Amsterdam's US$10,000-a-night hotel anchors hip new district

IT'S home to Amsterdam's most expensive hotel room at US$10,000/night, an exclusive members-only club and a revolving restaurant that serves up 120 euros (S$182) tasting menus, along with panoramic views. But you won't find this city's newest star attraction along its quaint canals or in the notorious red light district.

Instead hop onto the ferry for the three-minute ride from Central Station across the harbour, to the up-and-coming Noord district, where a boxy, 1970s-era office building has been transformed into A'dam Tower, a 24/7 entertainment destination of music, dance, and dining.

It's an unlikely setting for such a creative endeavour: a 22-storey high-rise that served as the headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell for nearly four decades. And though it stood just across the harbour from Amsterdam's bustling Central Station, few had ever been inside - or even got close to it. The building was part of a 66-acre private waterfront complex of laboratories, offices, and staff housing that served the oil and gas giant - an area entirely off limits to the public since the mid-1960s.