Doka: Pub in Oosterparkbuurt, Amsterdam

Doka is the sound bar of the Volkshotel on the Wibautstraat in Amsterdam Oost, a small room for DJs, live music and culture. Go when you care more about the records and the sound system than about a big club night. It started out as the hotel's cocktail bar and was rebuilt as a sound bar, with sound quality put ahead of volume. Under the name Doka Studio, selectors and diggers play at the weekend, often with guest labels and collectives from Amsterdam and abroad. Doka Live gives a stage to live acts, and Doka Culture has included a house dance class. The room has also hosted Sunday day parties with the creative workspace in the building. The room is small, and the hotel warns that it cannot guarantee entry, so arrive early on a busy night. Opening times depend on the programme, so check the agenda rather than turning up on spec. The Volkshotel itself sits in the former head office of the newspaper de Volkskrant, opened in 1965, which became a hotel in 2014. Canvas, on the seventh floor, is in the same building.