Nuru Massage on New Year's Eve in Amsterdam

Amsterdam on the thirty-first of December is loud in a way few cities are. Private fireworks start in the afternoon and build to midnight, when the sky over the IJ, the Amstel and every neighbourhood lights up for the better part of an hour. Many visitors plan the evening months in advance. A growing number of them plan a quiet part of it too, and a nuru massage on New Year's Eve, in a warm hotel room before or after the fireworks, is one of the more popular ways to do that. It is also one of the hardest bookings of the year to arrange at short notice.

Why the night is booked early

New Year is on the house's list of peak dates, alongside Christmas. Requests start arriving in November, and by the last week of December the evening hours are largely taken. Every booking for the night of the thirty-first and the early hours of the first is confirmed with half of the fee sent ahead, regardless of whether the house knows you, how long the session is, or how soon it starts. The deposit is paid by card, Revolut, Wise or crypto within the confirmed thread, and the rest is handed to the therapist when she arrives.

Nuru massage on New Year's Eve: before, during or after midnight

There are three common shapes to the night.

• Early evening, six to nine: a session before dinner or before heading out. Guests arrive at the fireworks warm, calm and in no hurry.
• Across midnight: a two-hour or longer booking that spans the countdown. The windows of many hotel rooms give a view of the fireworks, and some guests pause the session to watch.
• After one in the morning: the most requested window. The streets are still loud, but the room is quiet, and the night ends in sleep.

An overnight is also possible, starting in the evening and running into the first morning of the year.

Getting through the city that night

Parts of the centre are crowded and some streets are closed around the main gathering points. Therapists travel on foot and by bike, and the forty to sixty minutes after confirmation that hold everywhere central still hold. It helps to send precise instructions: the hotel entrance to use if the main one is closed, a bell number for an apartment, or a spot to meet if the street is blocked. Hotel lobbies are busy on this night, so mention if reception needs a visitor's name.

Preparing the room

December nights in Amsterdam are cold and damp, and the gel needs warmth. Turn the heating up as soon as the booking is confirmed and keep windows closed, both for temperature and because the noise of fireworks is constant. Draw the curtains; the flashes are distracting during the glide. If you want to watch midnight from the window, leave one curtain easy to open. Eat and drink water before the session, and keep the champagne for afterwards. The standard preparation is covered in the guide to the shower and the sheet.

Rates and the deposit for the last night of the year

There is no holiday surcharge. A single guest with one therapist pays €180 for an hour, €360 for two hours and €540 for three; an overnight is €1,250. For a couple with one therapist, the couple row applies, €360 an hour and €2,500 overnight. For two therapists attending one guest, the single-client, two-therapist row applies, €360 an hour and €2,880 overnight. A three-hour session spanning midnight therefore means €270 ahead and €270 in the room. Every figure is set out in each therapist profile.

A deposit for New Year's Eve is not refunded if the plan changes. Because the night is so heavily requested, it is worth being sure of your schedule before booking. The date can be moved once, more than twenty-four hours ahead, to a date within two weeks, which in practice means an evening early in January.

Booking

Write nuru, New Year's Eve, the address, the start time and the length, with a first and second choice of therapist. Book in early December if you can. The reply comes in about ten minutes with a name and the deposit details. As on every night of the year, guests and therapists alike are over twenty-one.