Hotel Des Indes The Hague – Hotel Review

I had the opportunity to stay at the Hotel Des Indes in The Hague, Netherlands this past weekend. The town center in The Hague, or Den Haag as it’s referred to locally, dates back to the mid to late Middle Ages and many of the streets and buildings are originals. This historic hotel was originally built in the early 1800′s as an estate for the Baron van Brienen. He planned to use the palatial property to host grand parties. Upon the Baron’s death in 1863 his eldest son inherited the estate and sold it to a hotelier. Throughout the years the hotel has retained its charm and witnessed some of history’s most memorable moments.

History

In 1900 all rooms were equipped with a phone, an intercom system connected with the reception, washing stands that had hot and cold running water and a bath tub. In 1902 a hydraulic elevator was built which worked on the pressure of the water. The hotel has developed a legendary guest list and on the first floor displays photographs and signatures of many of those guests. Among those guests are the Empress Eugénie of France, Mata Hari, President Theodore Roosevelt and Josephine Baker, who rented a separate room for her monkey. One of the most famous stories was that of famous ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. In 1931, she arrived to The Hague from Paris by train. The train had been involved in a severe accident and Pavlov offered assistance to her wounded fellow travelers. Following the accident she caught pneumonia and two days later, she died in Hotel Des Indes in a room on the first floor.

During the Second World War, the hotel was used not only by German forces, but by Jews who were in hiding. Long before the war started, the hotel manager built a pigeon house on top of the hotel. When the Germans arrived, the hotel manger and his wife wanted to escape to England. She was shot and did not survive. The pigeon house served as a hiding place for Jews. The irony was the both the German soldiers and the Jews at the same pigeons cooked by the same people. After the war, American troops settled into the Hotel Des Indes including Eisenhower, Churchill and Montgomery.

It is said that the hotel “do not disturb” sign was first used at the Hotel Des Indes when a member of a visiting royal family hung a feather outside his door to indicate that his servants should not enter the room.

Then:

Now:

Review

The Hotel Overview:

The hotel entry is regal and welcoming. I arrived in the afternoon and was greeted by a bellman dressed in traditional formal attire. He asked if I needed assistance with my bags, and when I said I did not, he walked off. I found my own way into the hotel and wandered aimlessly until I found reception. I was greeted by a very helpful and friendly agent who quickly checked me in. He reviewed the hotel amenities and informed me that breakfast was not included in my rate nor was it included for Platinum members of the Starwood Preferred Guest Program. I was offered as my check-in amenity the choice between 500 Starwood points or breakfast. I chose the points as I figured I would sleep in.

The agent showed me around the hotel lobby and when I expressed interest in the hotel history, he showed me to the first floor where pictures and signatures of famous guests hang. His service was excellent.

The Room:

I was upgraded to a Junior Suite which was one very large room with a king sized bed, a couch and chair, a desk and large entertainment center. The bathroom was quite big and had a shower and separate bath tub. There were a large number of bathroom amenities including a soaps, shampoos, lotions, a loofah sponge and bath salts all that smelled like green tea but the brand was not one I am used to seeing at Starwood hotels. The couch was covered in soft velvet and was very comfortable, I found it a great place to sit and read. The bed was luxurious and comfy as well – just what you’d expect from a Starwood Luxury Collection Hotel.

The room décor was elegant and stately. The hotel was renovated in 2006 by renowned architect Jacques Garcia at a cost of €35 million. All of the rooms, suites and public areas were restored to reflect their original splendor.

I absolutely loved the room I was in. I wish I could have afforded to stay in that room during my entire stay in The Hague. Thanks to a reader I learned about an Anniversary special that the hotel was offering during my trip, €135 per weekend night, which made it possible to stay one night. Normal rates during the two weeks I was in The Hague ran around €235+ a night. The rack rate for the Junior Suite I was in was €625 a night.

The Restaurant

I decided to try the hotel restaurant because it got great reviews. I arrived at 7pm and asked to be seated in the restaurant. I was told that without reservations I couldn’t get a table in the actual restaurant, but I could sit anywhere in the lounge/bar area and order from the full menu. The dining room had at least 12 tables open so I didn’t quite understand why I couldn’t sit there. However, I took a seat at a small table in the lounge. I was promptly provided a menu and my drink order was taken. I ordered a bottle of sparkling water and it came quickly as well. I waited another 30 minutes before anyone came back over to take my order. The server was not knowledgeable about the menu at all. I asked him several questions and he couldn’t answer any of them.

I ordered a Cesar salad with crab meat which ended up being the smallest “salad” I’ve ever seen. There was almost no lettuce but there were some crab and quail eggs…or at least that’s what the server told me they were. They sure didn’t taste like quail eggs. It took 1 hour for the salad to arrive.

For the main course I ordered a dish and I really wasn’t quite sure what I was going to get. When I asked the waiter to explain the dish to me he said it was three different preparations of duck liver. When the dish arrived, 45 minutes after the salad arrived, I discovered it was actually chicken stuffed with duck liver and spinach. The chicken was very pink when it arrived. I was a bit nervous about eating it. I was also nervous that if I sent it back I’d sit for another 45 minutes before it came back out. In the end, I decided just to eat the areas that were not pink. When I was done eating, I sat for around 30 minutes before the server came back over.

I decided to throw caution to the wind and order tea and dessert. I was very excited to see apple strudel on the menu. I figured it had to be good. Before the dessert came out, they served an amuse-bouche of chocolate ice-cream with cherries. The ice-cream had a very odd texture but the cherries were nice.

Finally, 45 minutes after the amuse-bouche arrived my dessert arrived. I was very disappointed when I saw my apple strudel – it looked nothing like an apple strudel and tasted even less like an apple strudel. The round circle was meat to represent the crust. It had almost no taste. Each of the components of the apple strudel was represented on the plate. There was a small dollop of apples, a dollop of vanilla ice cream which melted quickly, a dollop of cream and some powder that had no taste. I ended up eating only the dollop of apples and vanilla ice-cream.

My tea never arrived, which was quite disappointing and after a very long dinner I decided not to ask for it again. Overall, I was extremely disappointed with the service at dinner and even more disappointed with the quality of the food. The restaurant was busy and I noticed that most tables, like me, had been sitting for hours.

Overall

I was very impressed with the hotel itself. As old as it is, the rooms felt like they provided all of the modern day comforts while maintaining the historical charm. Other than the terrible experience at the restaurant, I found the staff to be knowledgeable about The Hague and the hotel. I would stay at the hotel again and absolutely loved they documented and maintained the history for guests to enjoy today.