Den Bosch or s'Hertogenbosch is Hieronimus Bosch birth city. If you are planning to pay a visit to Den Bosch, especially this year of the 500th anniversary of Hieronymus death, this hotel is a great choice!
Moevenpick hotel s’Hertogenbosch is a 4* Mövenpick hotel. 10 minutes away from Den Bosch center, this hotel is a step forward in sustainability practices. This hotel is a gold certificated Green Globe and has done a lot to improve its footprint.
How to get there?
Mövenpick (also possible to spell as Moevenpick) Hertogenbosch is a 4* Mövenpick hotel. Is conveniently located 200 meters away from a bus station. To get there you need to get a train to Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch) and then take the bus 11 direction Aawijk to the bus stop s’Hertogenbosch, Pettelaarpark. The ride takes about 10 minutes from the train station. By car, you just take A22 and exit at the exit 22-St. Michielsgestel.
Overall review
We were particularly curious to discover more about their practices, knowing that it is a GreenGlobe certified hotel. They have just been certified Gold GreenGlobe hotel! But labels and especially green labels don’t always tell the full story, we asked the hotel if they could give us some time to explain their green practices. Moevenpick hotels were also the first to pick up the request and kindly offered us to meet.
We met with Wim, the general manager, Suzan and Janneke. They replied to all our questions openly and gave us the possibility to stay at the hotel which allowed us to make a full review on their sustainability practices from the bedroom to the outdoor facilities.
Building
The building is from 1991 so it is a pretty old building, which of course is well maintained but the latest insulation technic is not present. They have changed the heating and cooling system to lower their energy consumption and built the terrace with better isolating materials though. All the paintings are water based which is good because regular painting contain toxic chemicals that can be carcinogens. The windows are low e-windows which means that the insulation is better than with regular windows.
The furniture is not recycled but is mostly composed of composite wood. The furniture is apparently given away to associations when damaged or not suitable for costumer usage anymore.
Food
Their supplier is located in Netherlands and is called Hanos and they get delivered 2 to 3 times per week. The supplier is located 160km away, which makes it a local supplier so with less carbon footprint than if the supplier was located further away. Especially since Hanos uses 80% bio-gasoline for the transportation. We checked with the supplier. They do have a range of food and non-food products that are eco-friendly or eco-conscious. The label they use is “Ik kook bewust” or “I cook consciously”. This label is available for all kind of products from diaries to disposable but we haven’t seen any product with this label at the hotel.
The fish is certified sustainable fishing or farming and Moevenpick in general is pushing tis suppliers to become greener by getting labels.
Their regular meat supplier, NicetoMeat, is developing a green label called Greenious to guarantee a meat good for the clients and for the planet and respecting the animal welfare. We called them to ask a few question about this label. This label is only applied on a few specific products like MRI beef, wieden lamb, wagyu beef, Creekstone USA black Angus and high-end poultry from France.
The vegetables are not organic neither are the eggs nor the dairy. In general, the food could be more organic or animal welfare certified. The fair trade label is only available on wines and coffee
Their menu has a “Go healthy” page where you find delicious vegetarian options, we really liked the pumpkin soup from this menu. Vegan dishes are on demand only and we haven’t seen any soya milk at the breakfast.
The breakfast was great, many options, eggs on demand, lots of jams and breads. Nothing seemed organic but the buffet is diverse and complete. We wished for more organic options though.
Energy
They use a management tool for their energy-saving plan called SUITE. Combined with the fact that all the bedrooms have card switchers, the hotel is good about energy consumption. It has about 95% LED bulbs, and the rest is energy savings bulbs. They also have mention sensors for the front and back doors. All the appliances they use in both the kitchen and the bedrooms are low energy consumption appliances.
In the bedrooms, you will find adjustable thermostats with a maximum temperature of 30°C. But except if you want to turn your bedroom into a sauna, the average indoor temperature is set up on 21°C. The electricity is off once you remove the keycard from the holder except for the TV that remains on because of the programming but it has an auto standby mode.
