Europe does churches extremely well. Every unexpected village, every city great and small has an edifice of breathtaking magnificence or peaceful simplicity to gobsmack the traveller. But what Europe is not doing so well at these days, is finding the worshippers to fill these historic pews and pay their tithes towards the likely exorbitant cost of maintaining the fragile spires.
And so when I stepped into the vestibule of the 1893 Westerkerk in Utrecht we were not seeking the God of the protestants but shelter from a snowstorm that had shut down much of the Netherlands railways system. Unable to reach our intended destination of Amsterdam we, and hundreds of other stranded passengers, faced the hellish situation of having to find a bed for the night in a city we did not know.
And we found heaven. Bunk is an urban hotel/social hub in a converted former Reformed Church, an easy walk from the Utrecht Railway Station. We made the pilgrimage on a winter’s night, luggage in tow on streets icy from the storm. We stepped up the worn concrete steps out of the dark and freezing cold and into the warmth of the vestibule, where the hotel cat bestirred itself from its cosy corner to demand a pat.
From the outside, the double wooden doors set within a pointed arch doorway, the shallow steps all suggest this building was once a place of worship. Inside, even more features point to its holy past: the round window at the rear of the church, the tall narrow ones on the sides, the vast space under a barrel ceiling. A beautiful 1813 Quellhorst pipe organ, moved into the church when it was built, has been left intact and is, we are told, fully functional.
A kitchen and bar now take up the central space of the church and I’m delighted to see that the original church pews have been resurrected as panels to separate the functional part of the restaurant from the eating part.
We ascend in a glass elevator to our room in the rafters of the church. It is a small space shoehorned into the steep roof with a tiny little window looking out into the darkness of the city beyond. Most of the spick-and-span space is taken up with a vast bed wrapped in snow-white linen. A compact bathroom with a high-pressure shower, toilet and vanity is tucked behind a sliding door.
Seasonal food and traditional Dutch meals are served in the restaurant below: herring and Dutch cheeses feature, along with steaks and salads. I was too mesmerised by the building itself, though, to pay too much attention to my supper. Modern artworks line the walls where once the Dutch may have learned their catechism, snug seating nooks invite guests to gather and chat. Many original features have been retained, from the gallery space to the rafters. It was easy to imagine the shuffling of the congregation seated in those pews/now panels, opening their hymnals after a rousing sermon from the pulpit and standing in response to the first commanding notes of that pipe organ.
We felt like gods that night, sleeping so high up, pleased to have found room in the inn.
Bunk has 45 rooms starting at €54 and 60 pods (from €24).
Address: Catharijnekade 9, 3511 RT Utrecht , Netherlands
Hotel: https://bunkhotels.com/utrecht
Restaurant: https://bunkrestaurants.com/utrecht
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