lissoni has restored its original Javanese teak floors and lofty ceilings, while 128 guests rooms—many configured as double-height duplexes—offer a demure, minimalist counterpoint to the fin-de-siècle architecture. Appropriately, classical music will waft throughout the hotel’s glass-topped atrium space; for those in search of an extra dose of culture, the Rijksmuseum is just steps away, as are the shops of P.C. Hooftstraat, the Dutch capital’s answer to Rodeo Drive. –Anita Surewicz

Originally appeared in the December 2011/January 2012 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Dutch Revivial”)