Rotterdam hotels open doors for Burendag 2026

HAPPENING 26 SEP '26 | Several Rotterdam hotels will open their doors to neighbouring communities on Saturday 26 September for Neighbours’ Day (Burendag), with activities ranging from a barista workshop and Italian cooking class to informal drinks and coffee. The programme is organised through Buurthotel together with the Municipality of Rotterdam and Rotterdam Partners, with participating hotels in the city centre, Kralingen and Rotterdam-Zuid.

_{Image: Participants at an Italian cooking workshop at Ibis Styles Rotterdam Ahoy.}

Hotels invite the neighbourhood inside

Hotels may welcome visitors from around the world every day, but many people living a few streets away have little reason to walk through their doors. Buurthotel wants to change that by connecting hotels more closely with the neighbourhoods in which they operate.

The organisation describes its approach as ‘co-tourism’, meaning that facilities created around tourism are also used to create value for local communities. In practice, that can mean opening hotel spaces to neighbourhood activities, working with nearby entrepreneurs or giving local residents a reason to use a hotel even when they are not staying overnight.

“Hotels are often primarily seen as places for tourists and business travellers, even though at the same time they are right in the middle of a Rotterdam neighbourhood,” says Buurthotel founder Laura Viaene. “With Buurthotel, we want to open those doors further, especially to the people who live around the corner.”

Workshops and drinks across Rotterdam

The programme takes place during Burendag on Saturday 26 September, the annual Dutch neighbourhood initiative organised by Douwe Egberts and the Oranje Fonds.

At The Usual Rotterdam in the city centre, participants can learn some of the basics of making coffee during a barista workshop. Ibis Styles Rotterdam Ahoy in Zuidpark hosts an Italian cooking workshop, while The Social Hub Rotterdam in Kralingen invites neighbours in for drinks.

Several other hotels are keeping things simple with coffee and an opportunity to have a look inside. These include Thon Hotel Rotterdam, Leonardo Hotel Rotterdam Savoy and Stayokay Rotterdam, all in or around the city centre.

Places for the activities are limited. The full programme and registration details are available at buurthotel.nl/burendag.

A different role for Rotterdam hotels

The initiative is also intended to explore what hotels can contribute beyond overnight accommodation. Rotterdam’s hotels already bring employment, visitors and business activity into different parts of the city, but Buurthotel wants more of those connections to extend directly into their surrounding neighbourhoods.

Rotterdam alderman Tim Versnel, responsible for Port, Economy and Small Communities, says closer contact between hotels and local communities can create opportunities on both sides.

“Hotels are of great value to Rotterdam. They provide jobs, entrepreneurship and visitors from the Netherlands and abroad,” Versnel says. “At the same time, they stand right in the middle of our neighbourhoods. When hotels and local residents find each other, good things can come from that.”

Burendag is meant as a starting point

Buurthotel does not see the 26 September programme as a one-off exercise. The organisation wants participating hotels to continue working with local entrepreneurs and make space available more regularly for neighbourhood initiatives.

Viaene hopes that opening the doors during Burendag will make hotels feel less separate from everyday neighbourhood life.

“I want a resident after Burendag to stop thinking, ‘that hotel is for tourists’, and instead think, ‘that is also a place in my neighbourhood’,” she says. “Once hotels and residents know each other, new ideas and lasting collaborations can develop naturally.”

Anyone interested in joining one of the activities can view the participating hotels and register via buurthotel.nl/burendag.