Efteling has expanded its impressive on-site accommodation lineup for 2025 following the opening of the brand new Grand Hotel on Friday, 1st August. Upon getting the chance to stay here one month after its opening, it’s clear that, in line with Efteling’s other on-site accommodations, the Grand Hotel makes a stark impression with its high-quality presentation and offerings, so join us in covering what you can expect from a stay at this magnificent hotel!
The introduction of the Grand Hotel undoubtedly makes such an impression on the skyline of Efteling that it can only be described as an instant classic, with the spectacle being visible within the park from a variety of angles. The appearance of the hotel is very intentional, with its concept deriving from the history of Efteling. The aim was to blend the past and present of the park, being inspired by one of its smallest scenes: The Golden Goose. This design by Anton Pieck was drawn on to create concepts for the hotel, demonstrated by the facade incorporating the clock and the ornamentation of the interior of the Golden Goose, being an ode to it in the process. The colour palette also reflects this, being used to create a beautiful gilded design seen during your stay – it’s certainly one of the most visually stunning theme park hotels out there! This hotel is also the largest within Efteling, stretching across seven floors with 140 rooms, a swimming pool, a spa, two restaurants, and two souvenir shops, with the latter two being accessible to park and hotel guests. The ambitious project took just under three years to construct, being located within the park itself in the square near the House of the Five Senses, the park’s main entrance, making it a convenient location for its visitors.
The arrival experience at the Grand Hotel is extraordinary, with the architecture making an astonishing impression. The entrance facade incorporates many sleek designs that accurately ooze the luxury of the hotel as it towers over you. The windows, the text embossed above the entrance, the logo of the hotel, the lanterns, and the domed rooftops all come together to give the exterior an impeccable appearance, and this is unsurprisingly not lost once you’ve entered the lobby itself. The detailing throughout is arguably some of the best stylisation within the park, with the furniture, grand archways, flooring, and iconic centrepieces creating something that appears modern yet still cosy. Within the lobby is the reception desk with staff to assist you, a cafe bar known as ‘Café Biscuit’, and one of the gift shops. There are also a couple of must-do photo opportunities, with one located outside the hotel and the other to the left of the reception desk!
Speaking of the centrepiece, this was equally as astounding as the rest of the lobby! The chandelier pierces through the centre of a spiral staircase, which takes you up to the different floors of the hotel, intricately designed with scattered keys and lights to make it stand out amongst its competitively gorgeous surroundings. If you’d rather, there’s also a lift to the right of the reception desk – though not as detailed, accessibility is held in high regard here, meaning all needs are appropriately accounted for during your stay. Two lifts are within the hotel, with one being located in the middle of the corridors amongst the rooms to take you to the restaurant, bar, and pool facilities, and the other being at the end of the same corridors that take you back down to the lobby.
Checking in at the Grand Hotel is efficient, being completed in the days leading up to your visit via the Efteling mobile app. During this, you can opt to add extras to your stay, such as making dinner reservations at the main restaurant – known as ‘Brasserie 7’ – or booking to see the park’s theatre show, ‘Caro’, both of which we experienced during our stay. Even without these extras, there’s plenty included within the full package provided upon your initial booking: park entry for all days of your stay via tickets displayed on the app, hotel entrances to the park, free parking with a valet service on offer, breakfast at Brasserie 7, access to the pool & spa facilities, luxury rooms, and half an hour of early access to the park with selected rides open – including Droomvlucht, Vogel Rok, and Max & Moritz. Having already checked in online, the app will display your room number and allow you access to your digital key – as with Efteling’s other on-site accommodation, the Grand Hotel does not have physical keys. Instead, your key will be on your phone, and you will need this to access all areas of the hotel due to its location within the park, including the aforementioned lift next to the reception desk. This works via a Bluetooth connection when you hold the digital key up to the keypads. Upon arrival, friendly reception staff will explain all of this to you, making for a seamless beginning to your stay at the Grand Hotel. Luggage storage is also available, being securely locked in a room, which is handy if you are arriving at Efteling before your room is ready at 3 PM to ensure you do not have to carry your bags with you whilst exploring the park!
After leaving the lobby, we headed up to our room on the second floor. The remainder of the hotel has some quirks to it that you’d expect from Efteling, such as a static luggage rack in the corridors to the room, making it interesting throughout. The Grand Hotel has a variety of room options, ranging from Premium Deluxe Rooms to Tower Rooms to Suites, with the option of a balcony and park views at increased prices. You can book rooms for between three to six people, making the hotel accommodating to groups of all different sizes. Whilst prices vary depending on the tier of room you book, the package remains the same throughout, with the only difference being the room itself if you opt to stay in one of the larger rooms, such as a suite. We stayed in a Premium Deluxe Room, which is the standard room at the hotel, and each of these is elegantly designed in a single colour theme with subtle Efteling details. Elegance absolutely encapsulates everything about this room, from the beautiful marble sinks in the bathroom to the spherical mood lighting and the rounded furniture to give it all a softer yet modern appearance. We ended up with the green colour theme, though there are also red, yellow, and blue rooms available. The colour scheme works incredibly well, being chequered with a light grey and white throughout the different areas of the room. We had opted not to choose our view or go with a balcony, and, upon entering our room, discovered that there really is no such thing as a bad view when staying here. Towards the rear of the room, we were able to overlook the Fairytale Forest area of Efteling, which only made our stay more magical!
