Hotel Arena is situated in the former St. Elisabeth building, a city monument alongside Amsterdam's historical city centre. It was built in 1890 and first used as Roman-Catholic orphanage. Later it became an old age home, and in the 1980's a youth hostel. In 1999 a series of renovations were begun and it was upgraded to a 3 star hotel. A number of noted designers participated in the renovation, and the result is a modern but character-full building. Hotel Arena is centre of both international