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The history of Victoria Hotel Amsterdam

The Victoria Hotel opened its doors on August 19, 1890 after intensive constructions.
The German architect J.F Henkenhaf started the whole idea for a hotel in 1883 when he founded the company N.V. Hotelonderneming Victoria Hotel. 

He strategically planned the hotel across the Amsterdam Central Station, on the corner of Damrak and Prins Hendrikkade. In order to build his hotel he had the tear down a few of the original houses on the Damrak and buy some properties that were not yet in his posession on Prins Hendrikkade. Henkenhaf and his partner were also the architects of the Kurhaus in Scheveningen that opened in 1885. Apparently they were motivated after their successful expansion of an other hotel in Amsterdam, Krasnapolsky. Damrak 1 was known as the house with the small tower which is still a characteristic landmark of Amsterdam when you arrive through the Central Station main entrance. He also tried to obtain the buildings of numbers 47 and 45 on Prins Hendrikkade but he never managed due to high prices. That is why up to today the hotel is built around these two buildings, now souvenir shops.

The hotel was the first in the Netherlands that had electric lighting throughout the whole building including all the rooms. And to bring back noise from outside to a minimum all rooms had double windows.
The hotel attracted the rich and famous from th very first day and welcomed local and international guests. Celebrities like Mata Hari, Billy Graham, Louis Armstrong, the German actress and singer Zarah Leander, British actress Glenda Jackson and boogie woogie rock & roll legend Fats Domino are only a few to name. 

http://victoria-hotel-amsterdam.com/history.html