The room layout includes a hallway leading to the beds, the main sleeping area, and two bathroom facilities with separate rooms for the toilet and shower. Immediately upon entering, there’s a wardrobe to your right with a small desk to incorporate basic amenities such as a coffee machine, and within the wardrobe itself were some bath robes and slippers for if you wanted to take advantage of the pool & spa facilities downstairs – or just if you wanted to feel fancy! This wardrobe also has a keyhole cut out of the top to display a lit-up depiction of the Fairytale Forest and the park. To your left are two doors, with one being for the toilet room and the other being for the wet-room style shower and sink, which are all very bright in their design. Continuing to the beds, these are set up depending on how many are in the room. Our room specifically could sleep five in a king-sized bed, a bunk bed, and a pull-out bed, which admittedly could be quite tight if full; however, still doable. The beds also all have conveniently placed plug sockets next to them, which was appreciated! All beds provide a comfortable sleep, which is necessary if you’re trying to squeeze in everything at the hotel, given how much is on offer, after a day at the park. Other amenities are also provided, such as a smart TV with a book custom-made for the hotel placed on the desk below, snacks (including Macarons with the Grand Hotel logo printed on top), towels, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, water, a mini-fridge, and more. The rooms are cosy and provide everything you would need for an enjoyable stay at Efteling.
Following on from our day at Efteling, we also chose to try one of the restaurants at the Grand Hotel for dinner. As previously mentioned, there are plenty of food and beverage options available. One of these is Brasserie 7, which is located within the park, providing a view of the entrance plaza. This, combined with the calming music, decorative planting, and gleaming design, made for a very welcoming atmosphere, creating a nice setting for the evening. Brasserie 7 does require a reservation if you wish to eat there for dinner, which is straightforward to book on the app when checking in. The menu offered a standard variety of delicious appetizers, main courses, sides, desserts, and plenty of vegetarian alternatives alongside them, with reasonable pricing throughout for a restaurant of this calibre. Those who require allergy-specific alterations to the meals or vegan options can also speak to the staff to quickly get an alternative sorted. Brasserie 7 prides itself on its unique, enchanting flavours in the form of its 7 magic ingredients listed on the menu, which the chef adds as a surprise when serving your meal, improving your evening-long journey. The drinks menu also covered a range of soft drinks to alcoholic beverages – there’s something for everyone!
There is plenty more to explore in the evenings alongside the main restaurant. Just upstairs from Brasserie 7 is also the hotel’s second restaurant, known as ‘Restaurant & Bar Mystique’. Whilst closed during our stay, the bar is typically open until midnight, providing a spectacular view overlooking the lake at Efteling. Heading outside, you can also roam the perimeter of the Grand Hotel at night. Whilst you can’t go beyond the hotel, its exterior feels like a show in itself, with moving parts and clever lighting giving it a glowing appearance at night amongst its surroundings, which is fantastic to be able to appreciate! We also took advantage of the pool facilities, including two paddling pools and one larger pool with multiple sections ranging from a fountain to jacuzzi-style seating, which is a great way to wind down and relax. There’s also a sauna and a steam room, as well as showers, a spa with massages on offer at an additional cost, and lockers.
In the mornings, breakfast is on offer at Brasserie 7, though it does not require a reservation. It’s worth noting that it can get quite busy during peak times, and you may have to wait for a table as a result. We were seated in the conservatory section of the restaurant this time, which was just as pleasant as the main seating area, if not better, due to the improved view of the park. The breakfast offering is relatively standard, with a traditional continental buffet including pastries, pancakes, fruit, a variety of breads, and some cooked options such as bacon and sausages. There’s a ‘Breakfast Specials’ menu also, allowing you to order cooked meals if you’d prefer, and the drinks bar ranges from coffee to juices to free Champagne – can’t complain at that! To complete your stay at the Grand Hotel, checking out doesn’t require you to do anything, given that the key is digital. You are once again able to securely store any luggage in the lobby if you are re-entering the park for another day. If you are opting to do this, there are two hotel-specific entrances to the park. It’s worth noting that the main entrance through the House of the Five Senses currently does not accept the tickets included with your Grand Hotel booking, and so you must use the gates located to the left and right of the reception upon leaving. These are conveniently located to make the park easily accessible for hotel guests, with one taking you to the main entrance street of the park, and the other bringing you directly into the Fairytale Forest with its new Grand Hotel model being at the forefront of this entrance! These gates can be unlocked with your digital key, which you will still have access to on the day of your departure.
It’s evident that Efteling has put its guests at the heart of the Grand Hotel. Everything about this experience appears unbelievable, pristine, and luxurious from start to finish, and that’s simply because it is. No stone is left unturned with not only the design and quality of the hotel and its day-to-day appearance, but also the vast range of offerings via the facilities on-site – we were easily able to fill our time here! The staff were also friendly and helpful throughout our stay, which only made for an even more pleasant atmosphere. Price-wise, we paid roughly £150pp for a Premium Deluxe Room for three adults, which, given what our booking included, felt like a bargain, and certainly brilliant value for money at the very least. This price is based on a midweek visit in September, and so it may vary during peak times, though the room is naturally cheaper if more people are staying in it. It greatly improved our time at Efteling due to how well-integrated the hotel is with the park, making it an instant recommendation to anyone who may be interested in booking to stay here themselves. Staying here so soon after opening was beyond special and unforgettable. Basically, if I had to summarise the Efteling Grand Hotel in one word… it’s pretty grand!
Have you ever stayed on-site at a theme park before? If so, which hotels have you stayed in? Let us know via our social media channels!
