Wellness in balance with nature

Sustainable enjoyment in the midst of greenery

In the hotel world, the trend seems irreversible: more and more luxury, more and more wellness facilities in the hotel room itself. But blooming hotel in the Noord-Holland village of Bergen shows that you can also take a different route. Facility manager Kees de Groot explains why this four-star hotel has chosen Cleopatra's wellness solutions from Zaandam for many years. "Our cooperation fits perfectly with our sustainable and socially responsible business philosophy," he says.

Blooming hotel, with 130 hotel rooms, is located in the middle of the forest, on 11 hectares of its own land in Bergen, about six kilometres from the beach. "We are there for both business and leisure guests seeking peace and quiet in nature," says De Groot. That tranquillity and natural surroundings are more than just décor. At blooming hotel, sustainability is a guiding principle. "We try to do business locally, with an eye for people and the environment. Everything we do is tested against that vision."

Local entrepreneurship

In that philosophy, the collaboration with Cleopatra from Zaandam fits perfectly. "We have been working with Cleopatra since 2007," says De Groot. "When we built a new hotel wing, Cleopatra equipped several suites with steam showers and whirlpools. Later, when renovating the pool in 2022, we approached them again."

Choosing Cleopatra fits with local entrepreneurship. "They are around the corner from us and make many products in-house, from baths to furniture, working with certified wood. That fits in with our commitment to CO2 reduction. Why have someone come from Belgium when you have a reliable party here? Service also plays a role. If there is something, they are quickly on the doorstep. That's really an added value for us."

Influence social media

Blooming hotel has several wellness facilities provided by Cleopatra, such as the Finnish sauna and infrared sauna in the pool area, and steam showers and whirlpools in some suites. But where other hotels choose to increasingly expand private wellness in hotel rooms, blooming chooses a different course.

"We deliberately have no spa in every room," De Groot explains. "On the one hand because of sustainability: a whirlpool requires 200 to 300 litres of water at a time. That doesn't fit with our vision. On the other hand because of practical reasons: private wellness in every room requires intensive maintenance and a lot of cleaning, while it is becoming increasingly difficult to find good people for that work."

According to De Groot, the trend towards in-room wellness is mainly driven by social media. "Consumers see the most luxurious rooms popping up on platforms like TikTok and Instagram and think that is the norm. But that is often not realistic, nor sustainable. Instead, we believe that as a hotelier, you should invite guests to enjoy the place itself. With us: in the middle of the forest, right by the sea. " 

This is why blooming hotel chooses to offer wellness mainly as a shared experience. "Our saunas and swimming pool are accessible to all our guests. We want everyone to be able to enjoy that wellness, not just the guest who books a suite."

Corporate social responsibility

The sustainability story of blooming hotel goes beyond wellness. For example, it works with local suppliers such as LaVital, which produces handmade, all-natural mattresses in Zwaag. Even the vegetables served in the restaurant come from its own vegetable garden. De Groot: "This is maintained by people with a distance to the labour market. Corporate social responsibility is therefore more than just a buzzword for us."

Back to basics

In all the choices blooming hotel makes, awareness of nature is paramount, De Groot stresses. "For example, there are plans to renovate a hotel wing where we will go back to basics and go completely offline on the hotel rooms. Natural materials, simple rooms, no televisions. No excess, but peace and space. Wifi will remain available to all guests, but otherwise we want to encourage guests to really be present in the moment. To just enjoy the place where they are, because that's exactly what people come for."