A good company is of course not just about appearance, as Nick Timmers knows. “Service and good staff are of course extremely important for your company.” It may look so beautiful, but without hospitality and the undiminished will to be there for your guests, you are nowhere. 90 percent of service and hospitality comes from the people who work here.
That is why it is so important that not only our guests, but also our employees, feel at home with us. Because happy colleagues make for happy guests. With us you work in an open, spontaneous atmosphere and you get the opportunity to develop yourself.

Do you also want to practice the catering profession with the largest catering family in the Netherlands? Check out our vacancy page and who knows, you might soon be our new colleague!

In collaboration with MBO College Hilversum, you can follow a three-year level 4 BOL course at Van der Valk hotel Breukelen. We believe that dynamic learning on the work floor or near the work floor is the future.

The students no longer receive lessons at school, but actually on the work floor at Van der Valk Hotel Breukelen. Practical lessons and workshops are given by experienced practical supervisors and teachers from MBO College Hilversum. On the work floor, students receive guidance from Van der Valk work-learning supervisors. In this way, the teaching material fits well with practice. Students learn step by step how to work and manage in a hotel. They work in the various operational departments and learn what knowledge they need so that they can immediately apply it on the work floor.

The history of the building explains many of the striking contrasts. Nick Timmers' father, Pieter Timmers, explains. "This building was built in the late 1980s by Mr Wong. He created a striking building with hotel rooms and dining facilities for the elite, a copy of the Imperial Palace in Beijing. He had raised thirty million guilders to convert Oriental Palace one of the ten best hotel restaurants in the world.

And so a fifteen-meter-high building in red, green and golden yellow was built in the middle of the Green Heart, with dragons on the walls and a roof with thousands of roof tiles imported from China. In the garden, visitors could sit in tea houses next to ponds with a view of a Great Wall of China.

The company had five stars, the cheapest room cost 280 guilders per night, the most expensive 750 guilders. Unfortunately for Wong, his Oriental Palace, as the business was then called, was bankrupt within five months. The restaurants were booming, but too few rooms were being rented. Construction costs were higher than anticipated and building up the customer base took longer than expected. 'My wife and I went to look at it once, when it had not yet collapsed,' says Pieter. “We were in casual clothes, and we were being looked out the door. A spring roll cost 25 guilders, so only the happy few could go there.' The contents were auctioned and the building offered for sale.

At that moment we from Van der Valk came into play. We bought the empty building for 15 million guilders gross and initially invested 2.5 million in the interior. It has been completely renovated and completely redecorated. We haven't done anything on the outside. It was simply a striking and well-known building. Moreover, the renovation would cost a lot of money and involve many procedures. Hence."

Finally the 'common people' were allowed inside. The interest in the curious-looking building was overwhelming, especially after all the publicity about its demise. 'People parked their cars on the hard shoulder of the A2. They had to wait an hour and a half to two hours for their turn, and then another hour for the food. They found no objection whatsoever.

Although Hotel Breukelen has not been a Chinese restaurant for decades, the employees were still sometimes asked why there were no noodles on the menu during the first 15 years. “That never ceases to amaze you! Although it is understandable, given the appearance of the main building at the time,” says Nick Timmers. Nick grew up in Hotel Breukelen, where his parents Pieter and Til were previously in charge. Together with them he built a daughter hotel, Van der Valk hotel Veenendaal, and was in charge of the daily management there from 2014 to 2019, but he is now back 'in his parental home'. “I also lived here as a child, so it is literally coming home again.” It is such a great opportunity to start where my parents started. Hotel Breukelen is in a top location, it is great to work here.”

In December 2011, a completely new wing of Hotel Breukelen was put into use. In addition to a complete Wellness Center with swimming pool, sauna facilities and advanced fitness room, this annex building contains no fewer than 86 luxurious hotel rooms and 6 suites.

In 2014, an addition was added to the other side, creating a luxurious and extensive meeting center. Together with his parents Pieter and Til Timmers, Nick led this renovation, with his father mainly concerned with the technical part of the construction and his mother with the design and furnishings. Nick: “It was very special to do this together with my parents. For us this was the perfect moment to hand over control. My parents are now taking a step back in the hotel they built.”

“In the previous layout, the rooms and restaurants were mixed up, we wanted to separate that. When you enter the entrance, go left to the business center and right to the restaurants and hotel bar. We connect the outbuildings to the main building, making it one whole. A permanent buffet restaurant has also been created in the restaurant and the á la carte restaurant has been completely renovated.”

This means a significant expansion of capacity, which Nick believes is necessary. “Now when it is busy, we often have to convert meeting rooms into restaurant areas, which is simply not desirable. By moving and expanding the restaurants, everything has been nicely split up.”

The main building has also undergone a complete metamorphosis, both inside and out. “We have the 'un-Chinese' thing,” says Nick, laughing. “The striking orange roof tiles have remained, because that colorful roof is really our eye-catcher. But all Chinese elements, such as dragons and symbols, have disappeared. Natural materials have been replaced, such as natural stone, so that the exterior matches the modern and stylish interior of the hotel much better.”

In addition, two terraces have been constructed on the outside of the hotel: a terrace at the front and a terrace in the shape of a cozy tea garden.

2023 will again be all about innovation, this time of the hotel rooms. During this renovation, our comfort rooms in the main building will receive a complete "room makeover" with a completely new trendy bathroom 'ensuite'. In addition, our Deluxe and Superior rooms are being restyled and our suites are being completely renovated with fantastic new and trendy design.