Number 1 for Hotels.
Wish to book by phone? +31 50 - 317 5510(International charges)
Wish to book by phone? +31 50 - 317 5510(International charges)
Hotels.nl BV was founded in 2001. We are one of the largest websites for hotel bookings in the Netherlands and Belgium. You can book more than 1900 hotels in the low countries through our website.
We strive to make it as simple, clear and cheap as possible for a wide-ranging public to book a hotel room in the Netherlands or Belgium.
We try to do this by continuously improving the website and to incorporate the wishes of guests. When we're surfing the Internet at home, we find that clarity and simplicity are the most important factors. At Hotels.nl we always aim to achieve this.
Hotels.nl is a Groningen-based company, founded in November 2001 by Kees Eldering and Henriëtte IJzelenberg. The booking site was launched in English with only two hotels: Hotel Ravel in Hilversum and Novotel Amsterdam.
This site is currently available in a number of languages, and there are now as many as 1800 affiliated hotels.
2001
At the end of November, beginning of December, the founders bought the Hotels.nl domain name. They then went on to build a booking engine and placed the site online.
2002
After a good start, business began to grow. The first member of staff was employed and an office space was rented. Up until then the living room had been used to carry out all operations, but this was no longer sufficient.
2003
In 2003 Hotels.nl was translated from English into Dutch. The company expanded, taking on another six members of staff, and moved to a larger office space in the Museumstraat in Groningen.
2004
Hotels.nl was available in English and Dutch. In 2004 another language came aboard: German.
A Reservations Department was set up for telephone bookings and support. The Department, available until 22:00 in the evening, could now assist guests in three languages.
2005
Due to the extensive opening hours of the Reservations Department, it was again necessary to expand the team. In 2005, the number of members of staff rose to twelve. The office space in the Museumstraat was swapped for a stately canalside building on the Hoge der A in Groningen. The Hotels.nl website continued to grow, and now also offers hotels in Belgium.
2006
Hotels.nl's celebrated their five year anniversary. Also in 2006 was the launch of a succesful marketing campaign: a flock of sheep along the motorway near Joure was clothed in blankets bearing the Hotels.nl logo. This action caused a lot of fuss, the local authority of Joure actually wanted to ban the marketing stunt, propelling Hotels.nl and its sheep blankets, to world news: even making it to the New York Times. Hotels.nl continued to grow, perhaps partly due to the marketing stunt. The Reservations Department was now also available on Saturdays.
2007
The magic number of 1000 affiliated hotels was reached in 2007. The advertising stunt with the sheep blankets secured Hotels.nl the AMMA-award for the Best Media Stunt of 2006. Hotels.nl was also runner-up in the nominations for the Technology Fast 50 Award, organised by Deloitte.
2008
In 2008, the number of employees increased again. The company now consisted of 35 employees. Nevertheless, an office move was not yet on the cards. Hotels.nl exhibited, for the very first time, at the Vakantiebeurs (Dutch Tourism Expo) in Utrecht. The message: no booking fees at Hotels.nl.
2009
A lot of investment went into research and technology in 2009. A new version of the booking site was launched in November. Hotels.nl became faster, more advanced and more user-friendly.
2010
The new website was an automatic hit: in 2010 Hotels.nl was chosen as the most user-friendly travel site and won third prize in the Usability Award, scoring an average of 8.3. Hotels.nl continued to grow and an office move was now a definite must. The company had very much enjoyed working at the canalside premises, but exchanged it in 2010 for a building on the Grote Markt in Groningen. If you happen to be coming here soon, our illuminated sign will reveal the location of our office to you.
2011
Hotels.nl now has 48 employees, including a few international members of staff.
2011 was also the 10 year anniversary of Hotels.nl.
2012
In 2012 we continue to develop the site. We are constantly busy trying to improving our site to help guests find a hotel as easily as possible.
This is also the year we embarked upon the automobile sector! In collaboration with Noordlease we offer really fun, beautifully stickered Volkswagen UP cars, entirely in Hotels.nl style! Available to everyone for a great price. We thought we'd start slowly, but it turned out to be a success from the get go. A small fleets of UPs were driving around in no time!
Hotels.nl strives to help you as best we can with your choice, and in booking a hotel in the Netherlands and Belgium. We manage all our operations ourselves, guaranteeing the commitment of our website employees. Every day, we take great pleasure in helping you to easily and clearly book a hotel.
All contact details can be found on the contact page.
