Hotel Indigo, Noordeinde’s new living room
Housed in the former premises of De Nederlandsche Bank, Hotel Indigo combines history with modern comforts. The old vault now houses a bar, and chef Erik Tas will soon open a new restaurant that puts local flavours centre stage.
DATE
21 November 2024
TEXT
Frank Verhoef
IMAGE
Brian Mul
Hotel Indigo, Noordeinde’s new living room
Housed in the former premises of De Nederlandsche Bank, Hotel Indigo combines history with modern comforts. The old vault now houses a bar, and chef Erik Tas will soon open a new restaurant that puts local flavours centre stage.
You will no longer find the gold reserve of 7,000 gold bars weighing 12.4 kg each, but the rich history of Hotel Indigo at Noordeinde 33 is evident. The building, diagonally opposite King Willem-Alexander's working palace, was for more than a hundred years a branch of De Nederlandsche Bank, originally founded by King Willem I in 1814.
Indigo
The luxury and lifestyle boutique hotel Hotel Indigo opened in 2018. Many people will remember it as their old bank. There are plenty of elements that recall the old days. The lift with a cast-iron chair, the thick, round 7500-kg vault door, and The Gold Bar, a small-town bar inspired by the 1920s when alcohol was banned in the United States.
The ambition: this must become The Hague's best bar. You can also see the nostalgia in every hotel room, of which there are 63: the guilders are flying around your ears. The colours are reminiscent of the guilder era: green, yellow and blue, with black elements for balance.
"You inhale the history of the bank with every gulp"
The official entrance to De Nederlandsche Bank and the original marble are still there, as is the narrow opening alongside the stairs used to move gold bars, explains general manager Duncan Bond during a tour of the imposing Indigo Hotel building. He has been working here since May and comes from the Hilton. "This hotel has so much character. Every room is unique. You inhale the history of the bank with every gulp, but of course everything is spic and span and with modern bathrooms."
In The Vault one floor below – behind that huge vault door – you can almost smell the piles of gold bars. There is a huge rug with references to the paper money of the past. Here, in an ambient setting, you can hold business meetings, private dinners or other events for groups of around 40 to 60 people, depending on requirements.
Star chef
There are grand plans for the restaurant, which has its own entrance. Bond says, “We are revamping the restaurant together with Michelin-star chef Erik Tas from't Ganzenest in Rijswijk and Bij Erik in Leidschendam. It will open from the new year. Everything is being worked on: from the bar and cocktail menu to the furniture, and from a live cooking station to the menu.
Noordeinde
This should become the living room of the Noordeinde where everyone is welcome for a cup of coffee, an oyster with drinks, a salad at lunch and a carefully selected wine selection. The name remains a surprise. Erik cooks fantastically beautifully and he really stands for that local. That fits well with what we want to be, as part of Indigo's DNA."
Bond himself is no stranger to the hotel industry. Before this, he worked at the Hilton for seven years, and on the Seychelles before that. "We want to connect with the neighbourhood. We think the new restaurant will be much more accessible. We welcome our guests here as we welcome our family and friends to our home." That is reflected in the staff, he explains. "I like us to show a bit of ourselves. We all have style and character. We need to maintain that, above all. That's how you get the best out of yourself and your guests!"
text Frank Verhoef image Brian Mul
You will no longer find the gold reserve of 7,000 gold bars weighing 12.4 kg each, but the rich history of Hotel Indigo at Noordeinde 33 is evident. The building, diagonally opposite King Willem-Alexander's working palace, was for more than a hundred years a branch of De Nederlandsche Bank, originally founded by King Willem I in 1814.
Indigo
The luxury and lifestyle boutique hotel Hotel Indigo opened in 2018. Many people will remember it as their old bank. There are plenty of elements that recall the old days. The lift with a cast-iron chair, the thick, round 7500-kg vault door, and The Gold Bar, a small-town bar inspired by the 1920s when alcohol was banned in the United States.
The ambition: this must become The Hague's best bar. You can also see the nostalgia in every hotel room, of which there are 63: the guilders are flying around your ears. The colours are reminiscent of the guilder era: green, yellow and blue, with black elements for balance.
"You inhale the history of the bank with every gulp"
The official entrance to De Nederlandsche Bank and the original marble are still there, as is the narrow opening alongside the stairs used to move gold bars, explains general manager Duncan Bond during a tour of the imposing Indigo Hotel building. He has been working here since May and comes from the Hilton. "This hotel has so much character. Every room is unique. You inhale the history of the bank with every gulp, but of course everything is spic and span and with modern bathrooms."
In The Vault one floor below – behind that huge vault door – you can almost smell the piles of gold bars. There is a huge rug with references to the paper money of the past. Here, in an ambient setting, you can hold business meetings, private dinners or other events for groups of around 40 to 60 people, depending on requirements.
Star chef
There are grand plans for the restaurant, which has its own entrance. Bond says, “We are revamping the restaurant together with Michelin-star chef Erik Tas from't Ganzenest in Rijswijk and Bij Erik in Leidschendam. It will open from the new year. Everything is being worked on: from the bar and cocktail menu to the furniture, and from a live cooking station to the menu.
Noordeinde
This should become the living room of the Noordeinde where everyone is welcome for a cup of coffee, an oyster with drinks, a salad at lunch and a carefully selected wine selection. The name remains a surprise. Erik cooks fantastically beautifully and he really stands for that local. That fits well with what we want to be, as part of Indigo's DNA."
Bond himself is no stranger to the hotel industry. Before this, he worked at the Hilton for seven years, and on the Seychelles before that. "We want to connect with the neighbourhood. We think the new restaurant will be much more accessible. We welcome our guests here as we welcome our family and friends to our home." That is reflected in the staff, he explains. "I like us to show a bit of ourselves. We all have style and character. We need to maintain that, above all. That's how you get the best out of yourself and your guests!"
