IN TRANSIT: AMSTERDAM -- I first visited the Lloyd in January 2005, not long after it opened. Although the visit was ostensibly to garner press for the boutique hotel, the first wave of rave reviews was already cresting in design magazines. Since then, the Lloyd has become the unofficial headquarters of Amsterdam visitors more interested in the architecture of the Easter Docklands than chip shops or call girls. From the outside, the Lloyd is interesting because it stands in such stark contrast to the Jetsons-esque buildings surrounding it (like the elementary school I posted about last week). It's a giant brick pile dating back to 1875, and at various points was an emigrant processing center, a prison, and a juvie hall. (Which might explain the prison-like unglassed-in showers present in even the best rooms.) Today it's a unique boutique containing its own "Cultural Embassy," an exhibition space that feels organic to the hotel, rather than something grafted on in the pursuit of Platinum AmEx-equipped aesthetes.

But what makes the Lloyd truly special is the veritable furniture fair of designers represented inside. The dutch firm MVRDV set out to ensure that no two rooms were alike, resulting in a star system of rooms (rated one through five, with five being "exceptional") that include features like a bed for sleeping eight or a grand piano or a bathtub that sits in the middle of the room. I was given a four-star room on the fourth floor that was spacious, had plenty of light, and maybe the softest bed I've ever slept in. And then there was the shower, which sprayed water across half the room as it ricocheted off my body. I put down towels to clean up the mess while grumbling about such an obvious design flaw. The next morning at breakfast, I overheard a chirpy English girl complaining about the same problem. "What, your room didn't come with a squeegee?" her companion asked. No, but mine did. It just never occurred to me I would have to squeegee my own floor after every use of the shower. I'm such an American that way.

Read more of Greg Lindsay's travel blog, IN TRANSIT.