These past two weeks The Netherlands has been on lockdown, as is now the case with all our other neighboring countries. Many other businesses remain open thankfully including hotels, which can continue to operate and offer dining services to guests exclusively. With that in mind, along with the strong possibility our Christmas road trip plan this year is pretty much a pipe dream, an opportunity to play tourist locally seemed a good proposition – keep the economy going, help an industry that’s been hit hard, and feed a travel bug that’s gone hungry for a while now.
After a week of scouring the lowlands for a practical but interesting hotel, options were sent to Teko for partner approval, after which room availability was checked, dates and reservation confirmed until at last we had established a working plan. A little over an hour away in Wageningen, in a hotel set as the location for Germany’s surrender at the end of WWII, we decided to stay in a famously historic hotel that could also well be the best attraction in the area.

The best part is that since we’re already in the low season and we were booked on a Sunday night, the cost of a one- night stay was so within budget, we threw caution to the wind and decided to upgrade several times over. This meant a night in the Bevrijding Suite was ours – updated interiors, 50 square meters of space (nearly as large as our apartment), great big bed, two TVs, and a huge bath for Teko. Located on a corner of the building facing the square, we had the privilege of staying in the best room in the house. It felt liberating indeed.

Parking was painless, service was consistent, the room was comfortable, and with the slight exception of an unimaginative breakfast, all our meals were exactly what my mental health called for. Apart from the attractive, red velvet-themed Prins Bernhard dining room being closed for future renovation – really a shame they couldn’t let anyone use such a perfectly pleasant space in the meantime – I didn’t really find anything to fuss about. The current hotel has been here since the 1850s and hard to imagine but there’s been an inn there since 1669. If one thing’s been proven, our one night stay in Hotel de Wereld may have ruined us for future staycations to come.