Castle Het Land van Ooit will be Hotel: ‘Ugly duckling becomes beautiful swan’

Dirk Lips (73) is looking proudly at the gates of the castle. “When I was a 5 year old boy I was allowed to go with my father to the Counts of D’Oultremont. If he had something to discuss here, my father was allowed to go into the salon. I had to sit on a bench at the entrance.”

The pink castle
Most people from Brabant have completely different memories at the place. Namely juice the earth root, knight granite and clone the giant child. The residents of the Land van Ooit. And there too, the wealthy entrepreneur has been frequently: “It was a beautiful park that I enjoyed. It is very unfortunate that it was lost.”

The castle is no longer pink, yet the memories of SAP come up the earth root again when we walk into the castle. “The earth roots are still there, but juice is no longer there. If juice were there now, she would say,” Boy, it’s getting beautiful, “Lips laughs.

And that iconic pink color? “It has not been pink for much longer, or pink. We have respected the history and brought it back to the original colors.” The exterior is ready, there is still busy work inside.

Land van Ever is coming back
Lips shines when he walks through ‘his’ castle. Yet the entire renovation was not easy. “Everything has to be in consultation with monument care. A lot of what we wanted was not allowed. We wanted to break down walls because they were not well insulated, but unfortunately. We have determined what we were allowed and what we were allowed and what was not possible. Everything with respect for the history.”

The Land van Ooit is not completely gone in the renewed castle. “We asked the draftsman of the Land van Ooit to make new drawings with the appearance of that time.” They will be hanging in the hotel rooms and in the meeting rooms.

“And swans come to the gate, we had them designed especially.” The swan came back everywhere in the land of once. “I also have my emotions here and we therefore respect the entire history.”

Not sleeping in Castle
This way, details from hundreds of years ago. Special Versailles floors are laid in the bar and in the meeting rooms. “That floor comes from France. This is expensive laminate,” says Lips with a smile.

Nick van der Velden is busy with those floors, a very specialist job. “It’s nice to make, very classic,” says De Vloerman. “I used to look at Kloontje as a child. A few years ago I walked around here with my son and now I am working here. That is special.”

There will be seven meeting rooms, the restaurant and a bar in the castle. In addition, a hotel was built with 56 rooms. “In the castle it squeaks and creaks, that was simply not suitable for sleeping,” explains Lips. There will be ten suites in the hotel that will cost around 600 euros per night.

Dirk Lips signs the rooms himself
“Look what a beautiful view. You look all over the park,” says Lips proudly as he looks at the famous pond full of soldiers. “It is really a very beautiful and special place.” Lips was born in Drunen and therefore feels a lot of emotion at the place. He wants to restore the castle and the environment. “We save costs neither effort. It was an ugly duckling and we turn it into a nice swan.”

According to Lips, it all costs more than 25 million euros together. “I pay it from my own wallet. I think it’s a good investment, but with a long payback time.”

And anyone who thinks that Dirk Lips has given everything off your hands is wrong. “I have drawn the rooms. You just start drawing the ideal hotel room with a pencil and a piece of paper. You are responsible, so you have to be sure that it is good. I leave nothing to chance. If we make a mistake with a bathroom, it costs 10,000 euros, but times 56 rooms. That is 560,000 euros, so you don’t have to make any mistakes.”

The tour of Dirk Lips sounds like a promo chat, but he is really proud of the place. “It just has to be perfect, the guests are also entitled to that. I want to exceed people’s expectations.”