And so the builing stood there, with its two green towers acting not only as a landmark in the Rotterdam harbour, but also as a landmark in history. A silent witness, wondering about the fate of those people she had seen depart these shores, and all of those who had sailed under the banner of the HAL. From the other side of the Maas, captains, cabin boys, pursers, stokers and other crew members often looked with wistfulness and longing at the office builing on the south bank.

One day, in the early nineties, some people looked across at the building in a special way. Although they had often glanced at the building before, it was different this time, more intense? The building seemed tot lift its towers to the sky and proudly flutter its wind vane. Yes, I'm still here, and I've been here for more than 90 years! An idea was born: a hotel with a large café-restaurant in the former head office of the Holland-America Line! Aldermen, the Town Planning department, municipal councillors, the OBR department: everyone responded with enthusiasm and got started on the new project! So that was to be the fate of the building? The building has become a hotel, once again serving travellers as it has done in the past!

In 1901, the office on the Wilhelminakade reached completion. Previously, in 1893, a migrant hotel had been built which was purchased bij HAL in 1902 in order to combat the high cost of hostels and the poor sanitary conditions in lodging elsewhere in the city: this was necessary to ensure that emigrants would reach Ellis Islands, New York in good health (people who became ill were sent back at the expense of the shipping company).

The building, the new head office of the HAL, was built in the periode 1901-1917 by the architects J. Muller and Droogleever Fortuin and C.B. van der Tak. A massive building with many Jugendstil motifs. Initially, it had no towers on the right, the one with the wind vanes, was realised only later, in 1919. In 1888, a boarding house was built on the Van der Takstraat (Noorder Island) with the name Hotel New York (not far from where the NASM ships departed). Probably, the founders of this lodging felt the same solidarity with the city of New York as we who took over the name, albeit perhaps in a different perspective. The magical link with New York!