Central Park, By Ron Blaauw

Central Park, By Ron Blaauw

Central Park occupies an 18th-century country house set inside the park Vreugd & Rust, a stretch of green just outside The Hague that once belonged to a Dutch statesman's family before the municipality opened it to the public in 1917. Fourteen rooms are spread across two floors, which keeps the place feeling more like a private house than a hotel, and the terrace opens onto the garden rather than a road or a car park. What separates Central Park from other small hotels nearby is its restaurant: since 2023 it has held a Michelin star, and the kitchen runs a three-course lunch, multi-course tasting menus and a full à la carte built around dishes such as red mullet with pork belly and smoked butter. The hotel joined Relais & Chateaux in 2022, and that pairing of stately house and serious kitchen means guests come here as much for dinner as for the room. Rooms have air conditioning, a safe and a private bathroom, and staff speak English and can arrange private check-in and check-out on request. There is free parking on site, a picnic area in the grounds, and pets are welcome for a small fee. Wheelchair access extends to the restaurant as well as the hotel itself. This suits a couple wanting a quiet base near The Hague, Rotterdam and Schiphol with a genuinely good table downstairs, not travelers looking for a pool, a gym or a busy lobby. With only fourteen rooms in a house this old, ask for the terrace table when the weather holds, because a Michelin star inside an 18th-century garden like this rarely stays a secret for long. An 18th-century country house near The Hague, now a fourteen-room hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant and its own garden. Better suited to a quiet stay built around dinner than to families or big-group travel.