|
|
|
|
A hotel named Ernst Sillem Hoeve |
|
|
by Agnes Sillem |
|
|
|
|
 |
Close to
the Royal forests of Vuursche the traveller enters a pleasant and comfortable
hotel, after passing Soestdijk palace
where Queen Juliane of the Netherlands used to reside. The shopping city
of Utrecht can be reached in a 30 minutes
drive. The hotel bears its name to commemorate the banker Ernst II. Sillem
(1864 – 1919). He was treasurer of the Dutch Y.M.C.A. (the Young Men’s Christian
Association) for 30 years. He set out to donate a holiday home to the 15.000
Dutch Y.M.C.A. members which was also to serve as a centre where training courses
and conferences could be held. He had visited similar houses in the USA (see also the book De Reis om de Wereld van Ernst Sillem 1888
-1890, s. the Publications page). Sadly, he died before his project could be
realised.
His son
Albert fulfilled his fathers plan by purchasing a large coach house with
stables and a residential flat for the association. He had the estate converted into a recreational
facility where one hundred men could be accommodated. They slept in a dormitory,
linen and towels had to be brought along. In 1926, Ernst Sillem Hoeve was opened. During the decades that followed the
estate was enlarged and modernised. Today Ernst
Sillem Hoeve is a comfortable conference venue with 85 rooms, 12 conference
rooms, restaurants and a swimming pool. But of course, single travellers are
welcome, too. The house continues to be owned by the Y.M.C.A.
|
|
|
|
|
click on pictures to enlarge
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
