B&B Hof van Eerde

While on a driving tour of the Benelux countries with my husband, Colin, April 2-30, 2013, we mainly took back roads, wandering through the countryside. We had made some lodging reservations in advance, but since we were uncertain where we would be some days, we chose to rely on last-minute accommodations at those times.

After driving from Luxembourg through Belgium and into the Netherlands, we found ourselves in an area with many small towns but no lodging options readily apparent. We stopped at a Rabobank in the town of Veghel and asked if there were any inns nearby. We discovered that, in a town of 37,000 people, there was not a single hotel or inn!

However, one of the women working at the bank remembered a small bed-and-breakfast a short distance out of town and looked it up online for us. (People in the Netherlands were always very helpful!) We called the number but got only voice mail. Having no better options, we put the address in our GPS and headed off for the B&B Hof van Eerde (Zandvliet 25, 5466 PL Eerde; phone 0413 36 69 90, fax 36 99 59, www.hofvaneerde.nl [in Dutch]).

What we discovered was an idyllic place with delightful owners who were able to offer us the lovely four-poster room described on the website. One night cost €85 (near $115) plus €10 each for breakfast.

The owners built the B&B after noticing the lack of hotel options in the area, which has many industries and hosts foreign visitors. We enjoyed a leisurely chat with the owners, relaxed in comfort and took their suggestion of a restaurant for dinner in a nearby town. We were glad we had found this quiet little gem, a great overnight stop.

ETHEL BRODIE

Discovery Bay, CA