Arrival in Delft and the Hotel De Plataan

Less than an hour after leaving the storm barrier, our next stop was the "cute and quaint" little university town of Delft--although not so cute as we entered the city since they're always digging and dredging along the canals, Hilbren explained. In fact, the English word "dig" translates to "delven" in Dutch, which (Hilbren suggested) became "Delft."

"The canals are filled with water lilies," Hilbren promised. But our hotel, he explained, would be the only Rick Steves' "back-door" hotel on this tour, and, therefore, a different experience. (Sam and I would definitely have another reason to agree with that the next morning--and not in a positive way.)

But at this point, he was telling us about the quirky owners--frustrated artists, he suggested, who have been redesigning each room with a motif matching the name of a specific tree. The name of the place, Hotel de Plataan, refers to the sycamore tree. Sam and I didn't check out anyone else's rooms--our room (#204, Platanus Hybrida, 42 steps up) appeared not to have been redone or upgraded yet--but we saw photos of some of the others in the lobby, plus tour members had various stories to report.

One had a Garden of Eden theme with an Adam and Eve mural, round bed with a red blush spread, and a walk-up tub. Another was Moroccan-themed with a plush purple bedspread and netting draped over the bed. Besides a fireplace, a luxurious whirl pool tub for two was encased in white tile and required walking up steps to enter it.

The hotel had a nice restaurant and bar and a cute courtyard with wooden tree-trunk-like tables. This photo (above) is looking across the courtyard into another one with the huge table lamp, which was even lit at night. As you can see, it was a very sunny and warm day on our arrival, always a treat.

It had been a long day, getting on and off the bus and filling our heads with many details about saving Holland from the sea, water barriers, floods, etc. I flopped on the bed as soon as I finished taking the traditional room photos--trying to ignore the busy murals surrounding us--and regrouped before Sam and I went outside to explore.