I’m always well disposed towards a hotel with a good bar, and Vesper doesn’t waste any time presenting its guests with a beauty. The lobby-bar at this boutique place in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, is the first room one encounters when stepping through the front doors. Straight in there, no messing. Marvellous. The room is described as the heart of the hotel, and it’s easy to see why. A long cocktail bar stretches along the rear wall, with a floor-to-ceiling brass and steel cabinet behind and a 1920s skylight overhead. There’s no shortage of natural light from those windows either, which afford a lovely view of the North Sea; Noordwijk is an upmarket seaside resort also noteworthy for its inland bulb fields.
All of the praise for its lobby can be extended to the rest of the Vesper hotel. There are 27 individually-designed rooms on offer kitted out with a fine selection of vintage furniture, with luxurious touches such as handmade mattresses and bathrooms that may contain a sauna or a full spa, depending on your budget. Most rooms have a sea view and a balcony, too, which is the perfect place for a sundowner; Vesper comes from the old Latin for time of the sunset.
