As the new Efteling Grand Hotel breaks ground, blooloop visits the site and talks exclusively to head designer Sander de Bruijn about what inspires him, and designing the future of the world’s most enchanting theme park.
De Bruijn started working at Efteling in 1997 as a holiday job. He says he feels the full weight of the responsibility in designing the new flagship hotel in the prime location inside the much-loved theme park. However, the project is a unique opportunity. And being able to work with “a hotel as a concept gives us so much potential to have fun”.
He explains that it was important to create a unique concept for the hotel, but ensure that it complements the theme park which opened in 1952. The Fairytale Forest, designed by illustrator Anton Pieck, exudes charm and is a comforting touch point back to the pre-digital era.
De Bruijn says that he feels he is, “taking the pencil over and extending the story of Efteling”, which is a “real-life fairytale book”.
A real-life fairytale book
With seven floors, the 143-room hotel will have around 700 beds, two restaurants and two shops. The Efteling Grand Hotel will also have a swimming pool and spa.
Following recent favourable coverage, particularly in the UK press, Efteling looks forward to welcoming more overseas guests for extended stays.
Island of the Five Senses
The Efteling Grand Hotel is in a prime location, at the park entrance adjacent to the House of Five Senses and the Fairytale Forest. Guests will be able to watch the Aquanura water show from some of the rooms and both of the restaurants.
The addition of the hotel further develops the entrance area of the park, renamed the Island of the five Senses. This will allow for more entertainment in the evenings for guests from the two existing hotels and the two Holiday Villages.
Although the hotel is located within the current park footprint, guests will not be able to access the rest of the park overnight.
Efteling says, “The new Island of the five Senses will act as the cover of a book, marking the beginning and end of all visits to the heart of the World of Wonders.”
De Bruijn adds that the new area will be, “one book with different chapters”.
Construction on Efteling Grand Hotel starts
Since beginning construction a few weeks ago, around 10,000 m3 of sand has been excavated behind Efteling’s main entrance.
The next step involves drilling 380 pylons totalling 6 km in length into the ground. Then 2,500 m3 of concrete will be poured over the top to make the building’s foundations.
Efteling’s Grand Hotel
In choosing a grand hotel concept rather than, for example, a fairytale castle, de Bruijn has been influenced in part by one of his favourite parts of the park – the harbour next to the theatre at the entrance. He says that a grand hotel backdrop also offers more interesting new story ideas.
One of the most famous Grand Hotels is Wes Andersen‘s Grand Budapest Hotel.
De Bruijn says when he saw the movie he thought, “if Efteling made a film it would be like that!”
The high concept, stylish, quirky and tongue-in-cheek movie struck a chord.
In the movie, “the story is the hotel” says de Bruijn. And this will be true of the Efteling Grand Hotel which will include elements of storytelling, fun and interactivity.
Style and inspiration
As well as drawing inspiration from Scandinavian port cities, Efteling’s own harbour area and grand hotels, de Bruijn has drawn on a small detail from within the park. He explains:
“For Efteling Grand Hotel, I was partly inspired by one of the smallest scenes in the park: The Golden Goose.”
“Designed by Anton Pieck, this tableau was placed on Anton Pieck Plein in 1958. The clock and the decorative ornamentation of the interior of The Golden Goose is reflected in the facade of the Efteling Grand Hotel. As the hotel develops, visitors will also see this inspiration in the floors and colour palette.”
The rooms will be styled according to location within the building. For instance, the rooms facing the Fairytale Forest will have a magical fairytale details.
Nature and sustainability
Nature is very important to Efteling. The natural beauty of the theme park is something that guests also value very highly. The theme park is owned by the Efteling Nature Park Foundation as the sole shareholder. Only 11% of its footprint is given to buildings, and the remainder to trees, shrubs and water.
The landscape design around the new hotel will integrate the new building with the existing attractions with a “pleasant verdant retreat” with trees, shrubs, perennials and water features. De Bruijn says that climate change influenced the choice of plants and also drainage designs, to plan for rising temperatures and flooding.
The original articles of association of the Foundation say that Efteling’s role includes “the supporting or executing of social development projects and projects for the common good, in the fields of nature conservation and management, culture and education”.
Sustainability plays an important role in everything Efteling undertakes. The organisation has a goal to become climate neutral by 2030. As well as planting choices, construction methods and heating plans have taken into account sustainability.
World of Efteling 2030
The new hotel is part of the World of Efteling 2030 development plan, approved by the Dutch authorities in 2021.
Speaking earlier this year, the CEO of Efteling, Fons Jurgens, said:
“Last year, the ‘World of Efteling’ development plan was adopted, which has given us a framework for the future and a possible expansion outside the current boundaries of the Efteling theme park.
“However, the focus for the time being lies on developments within the park itself, which involve less financial risks than a much more challenging expansion beyond the current park boundaries … These investments for the next two years fit our vision 2030 and focus on continuity and maintaining our independence and quality.”
Efteling Grand Hotel is scheduled to open in 2024.
