Rotterdam is a city in constant transformation, shaped by ambitious urban development and a thriving culture of architecture and the arts. It offers an impressive range of museums that reflect both its maritime heritage and contemporary creative identity.
The Fenix Museum of Migration is now firmly established as part of the city’s cultural landscape, while the Nederlands Fotomuseum has recently entered a new chapter with its relocation to the striking Santos building — a former coffee warehouse historically connected to Brazil. Through a collaboration between the German architecture practice Renner Hainke Wirth Zirn and the Dutch firm WDJArchitecten, the building was transformed into a contemporary museum space extending across nine floors, which opened in February 2026.
I stayed at the Hotel nhow, set within the monumental De Rotterdam complex on Wilhelminapier. This hotel has become one of the defining architectural experiences of modern Rotterdam. Designed by Rem Koolhaas and his practice OMA, the building reflects Rotterdam’s ambition, scale, and constant reinvention. The hotel occupies part of the vast De Rotterdam “vertical city” development on the River Maas, directly beside the iconic Erasmus Bridge. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame dramatic views across the skyline, river traffic, and the evolving southern docklands. See below, the view from my hotel room on the 22nd floor, which enhanced my visit as the Maas is such a busy river with constant traffic, and fascinating to look out onto.
Architecturally, it perfectly suits the atmosphere of contemporary Rotterdam: raw concrete, steel, glass, industrial textures, and bold modern lines softened by contemporary art and playful installations. The interiors were also designed under Koolhaas’s direction, making it one of the few hotels where the architectural vision extends from exterior form through to the rooms and public spaces. I never drew closed the curtains the view was compelling.
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| The Erasmusbrug"Erasmus Bridge" is a combined cable-stayed and bascule bridge. Construction began in 1986 and was completed in 1996. Nicknamed 'The Swan' |
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