Conscious Hotels opens boutique hotel in Utrecht on Oudegracht canal

A monumental stage for the future

On 1 October, Conscious Hotels will open its first location outside Amsterdam: Conscious Hotel Oudegracht. The boutique hotel has 46 rooms and is located in the historic Tivoli complex. Cultural heritage meets circular innovations here. For the hotel group, known for its outspoken circular vision and creative hospitality concepts, this is the first location outside the capital.

About the hotel

The building itself has an impressive past: once a convent, later an orphanage and in the 20th century the stage where artists like Prince and Nirvana performed. That rich past has not been smoothed over in the hotel, but rather kept visible. Think stained-glass windows, original fireplaces and cloisters that are now part of the guest experience. At the same time, modern sustainable interventions have been made, such as 3D-printed furniture made from recycled materials and circular interior solutions. According to the hotel group, the interplay between past and future is precisely the strength of the new location. It emphasises that sustainability need not clash with heritage, but can reinforce each other. A vision that comes to life in this project.

Utrecht as a logical step

For Conscious Hotels, the choice of Utrecht is strategic. The city is growing fast as a tourist and business destination, while the premium sustainable segment is still relatively poorly represented there. With the addition of the organic coffee bar Sticky Fingers and the independent restaurant Union House, the hotel also wants to profile itself as a place where locals also feel at home. It fits within the broader growth strategy, in which scaling up should go hand in hand with meaningful anchoring in local communities. Investment fund NIPA Capital, majority shareholder since 2022, supports that ambition: by 2030, the group wants to increase the number of rooms fivefold, both in the Netherlands and abroad.

What makes Conscious Hotel Oudegracht special is that it does not aim to be merely an overnight spot. Guests can discover a listening room with carefully selected vinyl records or admire the art installations in the cloister. This enriches the guest experience with layers of the past as well as the city itself. The question is how this mix of heritage, sustainability and hospitality works out in practice.

Nice is also the emphasis on connection. Not only with the city of Utrecht and its history, but also with the neighbourhood. For example, Conscious Hotel Oudegracht collaborates with local makers and entrepreneurs to provide products and services, from artisan bread to art exhibitions. In doing so, the hotel aims to be not only a place where guests stay overnight, but also a lively meeting place that is part of the city and its community.