City Hotel de Jonge in Assen has a new owner from January 1. After 23 years, the Maas family sold the hotel to the Garden Capital Group, which has appointed Rob Hemmes from Assen as its new director. Previously he was a manager at large hotels in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.
“After so many years, it is nice to go to work in your own hometown,” says Hemmes. The native of Coevorde, who has lived in Assen since 2013, drove back and forth to the West for years. He is positive about Hotel de Jonge: “It is an excellent and successful hotel that is in good condition. Apart from perhaps a lick of paint, I have no plans for any major changes.”
Hotel de Jonge has been a household name in the center of Assen since 1874. It has been owned by the Maas real estate family for the past 22 years, but the hotel no longer fits in the portfolio.
New owner Garden Capital Group is no stranger to the hotel world. Founders Leon Dijkstra and Joost Peperkoorn started the investment company after the sale of Eden Hotels in 2022. They started, among other things, the boutique hotel group Arq Hotels, which now consists of two hotels.
“That is also how City Hotel de Jonge came into the picture,” says Hemmes. The Asser hotel has a total of 72 rooms and employs 37 employees. “It has a good name and is the only hotel in the city center. We want to make it even more successful and the ingredients are there.” He mentions, among others, the Drents Museum and the TT Circuit as attractions. “Moreover, great things are about to happen in the city. For example, the municipality has purchased the V&D building.”
Hotel de Jonge will not fall under Arq Hotels and will keep its own formula. “We are not going to change the hotel and the name will remain the same,” said the new director. As a native of Assen, he thinks he is the right man in the right place. “I think that is an advantage. It is important that such a hotel remains grounded and does honor to the place where it is located. I know a little bit about how things work here.”