SS Rotterdam

The SS Rotterdam was launched in Rotterdam in 1958 as flag carrier of the Holland America Line. It was scheduled lines services between Rotterdam and New York City. HAL stopped its passenger line traffic in 1971. The SS Rotterdam was subsequently converted into a cruise ship. It stayed in service as a cruise liner until 1997 for the HAL. It was sold and renamed Rembrandt for Premier Cruises until that company went bankrupt in 2000. It was bought in 2003 for 5 million euros by a group of Rotterdam businessmen who had the plan to convert it into a hotel. The refit took way longer than planned and went over budget. Too much for the owners who sold it to a housing corporation. When the ship was finished the bill totalled 257million euros. The government then forced the housing corporation - whose statutory duty is to provide affordable housing - to sell the ship. The Westcord Hotel Group bought finally bought the ship for a bargain price of 29 million euros. Today Westcord operates the ship as a 4 star hotel, several restaurants, café's, bars, conference rooms and organised tours around the ship. Adress: 3e Katendrechtse Hoofd 25 3072 AM Rotterdam website: ssrotterdam.com Getting there: Metro Station Rijnhaven. From there take bus 77 to SS Rotterdam (terminus)