Estate de Wilmersberg, De Lutte

In the east of the Netherlands between the city of Oldenzaal and the village of De Lutte lies Landgoed Wilmersberg, a sustainable hotel where you can bring kids, four-legged friends and all your friends with peace of mind. So everyone does. Whatever the reason for your stay, you are always in the right place at Landgoed Wilmersberg. In this place it feels like a holiday every day. In 1914, the Twente textile family Bledenstein, who only built houses in the most beautiful locations, bought the land in Wilmersberg, after which everything came about. This means that the country retreat has existed for more than 100 years (now no longer owned by the Bledenstein family), but since 1995 in the hands of the Fransen family. The Fransen family has a total of four hotels, two of which are in the Netherlands and two in Spain.

A lot has happened since it has been in the hands of this French family: over time, luxury hotel rooms have been built and wellness facilities have been added to the hotel, including an indoor swimming pool, sauna, Turkish steam bath and various massages and facial treatments. Everything has been recently renovated, so it is the ideal relaxing place in the middle of all the greenery and beauty that Twente has to offer.

Location, location, location

Well, Landgoed de Wilmersberg is not called an estate for nothing, so it is certainly large: fourteen hectares of estate to be precise. Because of these hectares it has a quiet location and you are completely away from all the hustle and bustle. For many, the Twente region is perhaps the most beautiful in the Netherlands: the rolling landscape, the special architecture and greenery almost everywhere. What stands out most for us is the 'noaberschap' which describes exactly how the Twente residents are - really incredibly nice.

There is plenty to do near Landgoed de Wilmersberg. The centre of Oldenzaal is a 30-minute walk away and an hour's bike ride will take you to the city of Ootmarsum, where you can visit beautiful galleries. A golf course is one kilometre away: at the sister of the Wilmersberg you can play nine holes. Or take a walk through Roombeek, the newly built neighbourhood in Enschede that was hit by the fireworks disaster in 2000. Finally, for the active among us: there is also a climbing course with heights of two to twelve metres at AvaTarZ. Would you rather look for other things to do? In this list you will find all Barts Best of Twente

You don't have to leave your hotel for a good restaurant, because it's right there in your hotel. The restaurant serves a three, four or five course menu or you can just choose everything separately. The team in the kitchen mainly cooks vegetarian, but meat or fish lovers can add this as an addition. Don't miss the bar, which is new-new-new and even cosier than before. Would you rather leave the house? Then visit Joann in Enschede where they prepare the plates so beautifully that you would rather look at them than eat them or drop by Teahouse Dennenoord in Vasse, which is a household name in Twente.

The eye wants something too

Everything that makes Landgoed Wilmersberg so special starts upon arrival: you drive onto the grounds via the country road, park your car (free of charge) and enter the ochre-yellow lobby, which is also the restaurant area. Plus points for the incredibly friendly staff, who are incredibly helpful. In addition, at the Wilmersberg they are not only good, they also do good: in 2013 they received a Green Key Gold (the quality mark within the recreation sector that indicates whether a company operates sustainably) and they work together with Hotels for Trees, where they contribute to a cleaner hotel world. As a guest you can choose to skip cleaning your room, and in return a tree is planted. Sounds amazing!

There are five different rooms: the small room, room with French balcony, garden and forest room with terrace, junior suites and Royal suites/family bedrooms. Most of them have recently been given a major makeover and are now all dressed in bright colors with shades of gray. So you have blue, yellow and green walls in the rooms.

Keffers and Kroost

Both completely welcome, yes please. There is a small play area under the stairs for the kids and the keffers are welcome, by prior arrangement and not in every room, so be careful which room you book if your four-legged friend is coming along for a weekend.