Their sauna is activated only on demand. Which consumes less energy and they also have a green energy supplier. All their employees are trained to consume less and keep up a sustainable behavior about energy, water and pollution, which is great.
Waste
Unfortunately, legislation in Netherlands doesn’t allow to give away the pre-consumer waste and they don’t have a system to transform the food in anything else but compost. Therefore, they offer smaller portions options on main dishes, which is wonderful.
They also recycle everything except for the aluminum for which they don’t have waste collection. But they do not recycle the rooms garbage which is why you won’t find different bins for different kind of trash in the room. Their employees are not 100% receiving paperless payroll which they are trying to change.
Regarding chemicals, the hotel told us they are not using any (such as refrigerants). They also told us that the pest management was handled by an external agency using environmental-friendly products. And they use only eco-friendly detergents and cleaning products. The laundry is done by an environmental friendly company that doesn’t use harmful chemicals as they are working under EWRA control (European Water Resources Association) that emphasizes the usage of eco-friendly products to protect the water.
They offer little disposable and most of them are paper-based which limits the impact.
Water
Shower heads and toilets have a low flow. The hotel doesn’t offer mini toiletries and only provides with the bigger format eco-friendly shower gel. It is nice, but we would have liked a bit more diversity as a consumer, like extra eco-friendly shampoo or conditioner.
The hotel collects rain water to garden the surroundings. As rain is very frequent in the Netherlands, they have a very little need of using extra water to garden!
Community
They work with locals, hiring people from around the neighborhood and sponsor local events. As Den Bosch is celebrating the 500th anniversary of Hieronymus’ death (can also be written as Jheronimus), the hotel is partnering to promote the event. They help the city for the marketing around the event.
They also work with local schools and collect all plastic caps on milk bottles to get some money giving it to an association taking care of blind people.
We strongly recommend the hotel if you are planning to pay a visit to Den Bosch, especially this year of the 500th anniversary of Hieronymus death.
Mövenpick s’Hertogenbosch: a green efficient hotel
Very Good!
- Service: We had the chance to enjoy the restaurant and the service was really good. The staff at the reception desk was very helpful, giving us indications on what to do in the surroundings and also the functioning of the hotel. We even got a bit of historical background of the city which is the birth city of the famous painter Hieronymus Bosch (born Jheronimus Bosch). They also offer bicycles if you need to go around (as you know cycling in the Netherlands is highly popular ;))
- Bedrooms: The bedrooms are cozy and comfortable. No bathtub but a nice shower. The linen is all 100% organic and fair trade cotton! The bed is very comfortable; we slept like babies. The view on the lake was wonderful, we liked it a lot!
- Facilities: There is a sauna and an infrared room on the 6th floor, spacious, clean and very nice. It’s opened up to 10pm which we found pretty convenient. The hotel also has a large parking with electric car charging options. The hotel is very clean too, and the sauna is a plus if you are comfortable with the no-swimming-suit policy (all spas in the Netherlands are the same). There is also a nice terrace that we haven’t been able to visit as the weather was way too cold.
- Food: The dinner was excellent. The hotel offers a diverse menu with healthy and vegetarian options. Denis had a tartare as a starter and a shrimp dish as a main. I had a delicious pumpkin soup and the burger. We were both super full at the end of the meal as portions are quite big. We really liked the meal, and we liked the fair trade wines and coffee. We would have liked more labelled food though as there was no organic nor animal welfare certified dishes.
- Location: The hotel is in a business area so you won’t find much to do in the direct surroundings. You have a small lake next to the hotel which gives it its charm. The public transportation is 5 minutes away from the hotel and you have regular buses to go to the city center. Hertogenbosch worth a visit, and this year for the 500thanniversary of Jheronimus’ death, the city has set up a full program for tourists fond of arts and culture.
You Might Also Like
