LOVE FOR NATURE

Anne Deenik-van der Valk and her husband Folkert Deenik live with their three children next to Van der Valk Hotel De Bilt-Utrecht in a nature-rich location. Anne was raised with a love for nature from a young age and she enjoys passing that on to her children.

EVA VAN DER MEIJL
PHOTOGRAPHY: NOPOINT STUDIO'S
STYLING: MARTINE REURINGS

Anne: "Hotel De Bilt-Utrecht is in a wonderful location, surrounded by greenery. We have a large vegetable garden where we grow all sorts of produce for our kitchen. There's also a picking garden full of colorful flowers. During the summer season, we use those to fill 140 vases each week throughout the hotel. It looks so cheerful I absolutely love fresh flowers. I grew up at Van der Valk Hotel Arnhem, on the vast Veluwe. As a child, I spent as much time in nature as I could playing outside for hours and getting dirty. I have such fond memories of that. I love that our children are growing up here and spending so much time outdoors too. Our oldest, six-year-old Goos, loves helping out in the garden. He already knows a lot about flowers and plants. The other day, he was even pulling weeds from between the paving stones at school. Coco, who's three and a half, and two-year-old Bo also love stomping around here in their boots. And all of them are crazy about animals. In the meadow, we have sheep, ponies, pigs, and chickens though sadly, the foxes regularly get to the chickens.

SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

"For the care of the animals and maintenance of the vegetable garden, we work together with Griftenstein & Zorg. We provide daytime activities for young adults. It's wonderful to see how much they enjoy being involved here. We also have other local collaborations that align with our mission of sustainable entrepreneurship. That way, you can really make a meaningful impact. Our love for nature is reflected in that as well. All the dairy products in the restaurant, for example, come from the farm just across the road. It's great to see how something as small as choosing a local product can already reduce your ecological footprint.

We're also working on creating circular systems. Green waste is fed to the pigs, and oyster mushrooms for our croquettes are grown on used coffee grounds. I find it important to pass this way of thinking on to our children. The Earth belongs to all of us, and we need to take care of it. Sustainability is a major priority within Van der Valk. Every hotel has its own green initiatives, and as a family, we inspire one another through these efforts.

As a child, I spent years going on survival camps with many cousins — back to nature. We made fires, slept in tents we built ourselves, and did exciting outdoor activities. That was so much fun and definitely contributed to our family’s deep love for nature."

'Nature helps me to find peace.'

CLEAR YOUR MIND

"Nature helps me unwind. Not by sitting still, but by being active in the outdoors. I love taking forest walks with our dog, and digging my hands into the soil or mowing the grass really clears my mind. My husband Folkert feels the same. He grew up in Rotterdam, but as a child he often went on hiking holidays — backpack on and off he went! We continued doing that together a lot before we had children. For example, we once trekked through the jungles of Indonesia on a multi-day hike. We also traveled around Australia and New Zealand in a camper van. We’d park in the middle of nowhere, surrounded only by vast landscapes. That’s how we discovered some of the most beautiful places.

Of course, you don’t have to travel far to enjoy stunning nature. The Netherlands has so much variety, and every season brings something different to each nature area. While studying at the Hotel School, I lived near the beach in Scheveningen. I really enjoyed being by the sea though I did sometimes miss the forest. It’s wonderful that we now live right next to a wooded area, here at this beautiful hotel.

At the moment, we’re working on plans to make the hotel future-proof. A major renovation is coming, and of course, we’re taking the surrounding nature into account. There won’t be a towering hotel building here, but a new structure that blends in harmoniously with the environment. We’re really looking forward to that!"