Van der Valk Hotel ARA first opened its doors for hotel guests in 2002. Before then, the restaurant and adjacent banquet halls were known well regionally by the name “De Veerplaat”.  De Veerplaat was opened as a brand new restaurant on April 28 1991 and was bought by the current owners in 1999. They immediately started working on the plans for a new Hotel and decided to name it Hotel ARA for its central location between metropolises Antwerpen, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.

Hotel ARA is uniquely located in a gorgeous natural area on the banks of the river Old Meuse. It is close to both historic Dordrecht and bustling Rotterdam.



Visiting Hotel ARA you will enter an oasis of tranquility and greenery. Large ships glide past while you are enjoying a meal or drink on our terrace or in our restaurant Whether you are staying in one of our spacious rooms or having a meeting in one of our conference rooms, this beauty will not pass you by.

The hotel has 80 rooms (1 fully wheelchair accessible), including 6 suites that are all different. Our Honeymoon Suite for instance has a Swedish sauna and a large hot tub, the Executive River View Suite has an infrared sauna and the Executive Suite is equipped with a conference table to accommodate meetings up to 8 people.