Built in 1858 for the treasurer to King Willem III, and a hotel since 1881 on the Lange Voorhout.
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Overview
Eighteen Fifty-Eight
Ninety-two rooms and suites in a town palace, redesigned by Jacques Garcia.
Baron van Brienen, counsellor and treasurer to King Willem III, had this built in 1858 as a town palace on the Lange Voorhout — he already had the Clingendael estate, but he wanted somewhere in the city to give parties. It became a hotel in 1881, opened by Prince Frederic of Orange and named after the Hotel des Indes in Batavia. It was ahead of its time immediately: a bathroom on every floor, then one in every room, with hot and cold running water. Josephine of France, Theodore Roosevelt and Anna Pavlova all stayed. Jacques Garcia redesigned the 92 rooms in 2006, keeping the historic character underneath.
Pavlova died here. The ballerina Anna Pavlova was a regular guest, and died at the hotel in 1931. The building still marks it.
1858
Built as a Palace
1881
Became a Hotel
92
Rooms & Suites
2006
Garcia Redesign
Rooms
Garcia, over Van Brienen
Contemporary design laid carefully over genuinely historic rooms.
Deluxe Room — Hotel Des Indes
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Jacques GarciaThe 92 rooms were redesigned by Garcia in 2006, without erasing the 1858 building.
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Voorhout ViewsThe best rooms look out over the lime trees of the Lange Voorhout.
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Palace ProportionsThe room heights and window scale come from a private house, not a hotel plan.
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A Guest ListEmpress Josephine, Theodore Roosevelt and Anna Pavlova all stayed in the building.
Experiences
The Hague, and the Sea
A royal city of embassies and courts, with a beach at the end of the tram line.
Art
Mauritshuis
Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, five minutes on foot.
Politics
Binnenhof
The 13th-century parliament complex, and the oldest in use in Europe.
Justice
Peace Palace
The International Court of Justice, in Carnegie’s 1913 building.
Beach
Scheveningen
The North Sea and the pier, fifteen minutes from the centre.
Art
Kunstmuseum
Berlage’s building, and the largest Mondrian collection in the world.
Miniature
Madurodam
The Netherlands at 1:25, which is more interesting than it sounds.
Dining
Under the Chandeliers
A dining room in the old palace hall, and a bar off the Voorhout.
01Restaurant Des Indes, in the grand hall of the old palace
02The bar and lounge, off the Lange Voorhout
03Afternoon tea served daily under the chandeliers
04Terrace tables on the Voorhout through the summer
The Restaurant — Hotel Des Indes
Location
Lange Voorhout
On the tree-lined avenue at the centre of the royal city.
On the Lange Voorhout, the grandest avenue in The Hague.
Five minutes on foot to the Mauritshuis and the Binnenhof.
Fifteen minutes to Scheveningen and the North Sea.
Roughly 45 minutes from Schiphol; 25 minutes from Rotterdam.
Fly
Arrive at Schiphol.
Rail
Half an hour by train to Den Haag Centraal.
Arrive
Check in, then walk the Voorhout under the lime trees.
The Hague
Built for Parties, in 1858
A town palace on the Lange Voorhout, a hotel since 1881, redesigned by Garcia.