Mother Thea had seen bowling alleys, a rather new phenomenon, blown over from America, that had not yet reached Utrecht.
Hotel Mitland's history, which now spans a century, is inextricably linked to that of the Plijnaar family. They regard 1924 as the starting point of the company's history. This is in fact true, as it was then that the grandfather of the current four brothers started a tennis complex on the site where the hotel, bowling alleys, restaurant and meeting rooms are now located. But even before that, this G.P.J. Plijnaar had operated a concrete tennis court cum teahouse in the immediate vicinity. However, this had to close down because of the nuisance that the local residents believed they were experiencing.
Rob Plijnaar (1951) has studied the history of the company the most; moreover, he can add a lot to the historical facts from his own experience and lard it with personal memories. For example, Rob remembers well, that at one time Mitland (Match Ice Tennis) had 15 tennis courts, which were used intensively by several clubs. "Bert ran the place and the bar in particular ran like crazy, whether there was tennis or not, it was always full to capacity. And as soon as it started to freeze, we flooded those courts so that skating could take place," he says. "That way the knife cut both ways." But that success came to an end in the early 1970s when artificial ice rink Overvecht opened and the municipality of Utrecht also stimulated the construction of several tennis courts with subsidies. "So many clubs moved to those cheaper, subsidized courts. Moreover, our courts were below ground level, so they were quickly flooded when it rained. So we lost skating and largely tennis."
Huge fire
Fortunately, mother Thea offered a solution. She had seen bowling alleys in The Hague and Amsterdam, a rather new phenomenon, blown over from America, that had not yet reached Utrecht. "By now I was out of military service and after a year at Bijenkorf, I went to work here at Mitland, during the time the bowling alley was being built," says Rob. In connection with that construction, a wooden emergency building arose on the grounds, which served as the canteen. "In June 1973, a huge fire broke out in that emergency building, which of course meant a setback. Anyway, together we quickly cleaned up the mess and erected a new emergency building so that construction could continue."
In December of that year, the bowling alley, the first in Utrecht and the surrounding area, was opened; Mayor Van Tuyll van Serooskerken threw the first ball.
Inverted flower pots as lamps
Because of the huge investment that the construction of the bowling alley required, the Plijnaar family had to get creative. "It took a lot of effort to get the financing and it was really poor in those first years," Rob remembers well. "When decorating, we all stood around painting ourselves and for lighting we used upside-down flower pots as lamps. A stopgap solution, but it looked nice too." The bowling was an immediate huge success, so the business began to expand, and that came at the expense of tennis courts, which eventually disappeared altogether over the years. In 1978, the restaurant was added. That provided the opportunity not only to combine bowling with fondue, gourmet and stone grill, but also to be able to provide buffets. "That bowling alley remains a great success," Rob says. "I can't quite explain it, but since corona the lane is constantly full again. I guess it has to do with the atmosphere and the total package we offer."
'No expensive cars'
By now, all four brothers worked in the business, and even though the business ran extremely well, it was not a fat pot for them. "My mother was very much on the money," Rob recalls. "For us, that meant no expensive cars or fat salaries, and we all lived in a small flat here within walking distance, on Karel Doormanlaan, so there were no travel expenses either. Everything we earned was invested directly in the company." During the 1980s the idea arose to expand the business with a hotel ("initially we wanted a motel, hence that long corridor that is still there in the building") and in 1986 it opened. Because of the lack of hotels in Utrecht at the time, its convenient location and parking facilities, the hotel immediately attracted many tourists, but sports teams also found and still find their way to Hotel Mitland. "We have had darters here, soccer players, field hockey players, cricketers, cyclists from the Tour de France and the Vuelta," Rob lists. "And we are not only close to the city, but also to the Utrecht Science Park and the university and hospitals."
'Moving forward'
For now, Hotel Mitland is not done developing further. There are plans to expand even further ("although space is becoming increasingly limited") and renovation is always going on anyway. "When we finish in the back, we start again at the beginning," Rob says. "We've been through a lot of renovations and renewals. And every five to seven years all the rooms are redecorated. Especially in times of recession, you have to do that. No, we're going to keep right on going."
At mitland.nl, under "About Mitland," the company's history is listed in chronological order with figures, facts and years