Het weeshuis Through the Years | About Us

PLEASED TO MEET YOU

We are Sharon and Lennart van Gastel, also known as the beating heart behind Relais & Châteaux Weeshuis Gouda. With a passion for interiors, historical details combined with modern, yet refined hospitality and a keen eye for detail, we transform abandoned, usually very old, buildings into attractive and surprising hospitality concepts. This was the case with the Weeshuis. It was love at first sight between us and this beautiful building that exudes history and is so special to the beautiful city of Gouda. The Weeshuis deserves a new life as a unique destination. You may also know us from the Museumcafé Gouda, Keck, and LF-Gouda (in an old light factory).

DISCOVER GOUDA

THE WEESHUIS THROUGH THE YEARS

Today it houses a luxury boutique hotel, but the Weeshuis’s century-old story began with seven nuns.

THERE WERE ONCE…

REMCO KUIJPERS

Executive Chef of restaurant LIZZ* is Remco Kuijpers. He started his career as an apprentice chef at De Swaen in Oisterwijk and then worked at top restaurants such as Da Vinci, Vermeer and Fitzgerald.

“We at LIZZ* and WSHS are very down to earth and working very hard to create something beautiful. Our ambition is to make the hotel, including the restaurant, an institution.” Remco Kuijpers’ own style fits in well with that of LIZZ*. The chef carefully selects his ingredients from local suppliers and producers with which he then creates fresh and nutritious dishes. The chef sometimes takes the delusion of the day into account to the extreme. Not only does he take the seasons very seriously, he also adapts his cooking style. For instance, he makes the sauce he serves with a nice piece of sea bass lighter when the weather is nice and a bit fuller when it is a cold or drizzly day.

This finesse makes Kuijpers the perfect complement to the professional team at WSHS, which otherwise consists of owners Lennart and Sharon van Gastel and all the staff who make WSHS so appreciated. “Remco puts feeling in his food. Love. And that is exactly what we want to give our guests. He has a green heart, which makes LIZZ* the green heart of WSHS and WSHS the green heart of Gouda.

Gouda Gastvrij

The city of Gouda is very dear to us and it means so very much to us to make Gouda even more enjoyable for others. Getting married, staying overnight, having drinks, flex working, renting bikes and having parties; Gouda is the perfect place to do it all.

Gouda Gastvrij

Gouds Plateel

The inspiration for the overall look and feel of Relais & Châteaux Weeshuis Gouda comes from Gouds Plateel, a type of both matte and glossy glazed earthenware made in Gouda. Across the property, you will find different prints and graphic shapes in the design, while the colors and decor serve to set the mood. These touches can be found in our graphic designs, as well as throughout the interior.

Gouds Plateel was produced by several pottery factories and has its origins in the Jugendstil and Art Nouveau ceramics of the early 1900s. In the 1920s and 1930s, the pottery industry provided a significant number of jobs and was one of the city’s most important industries. Gouds Plateel is unique and can be recognized by its expressive use of color, floral images – both abstract and recognizable – and firm lines. Today, this specific pottery is a scarce commodity and there are only about five Dutch workshops where this old craft is still practiced in the traditional way.

One of these studios is within walking distance of WSHS. In this atelier Trudy Otterspeer brings this time-honored craft back to the attention of the public. As a result of Trudy’s advocacy and tireless work, pottery painting in Gouda was placed on the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, on the basis of the UNESCO Convention of 2014. We highly recommend a visit to Trudy’s studio, as well as a visit to Nico van Eijck’s beautiful Plateel store.