The height of style! CRANE is transformed into luxury hotel with rotating suites and panoramic views from the pool
- The Hotel Faralda in Amsterdam used to operate as a crane on the banks of the River Ij
- Now hosts elite guests for its swanky rotating suites decked out by a top team of interior designers
- The suites are the most expensive in the Netherlands after developers splurged £660,000 building each room
- Customers will pay around £340 each to afford luxuries such as outdoor hot tub and TV broadcasting studio
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You'll have to crane your neck to get a glimpse of this swanky hotel's penthouse suite - after ambitious architects built it into one of the world's oldest and tallest mechanical structures.
This beast of a crane in Amsterdam boasts three luxury hotel suites, a spa pool and a TV broadcasting studio catering to holidaymakers who aren't afraid of getting high in the Dutch city.
The 50-metre maritime crane, one of the world's oldest and highest, was doomed for decay after being branded 'impossible' to develop.
The hot tub at The hotel Faralda in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; one of the swankiest hotels in Holland, after its former life as a crane
The Free Spirit suite in the Dutch hotel; there are three luxurious design hotel suites and a TV broadcasting studio
The crane hotel is certainly an imposing structure, and has an unusual luxury that isn't associated with this kind of structureShare
But just three years later, the crane is hosting elite guests for its swanky rotating suites decked out by a top team of interior designers and its panoramic-view pool, now called The hotel Faralda in Amsterdam.
The 250-ton crane, rising from the ground at the hip NDSM site on the River Ij's banks, was saved despite the creation of the hotel being dismissed as 'technically impossible', according to its spokesman Edwin Kornmann Rudi.
Mr Rudi said: 'But after years of preparation there was a point of no return. Nowhere else in the world is there something as unique, as big and high as this hotel.
How the crane used to look, when it was used for more agricultural purposes on the docks
The Secret Suite in The Hotel Faralda will offer a panoramic view over Amsterdam and the river as well as some night-time luxury
The 250-ton crane was saved despite the creation of the hotel being dismissed as 'technically impossible'
After years of development fraught with technical difficulties, one of the oldest and highest maritime cranes in the world is open for business
'This has put an end to the fight against the decline of the historic harbour crane. 'The Grand Dame has finally reached her destination as the most extravagant Crane Hotel in the world.
'It is also the most talked about wedding location in the Netherlands. We've had people getting married in the studio, sleeping in one of the three suites and having their wedding night start in the hot tub at the top of the crane.'
Alongside deluxe dining and sumptuous suites, the steel colossus also boasts a private business club where internationally oriented companies and stakeholders to use the crane for all sorts of sessions.
The suites are the most expensive in the Netherlands after developers splurged £660,000 building EACH room, setting customers back by £340 each.
This monumental 50-metre high port crane had been decaying but now hosts three luxurious design hotel suites and a TV broadcasting studio
The engineering marvel was constructed by hundreds of companies and manufacturers in the Dutch city making a joint effort
The view from The hotel Faralda in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; the high-end suites are each decorated by a top team of interior designers
While relaxing in the hot tub, you might be hoping the wind doesn't play up as you will be at quite a height
The crane's TV studio is meanwhile used for high-profile television and music productions, measuring 15-square metres and hosting guests for fancy corporate parties.
The engineering marvel was constructed by hundreds of companies and manufacturers in the Dutch city making a joint effort to turn scrap metal into Savoy-style suites.
Architects say the crane still moves in the wind and is fitted with a thrust bearing made of gold - which allows the suites to rotate. New foundations were built to withstand the weight of the beast-like structure after the quay of the old wharf was not strong enough.
