Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin (Dutch: [ˈhœys tər ˈdœyn]) is a seaside hotel and congress center in Noordwijk aan Zee, South Holland, Netherlands, with views over the North Sea. It is notable for being decorated in a clown theme, with many paintings of clowns, and for housing the Michelin-starred Latour restaurant.
History
In 1885 the building was completed and in 1887 the hotel was bought by entrepreneur Heinrich Tappenbeck from the Noordwijk municipality, Tappenbeck immediately began to address business internationally (especially in Germany) and advertised on the good accessibility (by steam tram) and the good connections to major cities such as Amsterdam and Leiden. During the 1970s Huis ter Duin was bought by the Noorlander family.
The hotel has always focused on affluent tourists. Thus, the royal families of Belgium and the Netherlands stayed there regularly. Other guests included Princess Grace of Monaco, writer Thomas Mann and film actors Liz Taylor and Richard Burton. During the Second World War the hotel was requisitioned by the Germans for the post of SS officers. That history was later used in the film Soldaat van Oranje which was partially filmed around the hotel.
A fire destroyed a large historic part of the hotel at January 25, 1990, then Huis ter Duin was rebuilt and expanded in its current style.
Notable residents
Many internationally known guests stayed in this hotel :
- King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
- Queen Máxima of the Netherlands
- Princess and former Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
- Princess and former Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
- Dutch prime Minister Mark Rutte
- King Harald V of Norway
- U.S President Barack Obama
- U.S Minister of Foreign Affairs John Kerry
- Former UN Secretary Kofi Annan
- Frederik Willem de Klerk, Former President of South Africa
- Tony Blair, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the USSR 1985-1990
- Sophia Loren
- Shirley Bassey
- Grace Kelly
- Liz Taylor
- José Carreras
- André Hazes
- Freddy Heineken
- Dick Advocaat, also a penthouse named after
- Bert van Marwijk also a penthouse named after
- Louis van Gaal also a suite named after
- Dutch football team
External links
- Official site (in English)