A RICH HISTORY
With nearly one hundred hotels and a family member at the helm almost everywhere, Van der Valk is a unique family business worldwide. A large family working intensively together for so long naturally makes for great stories. Read more about the origins and the home-from-home feeling for both employee and guest below.
"There's a living room on the hatch!" This statement can still be heard in many restaurants at Van der Valk . There's a staff meal waiting, it means to a layman. The hatch refers to the pass-through slide, which used to connect the kitchen to the dining room in early Van der Valk restaurants. And why the staff meal is called a living room? Because it used to be consumed in the living room of the Van der Valk family itself.
The three sisters Riet Broeks, El de Bruijn and Wil Polman, are among the elders of the third generation and know a thing or two about it. El: "We always lived in the business the Bijhorst, until there were five of us. There was no staff canteen then, so everyone always came to eat in our living room." Riet: "There wasn't much staff back then either, and there was always a lot of family walking around." Wil: "At one point my mother was done with it. It was no longer a real living room with always other people around. We moved to an annex behind the restaurant.
How it once began...
Martinus Van der Valk was the offspring of a family of 24 children. Perhaps that is why he saw opportunities everywhere and seized them. His father had instilled in him "You must pick up the lettuce plants someone else throws away" and he took this to heart throughout his life. After the death of his mother in 1929, he acquired their Farm De Gouden Leeuw in Voorschoten, with accompanying café. Conveniently, he took advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves. For example, he once traded a horse for a car, but the next day the barrel wouldn't start. To still have a little fun with his acquisition, Martinus mounted car wheels under his horse-drawn cart, now it was noiseless! Other cart owners came to Martinus for tires and he became successful in the car business. For this he was on the road a lot, and he noticed that nowhere outside the door could you eat as well as at home. This was an idea for the café! Soon the guests were able to eat there as well.
While Martinus remained in the car business, his wife Riet ran the café. As many as twelve children were also born. It was hard work in the family Van der Valk, they never sat still. Martinus was the man of ideas, for he had thought of obtaining a business for each child. Riet took care of the work and in the meantime Martinus looked for suitable catering businesses to take over. However, the children did not get the business as gifts; they had to work hard for it. And so they did, following their father's philosophy. The businesses Martinus bought were usually those that were in bad financial shape, but in which he could see a future. After all, you had to pick up someone else's lettuce plants!
In the 1980s and 1990s, the growth of the concern was very rapid. Not only were poorly running catering businesses taken over, but many new ones were built. Two of Martinus' sons who increasingly came to the fore were Arie and Gerrit van der Valk. Arie mainly took care of the financial side of the concern, Gerrit was the more enterprising of the two and the face to the outside world. And the whole family cooperated: "If the children can stand, they can also wash glasses," Grandpa Martinus had once said.
Hard work, lots of fun
For all the children Van der Valk the family business meant working early. Riet luiten: "We spent whole Sundays folding tablecloths so they would fit in the planters between the tables, shelling beans, polishing silver.... There was always plenty of work and my mother always made sure we stayed busy." El: "She always made it one big party. It was always a competition for the whole family, for example who got the most beans shelled, or rugs folded, and there was always a reward attached to the work." Riet: "White bread with cheese for example or we were allowed to go sailing. It was also cozy, because girlfriends and nieces also worked, so we were always with a large group. In the evening after work we always ate together elaborately. Staff were no longer allowed by my mother to come into our new house, but there were already nine of us, trailers and there were always nieces and nephews, so the table was well filled. Eating was really a celebration moment, I think that's why I always love eating so much," the eldest sister laughs. El: "I really had a fantastic childhood
. My parents worked a lot, but because the business was at home I did feel like they were always there."
By now we are over a hundred years since the start. Many establishments have been added in the Netherlands, but also in Germany, Belgium, France, Spain and the Netherlands Antilles. The fourth generation is taking over the helm from the third and in some hotels the fifth generation is already working with us. Recently, even the first member of the sixth generation has already been born. There is no obligation to enter the hospitality industry, but there are few family members who would pass up such a unique opportunity to help build such a special company. Together they build ever more beautiful and better companies, so that they can pass them on to the next generation. Just as Martinus once wanted.
Second home
People who work there often consider Van der Valk a second home, but guests also feel welcome there, thanks to the typical homely atmosphere, which the hotels exude. Of course, this is primarily because Van der Valk is a real family business, with family members also present on a daily basis. The interior is also modern, but above all cozy. The hotels are designed for whole families with almost always a play corner in the restaurants and the menu offers something for everyone. In the past, you could go toVan der Valk for "good food just like at home. Nowadays the hotels try to go a step further in culinary experience. However, one thing has remained unchanged: a visit to Van der Valk feels like coming home, eating, drinking and sleeping well in cozy surroundings.
Why the Toucan?
It is one of the most frequently asked questions to the Van der Valk family : why do you have a toucan on your roof and not a falcon? The answer can be found in the purchase of bird park Avifauna. The family was looking for a symbol for the whole family. So just after the war, many people still had unpleasant memories of the raptor symbolism used by the Nazis. As Gerrit van der Valk said, "When a falcon is sleeping it's nothing and when it goes on a raid it's like an eagle. A toucan is a beautiful, big, tropical bird, a cheerful beast, a sociable beast, that suits us much better."