High tea at Hotel des Indes

On November 1, Sonja had been with OpstapmetLisa for 5 years and that had to be celebrated! As a surprise, she was taken to Hotel des Indes for a luxurious high tea. She had never been inside this beautiful and famous hotel before. How that was, you can read in this blog.

From city palace to hotel

At first I thought it was a joke: having lunch at Hotel des Indes! I mean, how cool is that! Being born and raised in The Hague, I knew the hotel of course, but I always thought it was above my station. The historic Hotel des Indes was built in 1858 by order of Baron Van Brienen, advisor to King William III. He wanted a city palace in addition to his own palace in the middle of downtown The Hague to host parties. After his death, the building was sold, completely rebuilt and opened as a hotel. When it was opened in 1881 by Prince Frederick of Orange, it was named Des Indes. It was named after the hotel of the same name on Batavia, Dutch East Indies. The hotel has great prestige and therefore has been a popular location for many celebrities such as Mata Hari, Josephine Baker, Mick Jagger, Prince and Michael Jackson.

Luxury high tea

Upon entering, we were welcomed by the hotel’s bellboy who took our coats. It seems you can even have your car put away! We didn’t, but it is possible. We were taken to our table where our own waitress explained the high tea. The high tea at Hotel des Indes consists of different dishes that are divided into three courses. You start with savory cold dishes. These included a small quiche, a bell pepper humus and goat cheese sandwich, a wrap with homemade egg salad and a salmon sandwich with some cream cheese. This was accompanied by a white tea with orange and cinnamon. This matched the dishes perfectly. Certainly the “spice” of the bell pepper humus came out well with this tea. We asked if we could be served extra tea in between courses so we could enjoy the high tea extra long. That was a great choice!

Savory and sweet

The second course of the high tea at Hotel des Indes was a warm savory dish with delicious tempura shrimp that was deliciously flavored. We were also both amazed at how something as simple as a beet could be made into something special. With this course we were served a green tea with ginger and lemongrass. This matched the exotic dish perfectly. The last course was a tray full of delicious sweets. There were scones with mascarpone and red fruit jam, a brownie muffin, delicious little tarts including lemon and hazelnut, a macaron and a tart with passion fruit. With the sweet course, we were served black tea with flavors that again went perfectly with all the goodies.

What a fun experience!

Do you have a special occasion or want to do something really special for once? Then book a high tea at Hotel des Indes in The Hague. The location is beautiful and you really feel special there. The high tea is also delicious, so you will be pampered in every possible way! Thank you Ester for this special gift!

Credits photos: OpstapmetLisa