Hotel De Timmerfabriek honours the glorious past of ‘De Schelde’

Michel Kloeg is an enthusiastic go-getter. The operator of the new Hotel De Timmerfabriek, which opens its doors in April, likes to roll up his sleeves. And that is bearing fruit. Under the name Kloeg Collection, he now manages four hotels in Zeeland. In one of them, the Beach Hotel in Zoutelande, we spoke to him about the De Timmerfabriek project, about which the Rotterdam-based entrepreneur has a very good feeling. “As part of the Schelde Quarter, the arrival of the hotel is partly determining the metamorphosis that Vlissingen is currently undergoing,” he says. “I think former residents who have been away for a long time and are coming back will hardly recognise the city any more…”

“It even still works; we thought it a shame to remove it…. In this way, we emphasise the building’s history. It’s a nod to the past. We also want to make the hotel a place where everyone – farmers, citizens and country folk – feels at home. Everyone is welcome: whether in the lobby, the restaurant, at the bar or on our large terrace. In the end, it is a building that belongs to all of us: a piece of heritage that we would not have had without ‘De Schelde’. Behind the hotel, Michel will also operate an apartment building under the name De Dokwerker, which has yet to be realised, however.

Just like the hotel itself, the construction of De Dokwerker is a collaboration between Michel and the Goes-based project developer TEAMforREAL. There will be 58 two- and four-person flats in The Dokwerker, so that the hotel and the apartment building together will soon total 126 rooms and flats. In the Dokwerker you can stay one night as a tourist, but these flats are also ideal for longer stays,” says Michel. “You can actually just live in them, they have a washing machine, tumble dryer, et cetera.”

After all, the work had to take place within the framework of the Listed Buildings Act. “It took about a year and a half to negotiate with the committees, but we finally came to an agreement,” says Joeri. “A lot had to be done to the building, of course. It is actually a concrete shell building. And with lots of windows. That’s logical because wooden furniture was made for the ships that ‘De Schelde’ built, which is craftsmanship that requires a carpenter’s eye, and the carpenters could only do that work in perfect light, hence all those windows.”

“The original cast iron window frames on the ground floor, which have been there since 1914, were not allowed to be replaced by the heritage committees, so we left them intact. Furthermore, the whole building has been fitted with new windows, which look almost the same as the old ones in terms of pattern – with small panes – and colouring. And they can be opened, because the old windows could not. When you are on holiday in Zeeland, you want to be able to open your window and breathe in the sea air. The striking glass roof construction on the roof has also been retained, but it has been reinforced and also fitted with double glazing.”

The planners wanted to restore the appearance of the building, which is over a hundred years old, to its original state, including the characteristic tower, which was shot off during the war and has not been replaced since. “We wanted to give the building an original look and feel, so we based the project on the original building plans. That is why this tower has been reinstalled. Since the beginning of September, it has been enhancing the building as before,” says Joeri. “And at the very top of the turret, just under the roof, there will be a beautiful bridal suite,” adds Michel.

Joeri and Michel think that the construction of the hotel in the old factory has acted as a trigger for the further development of the Schelde Quarter. “When we started in 2017, there was almost nothing here and look how the area has blossomed since then,” says Joeri. “We are convinced that the hotel will soon be profitable. Research shows that tourism in Zeeland will grow by more than fifty per cent by 2030.” Michel: “If you consider that Vlissingen, with a population of 44,000, has less than 350 hotel rooms and the municipality of Veere, with half the population, has four times as many, then there is still plenty of growth potential in Vlissingen.”

“You can also see that Vlissingen, which used to be known as a rough and rugged port city, is attracting wealthy new residents, which does the city good. For the Timmerfabriek project, we have assumed a quality level of more than four stars and all kinds of parties around us in the area will benefit from that. The whole ‘Schelde’ area will be buzzing with activity, the city will reach new heights of maturity. It is good that the city council, sometimes going ‘against the current’, has realised what was on its list. If you then also involve entrepreneurs, you end up with the level of facilities that you want.” Hotel De Timmerfabriek will open its doors to the public in about six months.

The 68 rooms and flats in the hotel are actually owned by private investors who bought them and, by letting them, have a share in running the hotel. For TEAMforREAL the Timmerfabriek is “the most special project we have realised so far,” says Joeri. “It has exceeded our wildest expectations. Personally, I put my heart and soul into it from the start. And that’s because it’s such a special building. How special, you only experience when you walk through it, and I do that every week. For Damen, it would be an excellent location to receive business relations in style.”