Pension Westerburen
The Westerburen guest house is located on one of the oldest streets in the village. The current village of "Schiermonnikoog" was built at the beginning of the 18th century after the old village of "Westerburen" was threatened by the advancing sea, there was a lot of dune erosion on the west side of the island. It was then decided to rebuild the village approximately 4 kilometers east of the old village. Construction of the Middenstreek and Voorstreek began, which is why the oldest houses of Schiermonnikoog are now located on these streets. At the end of the 19th century, many captains and ship owners lived on Schiermonnikoog. They bought these old island houses to replace them with modern houses, including the building of Pension Westerburen, which was built around 1900.
2023, new owners
Aïcha Kroes – Yattara grew up in Mali, West Africa. Where she has lived in both Segou and Bamako. After graduating from high school, she was reunited with her mother, Mariame, on Schiermonnikoog at the age of 16. In the Netherlands, Aïcha has completed several chef training courses and has been able to showcase her gift for cooking in various island kitchens. Together with Halbe they have 2 children, Zahra and Joshua, both of whom grew up on the island. Partly because of their family, Aïcha eventually started working at the local drugstore, where she provided islanders and guests with good advice for years.
Halbe Kroes was born in northeast Friesland, where he lived in Kollum until he was 18. He then ended up in the island's catering industry, where he learned the trade at all levels and associated training at Hotel Duinzicht. After some wanderings in the local catering industry and various wine and specialty beer courses, he has been retrained as a medical assistant since 2019. Together with Aïcha, he hopes to convey their shared passion for hospitality to their guests.
Already in use as a guest house in 1920
In 1920 the house was already in use as a boarding house and it already had a veranda that was open to the street. Furthermore, the building was virtually the same as the current situation, see the photo above from this period. After several owners, of which the Kuipers family was one of the long-term owners (over 40 years), the guesthouse was purchased in 1993 by the Visser family. They ran the guesthouse until January 2002, after which the Westerburen guesthouse was taken over by the Weldring family. Johan and Mariame (in the photo here) owned Westerburen until January 6, 2023. They have changed and improved a lot in the more than 20 years that they have had the guesthouse. Now it is up to their daughter and son-in-law, Aicha and Halbe Kroes, who have owned a bed and breakfast with an extensive history since 2023. It is nice that every member of both families still helps in Westerburen, something they are proud of.
African influences
Partly because Aïcha and her mother are from Mali, the guesthouse has an African slant. The curtains, bedspreads and many art objects are made in Africa. In addition to the influences coming from Mali, the guesthouse is also concerned with local products. For example, the cheese at breakfast is from 'Van Schier', and they also sell craftbeer from the various Wadden Islands to their guests. You can also find Fairtrade products at breakfast, but also in the coffee, tea and cocoa from Peeze roasting company. Sustainability and fair trade are therefore very important to Westerburen.
Conservatory
The breakfast buffet is served in the morning in the conservatory at the front of the guest house. Furthermore, the conservatory is a wonderful place to stay with a view of the Middenstreek and a private terrace in front of the door. You can grab a drink from the well-stocked refrigerator and coffee/tea is provided by a vending machine. These consumptions must be recorded by the guests on their own bar receipt and paid for before departure. There are also some books and magazines available in the conservatory and some board games are at your disposal. There is free WiFi throughout the guest house, which runs on a powerful fiber optic network. In short, a pleasant stay!
EN 
NL 
DE