Breakfast at the Sad Dog Hotel
Waking up to 2026 in a hotel room at Schiphol Airport. After 8 years in the Netherlands, I’ve learned the only way for me to enjoy New Year’s Eve is to try and avoid the fireworks. For anyone unfamiliar with the country, there is a year round ban on fireworks with the exception of December 31st to January 1st. As a result, large numbers of humans adopt a Purge style approach to personal fireworks. A few people will die, many more will sustain life-changing injuries, there will be millions in property damage and unknown damage to the environment. A record €129m was spent on fireworks in 2025. For future years a national fireworks ban is being adopted. Although with an increasing number of attacks on emergency workers and decreased funding for public services, I’m skeptical about the effectiveness of such a ban. The escalating violence suggests deeper issues than just fireworks policy.
This explains the hotel choice. Schiphol Airport is one of Europe’s busiest airports and a national institution, there are strict regulations against fireworks in its surroundings. Hotels near the airport must have well-insulated bedrooms. The Hilton, completed in 2015, offers rooms that open onto a full-height atrium or look out on the Airport and surrounding area. We opted for the runway facing view as my son and I enjoy plane watching, with such a well connected airport it is a great way to explore the world.
Sad Dogs? We descended into the atrium yesterday to find a 30 min queue for check in. The line was almost entirely made of humans and their dog friends seeking a peaceful refuge from the rest of the country’s desire to explode. It reminded me of the Dark Materials trilogy where each human has a daemon companion and everyone’s daemon is a dog. The national broadcaster covered it: Hondenhotel voor vuurwerkvrij oud en nieuw, in total about 180 dogs were checked in, up from 80 dogs last year.
It was definitely one of the more peaceful nights’ sleep we have had over New Year’s Eve in this country. We slept peacefully through the fireworks with a relaxed and happy dog. Although we were woken up by the National Alert system informing us the emergency services were very busy.
