Villa Amalie

A Villa on Willemstad's Grandest Merchant Street

Villa Amalie & Villa Curiel sits at 21 Scharlooweg, the showcase street of Scharloo, the Willemstad district that wealthy merchant families built up from the 1870s and that UNESCO folded into the city's World Heritage historic centre in 1999. Scharlooweg carries the largest and most elaborate of the district's old villas, and this property keeps that address without turning itself into a museum piece: double rooms, studios and full apartments are arranged around a garden and a pool, built for guests who plan to stay rather than just pass through. It reads as much like a Willemstad address as a hotel, close to the harbour on one side and the beach on the other.

Why It Works

We selected this property for the range it offers inside one historic address: a double room for a short stay, a studio or full apartment with its own kitchen for a longer one, all sharing the same garden, pool and terrace. Guests return again and again to the same point in their reviews — hosts described as exceptionally friendly, helpful and accommodating — and that kind of hospitality, repeated across 241 reviews, is harder to fake than a design budget. Add a kitchen in several units and a continental, vegetarian or gluten-free breakfast on site, and the case for a longer stay makes itself.

Why This Location

Scharloo is a short walk from Willemstad's old town, about 600 yards from the city centre, with the nearest beach roughly 450 yards away. The district rewards a slow walk: wide 19th-century streets lined with the Spanish-style villas that made Scharloo the city's wealthiest neighbourhood after the 1877 hurricane, many now restored and repurposed as offices, archives and small museums. Playa Marichi, Avila Beach and the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge are all within easy reach, and both of Willemstad's bus terminals are close enough to leave the car at the hotel.

Fast Facts

• Prix: €€

• Vibe: historic, residential, easygoing

• Chambres: 5 units across Double, Studio, Apartment and Villa categories

• Best For: longer stays, travellers with pets, families wanting a kitchen

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the hosts, praised almost unanimously across 241 reviews

• Dining: continental, vegetarian or gluten-free breakfast on site; shared kitchen available

• Amenities: outdoor pool, garden, shared lounge, terrace, pet-friendly, free WiFi, free parking

• Attractions: Willemstad old town (~600 yards), nearest beach (~450 yards), Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge, Curaçao Sea Aquarium (4.8 km)

Rooms and Apartments Built to Stay In

The property spreads across four room categories — Double, Studio, Apartment and Villa — and the difference is really about how long a guest plans to stay. Every room has air conditioning, a private bathroom, a flat-screen television, a coffee machine, a fridge and a patio with a city view; the Studios, Apartments and Villa add a kitchen with a dishwasher, oven and microwave, enough to cook a proper dinner rather than rely on delivery. It is a layout built for a week or two, not a single night.

The Garden, the Pool and the Shared Kitchen

Outside, a garden and an outdoor pool anchor the property, with sun loungers, umbrellas and pool towels supplied, plus a pool bar for guests who would rather not leave the water for a drink. A shared lounge and terrace give the common areas a residential feel that matches the neighbourhood outside the gate, and pets are welcome throughout — a rarity on an island where many hotels still say no. Between the garden, the kitchens and the hosts next door, it reads less like a hotel stay than borrowing someone's house in the city's old quarter for a week.