HOTEL BLOG 11. The Night Watch

14-05-2021 - I originally thought it could be a hotel without night occupancy, but that didn’t fit in with the way we want to welcome our guests. So we had to create a little room, in the Wonder Room close to the reception, for the person who keeps watch at night: ‘the night watch’ »

HOTEL BLOG 10: Call with Rutte

20-04-2021 - Because the virus is not behaving as the specialists believe it should behave and the measures are based on hospital admissions, these measures are constantly being adjusted which makes planning a tricky business. But one thing is clear by now: we will, almost exactly at the moment that outside terraces can open again, open the lobby-hotel-roof terrace »

HOTEL BLOG 9. Music

20-03-2021 - I really love music. When I was at secondary school in Amsterdam, I went home every day via the Utrechtsestraat, past the ‘Concerto’ record shop. I looked it up and they are still there! The collection was enormous back then and they had loads of second-hand records. I spent almost all the money I earned doing odd jobs on vinyl »

HOTEL BLOG 8. Hotel collection

27-02-2021 - When we first started thinking about our hotel, we had not yet thought about the almost certain creation of a hotel collection. A large proportion of my designs are born when I cannot find suitable objects to fit into my world. There were all kinds of things I couldn’t find: electrical sockets, skirting boards, sinks, towel rails, lettering, switches, lighting, beds, bedside tables, desks, suitcase-unpacking-bench-tables, radiators, door handles, etc., etc. »

HOTEL BLOG 7. Party. Immersed in our and your own world!

11-02-2021 - A small hotel, which circumstances dictate will open its doors at an as yet undefined moment, has its pros and cons. One advantage of not knowing when you will be able to open is that there is no point in setting a date »

HOTEL BLOG 6. Ideas: restaurant in the lobby

22-01-2021 - The very first plan was to move the Wonder Room down one floor and to have the hotel only on the top floor. This floor would then house both the lobby and the hotel rooms. At just the right time, Jeanine said: ‘why don’t you use the kitchen and the whole setting of the Wonder Room as the lobby, reception and breakfast room?’ »

HOTEL BLOG 5. DAKBAR

14-01-2021 - If there is one thing that has become clear to me through writing these pieces, it is that I actually do whatever I like. Or rather, that my way of working inevitably involves constantly changing the original plan depending on the possibilities and necessities that present themselves as the project progresses »

HOTEL BLOG 4. Crisis proof

22-12-2020 - I remember that, a few years after we had moved into our new premises, I very optimistically thought that all crises would pass us by. After all, even the credit crisis had not affected us. But I did not realise that this was just a coincidence. Just before the crisis we had invested in a new building and this investment yielded a plus on one side that just happened to be greater than the minus on the other »

HOTEL BLOG 3. Drawing

11-12-2020 - Instead of gathering piles of paper, I now immediately tidy away all my drawings in a carousel of files in my office. These carousels are really beautiful, and visitors often express their envy, saying that they would love to have such a carousel themselves »

HOTEL BLOG 2. Stupid I haven’t thought of it!

05-12-2020 - The question is, is it smart to do a little bit of everything instead of concentrating on what you are really good at? I have been dedicated to the entire process, from idea to consumer, right from the very beginning. Something that wasn’t normal even then and that resulted in several frowns »