BUNK HOTEL
I’ve come to Utrecht to get a first-hand look at the BUNK Hotel, which was awarded in 2021 with a “Hoscar” (the Oscars of Hotels) for the Extraordinary Innovation Hostel category.
“You’re very lucky,” my waitress says to me as she pours an espresso on the terrace of the Springhaver Café. I’ve always considered myself a lucky guy, but the truth is that today, in Utrecht, everyone, absolutely every cyclist who pedals past my table, does so with a big smile on their face. “And why is that,” I ask. “It’s the first sunny day of the whole summer.”
I’ve only been in this Dutch city for an hour, and already I’m asking myself several questions: How many bicycles can fit in a parking lot? What responsibility do we travel journalists have in the gentrification of cities? How do you ask for marriage in Dutch?
Chapter Trail
There’s something about the idiosyncrasy of this always particular country that suits me well. More than a quarter of its surface is below sea level. Although it is the most densely populated country in Europe, there are a million more bicycles (18 million) than inhabitants. Although the Dutch are the tallest people in the world, nobody speaks too loud. And, yes, you can buy marijuana legally in some coffee shops.
So, it’s no wonder that the BUNK Hotel has been awarded as an extraordinarily innovative hotel. For starters, the building is a refurbished former Reformation church. The Westerberk opened its doors in 1893, but January 2018 was the last date on which a worship service was held inside. It reopened in 2019 as a hotel after a very interesting creative process of renovating the building, which means that even today, it is still possible to hear its world-renowned Quellhorst organ.
To continue, another question: What is the line that separates a hostel from a hotel? Even if it’s only one letter, it is often enough to mark a line between comfort and, of course, price. But what if we blur that line; can a hostel be as comfortable and nice as a hotel? Or conversely, can a hotel be priced like a hostel without giving up its amenities? Let’s see…
My first night at the Bunk Hotel I decide to try their concept of pods, which are bedroom capsules in which the space is reduced to the bare minimum of a mattress and little else. It’s a concept that was born in the late 1970s in Japan as an economical alternative for workers who missed the train home (or were too drunk to even try to get on it in the first place!). The idea then spread to global airports, which saw an interesting opportunity to bill extra to travelers in need of some rest during long transfers. Now, hotels like Bunk have found an opportunity in pods and are implementing them in innovative ways.
Can a hostel be as comfortable and nice as a hotel? Can a hotel be priced like a hostel without giving up its amenities?
The hotel concierge takes me to the pod area, which is a sort of wooden beehive dotted with cabins. Then, he kindly opens the curtain that leads to mine. I settle in and check my surroundings. There are several netted baskets on the walls where I can leave my basics. There are plugs to charge my electronics and poly chromatic light controls to set the mood. Is anything else really needed?
In a state of slumber, I think about the answer to that question. I remember the ideas of the philosopher Antisthenes, creator of the Cynic school of thought, who sought to achieve happiness by getting rid of everything superfluous. It’s a goal that his great disciple Diogenes took to the extreme. When he was asked about necessity he used to answer: “It is proper for the gods to need nothing, and for those who resemble gods to need very few things.”
The next morning, I leave the hotel, thinking that it doesn’t really make much sense to pay for a big room if you are going to spend the whole day — and maybe the night — enjoying the city. That’s especially true when the city we are talking about is Utrecht.
“It’s the town hall that pays us to play,” Pierre, a local musician and member of the band Pierre et les optimistes, tells me when I inquire why his band doesn’t ask for money from the large audience they’ve gathered on a nice terrace at the foot of the canal. We are here practicing the old urban pastime of watching and being watched. People from the passing boats look at those on the sidewalks, and those on the sidewalks look at those who pass in the boats. “It’s a way to give a good atmosphere to the streets, especially on beautiful days like today,” Pierre tells me. Without a doubt, these Dutch are unique.
We are here practicing the old urban pastime of watching and being watched.
The tower of the DOM church, the tallest and oldest in the Netherlands, guides me through the night on my way back to the hotel. It has surely done the same for other travelers over the centuries. Once inside, I am pleased with the cozy atmosphere of the common areas where, as with the city itself, interesting things seem to be happening all the time. There are art exhibitions, there are interesting people and there is good food. What more could you ask for? Well … since there are several ranges of pods and rooms to choose from, I go ahead and ask: “Could you please put me up tonight in the largest room in the hotel?” “Of course, sir,” the desk manager says. “Here’s the key to our most special room: the Bunk Epic Room.” I’m like that, it seems, a guy of extremes.
Should I tell you about this jewel, less than 20 minutes from Amsterdam?
No. I’m sorry. I don’t want to be a promoter of gentrification. So, instead of telling you where to go, I’m going to give you my best advice as a traveler: ask advice from the Bunk staff. They are local people and authentic Local in-destination experts willing to tell you the secrets of this city. Or better yet: discover it yourself; it’s much more rewarding that way!
You probably know that the sun is never guaranteed in Utrecht; what are, however, are good memories.
Now, it’s time to sleep. Tomorrow a flight will take me back home, and before I get there, I will have to answer a question that has been gnawing at me since I arrived: What responsibility do we travel journalists have in the processes of gentrification? Should I tell you about this jewel, less than 20 minutes from Amsterdam? About its beautiful brick houses? About its canals navigable by all kinds of motor, row and pedal boats? About its parks, alleys and churches? About its beautiful library? About its many international restaurants? About its Picalilly with Vocking worst?
