The Oranjevrouwen are staying at the chic Belvédère Strandhotel in Spiez during the European Championship. NU.nl took a look at the accommodation of coach Andries Jonker’s team.
The orange flowers in the planters in front of the hotel and the Dutch flag on the roof betray the upcoming arrival of the Oranjevrouwen. But on Tuesday afternoon, there is no sign of any of the players in Spiez at two o’clock.
Several security guards are waiting for the selection. “They will arrive around 4:30 PM,” says one of them. Is press allowed to enter the hotel? That is, in principle, forbidden, but one of the security guards gives us a brief glimpse into the garden of the four-star hotel.
Little is visible, except that there is a sauna in the garden and a yoga mat. A look at the website reveals that Belvédère has a luxurious spa, a large outdoor pool with a view, and a luxurious restaurant.
Belvédère has been rented by the KNVB from June 29 to July 27, the day of the European Championship final. “We are unable to accommodate external guests due to a special occasion,” reads a sign in front of the hotel entrance.
KNVB Didn’t Want to Be Too High Up
From the hotel in Spiez, the players look out on a small bay with clear blue water on the left, an extension of the nearby Thunersee. The idyllic Swiss mountain village has about twelve thousand inhabitants.
The view to the right looks like a postcard. The view of the Thunersee, with high mountain peaks behind it, is breathtaking (see main photo).
But the KNVB did not choose the hotel because of the beautiful surroundings. Jonker recently explained at a press conference how carefully the KNVB proceeded to find the best hotel.
“We had our exercise physiologist take a look,” said Jonker. “UEFA determines which hotels you can choose from. They are generally located at high altitudes in Switzerland. We chose not to go too high, so as not to be disadvantaged by that.”
Belvédère is at an altitude of 600 meters. “We looked at it explicitly and crossed out the first hotels on the list. We didn’t want to stay at 1,500 meters. Then we would have had to travel earlier to get used to it.”
Oranje Doesn’t Have to Travel Very Far
Oranje plays in Lucerne (against Wales, July 5), Zurich (against England, July 9) and Basel (against France, July 13). All match locations are less than an hour and a half’s drive from the players’ hotel. Oranje drives back to Spiez after the matches.
Clog in Roundabout in Spiez
The question is how much the players in Spiez will get from the tournament. Orange flags with a KNVB logo on them and the text ‘Welcome to Spiez’ hang everywhere in the village. And there is a large clog at a roundabout in the village. But little else points to the upcoming start of a major tournament.
In Thun, ten minutes away, where the Oranjevrouwen train, it will be different. Thun is one of the match locations during the European Championship in Switzerland. Among other things, the match between world champion Spain and Belgium will be played there.
Jonker will hope that the training field in Stadion Lachen in Thun is in good condition. Two years ago, everything went wrong before and during the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with the grass mats that the KNVB had rented.
For example, there was glass on the grass on a training field in Noord-Brabant, the field in Sydney was poor, and there was a hard cricket plate under the center circle at the Oranje training field in Tauranga.
Jonker took precautions this year by going to Thun twice himself. “I have been assured on all sides that everything will be fine.”