Hotel Okura Amsterdam celebrates 50th anniversary: ”I think we are now a very valued neighbor”
Last year Hotel Okura Amsterdam celebrated its 50th anniversary. Because of corona, that is only now being celebrated. The hotel in the heart of De Pijp was opened on September 24, 1971 by Prince Claus.
Hotelier Marcel van Aelst was general manager of the Okura. He was there when Prince Claus officially opened the hotel. KLM was especially interested in getting a Japanese-oriented hotel because they wanted more Japanese businessmen and tourists here.”
The Japanese liked a hotel in Amsterdam, also because there were plans to build a large opera house next to the hotel. On the site of the old RAI. That opera house never came. And they weren’t happy about that in Japan. And not all local residents were happy either. She didn’t like it, such a prestigious hotel in their working-class neighbourhood.
Van Aelst: “You had advances and improvements. And there were also people who were not so happy. To be honest, I think that we are now very valued and good neighbours.”
The current general manager Michiel Roelfsema also thinks that the neighborhood has embraced the Okura. “Some local residents are often our guests in the restaurants.” Because when you think of Okura, you think of food. The hotel has four restaurants, including the two-star restaurant Ciel Bleu and the Japanese restaurant Yamazato, which has one Michelin star.
“We are very proud of that,” says van Aelst. “We’re actually a culinary temple. There are a lot of people who know the hotel and think it’s a great hotel. Which often means ‘I ate in the restaurants’. They probably have never seen a hotel room.”
Royal visit
Van Aelst is no longer general manager but is still closely involved with the Japanese hotel chain. He is chairman of the board of directors at the Okura Group and a supervisory director of Hotel Okura Amsterdam. He’s been through a lot in the past 50 years, but one event will stay with him forever. The coronation of – then still – Prince Willen-Alexander in 2013. The Okura then renovated accommodation for sixteen royal families. “The hotel – including restaurants – was private for royal guests, ajutants, staff, security, you name it. That has been my stay for the past fifty years.”
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