On this newly combined lot, he commissioned the construction of a new palace by architect Arend Roodenburg for a total sum of 150,000 guilders.

After the baron's death in 1863 the palace was inherited by his son Arnold, who found it too big for his needs and sold it a few years later.

The hotel started off with 120 rooms and only one bathroom per floor, which was a luxury for its time; it was soon reputed for its fine elegance and hosted many extravagant parties and exclusive banquets.

Haller considerably modernized the hotel: by 1900 he had telephones, an intercom system connected to the front desk, and bath tubs and washing stands featuring both hot and cold water installed in all rooms.

In 1902, a hydraulic elevator was installed that ran on the pressure from the city's waterworks and architect Foek Kuipers was contracted to transform the inner court into a hall with a formal staircase and a large glass dome to cover the rotunda.

These were bought at the price of 1.25 million guilders by the Nederlandsche Uitvoer Maatschappij, who planned to convert the hotel into an office building.

In 1925, the hotel innovated again by offering a gigolo service who, in this time period, was simply a male dancer who would entertain unmarried female guests.

A few months later, while hosting the celebrations for the 73rd birthday of Queen Mother Emma, the wiring for some of the event's lighting short circuited and caused a fire that gutted the third floor and damaged the roof.

[citation needed] When World War II broke out, Henri Rey and his wife attempt to flee to England.

Rey and his two children succeeded, but his wife was killed by Dutch forces that mistakenly opened fire on the car near the harbour at the Hook of Holland.

On May 1, 1940, German ambassador Julius von Zech-Burkersroda and his staff were brought to the hotel as prisoners of war, and were guarded for two weeks.

For the rest of the war, the Hotel des Indes was a popular meeting place for the German occupiers in The Hague, and was also the Dutch headquarters for the Wehrmacht High Command.

The hotel management brought a small group of Jews here to hide from prosecution during the Holocaust; they all survived the war.

Verwoerdt bought the building back from the Dutch government for 1,380,000 guilders and contracted construction coordinator Altkemper for an intense renovation.