Laura and Matthias

Laura and Matthias built their dream home by the water: ‘You can’t help but pause for a moment here’

What began as an idea for a tiny house grew into a special boutique holiday park in the heart of the Brabantse Wal natural surroundings. Laura and Matthias built Cruyslandse Kreken largely themselves, with an eye for quality, tranquillity and the overall experience. The result is a place where guests can escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life for a while. Exactly as they had envisaged it.

A swan glides silently across the water. In the background, a chorus of birds can be heard. Little grebes scurry amongst the reeds, and the wooden hot tub is already ready for the next guests. “Look,” says Matthias, pointing towards the water. “There go the ducks again, following the geese.” For a moment, all is quiet, and that, he believes, is precisely the magic of Cruyslandse Kreken.
“I’m actually always on the go,” he explains. “But here, you naturally find yourself pausing for a moment.” Together with his partner Laura, he has spent the last few years creating a place where nature, tranquillity and luxury come together. A small-scale boutique holiday park on the outskirts of De Heen, right in the heart of an area where you can experience the Brabantse Wal at its most beautiful.

From a tiny house to grand plans
It wasn’t part of the plan for it to become a holiday park. After selling his house, Matthias toyed with the idea of building a tiny house. “I thought: I’m either at work or on holiday. How lovely would it be to have a place of my own where I could really unwind?” During his search, he came across a plot of over 10,000 square metres.
It looked interesting on paper, but once we were there, it turned out to be even more special. “From the road, you could barely see what lay beyond. I took Laura on a date with a picnic blanket and some treats. We sat down and suddenly discovered the water. That’s when I knew: this is a unique place.” Together, they decided to make their dream even bigger. “It all starts with dreams,” says Matthias. “But we didn’t just leave it at that.”

Craftsmanship as the foundation
The fact that they’ve dared to take on such an ambitious project has everything to do with their background. Matthias has been running Weij Maatwerk & Interieur for seventeen years. Laura joined the company in 2018, following a career as a shop manager at H&M. “We really do this together,” says Laura. “From the first sketch to the final fit-out.” Yet reality proved more challenging than expected. “We thought we had a decent budget,” laughs Matthias. “Until we discovered there was no sewerage system in place yet and all the additional costs came to light.”
Instead of abandoning their plans, they decided to build the project up step by step. First the luxury glamping tents, followed by the holiday homes in the next phase. “We can do a lot ourselves with our own team. That keeps it financially viable and allows us to carry everything out exactly as we want.”

Boutique is all in the details
Anyone walking through the park will soon notice that nothing is off-the-shelf. Virtually everything has been designed specifically for Cruyslandse Kreken. “For example, I wanted the wooden hot tubs to have the same look as the decking. We made a conscious decision to do that, even though it made the work more complicated.” The round carports are also entirely bespoke. For Laura and Matthias, that’s what ‘boutique’ is all about. “It’s not just about being small-scale,” says Laura. “It’s about attention to detail, about quality and about creating something you’re proud of.”
Each accommodation is furnished just as they themselves would like to go on holiday. Luxury furniture, high-quality materials, views of the water and plenty of privacy. Every accommodation has a wood-fired hot tub. They’ll soon be expanding the park further with wellness facilities such as a sauna, salt room and ice bath. “We’ve built what we’ve always been looking for ourselves, but couldn’t actually find anywhere.”

This is where you can unwind
They now know the park better than anyone. “We’ve definitely spent at least eight nights here trying it out,” says Laura with a laugh. “And to be honest, we still find it a shame that so many weekends will soon be fully booked.” That’s highly likely. Within 24 hours of the website going live, the first booking had already come in. “That was really special,” says Laura. “And exciting too, because you immediately think: we’ve still got so much to do.”
Matthias smiles. “We’re perfectionists. I don’t think we’ll ever be completely finished, but we’re definitely ready to welcome our guests.”

Discover the Brabantse Wal
According to Laura and Matthias, the experience doesn’t just begin at the park. The surrounding area also makes Cruyslandse Kreken special. “You can walk and cycle here as much as you like,” says Laura. “The Benedensas is nearby, as are the creeks where you can go stand-up paddleboarding. There are lovely farm shops, a winegrower, charming villages and, of course, the historic town centre of Bergen op Zoom. And if you fancy a day’s shopping when the weather’s not so good? Then Rosada is just a stone’s throw away.” But ultimately, it’s the peace and quiet that really sticks in your mind. “You really only hear the birds here. That’s special, especially when you consider that it only takes twenty minutes to get here from Bergen op Zoom .”

A dream come true
When Matthias looks out over the grounds, he doesn’t just see the holiday homes. Above all, he sees how far they’ve come. “When you see what the grounds used to look like and what’s here now… it really is a world of difference.” Their children have also watched the project grow. “At first, they weren’t at all interested,” says Laura. “The reeds were taller than they were. Now they can’t wait to stay overnight here and turn on the hot tub.”
This makes Cruyslandse Kreken not just a business story, but a family story too. And what do Laura and Matthias hope their guests take away with them when they drive home after a weekend away? Matthias doesn’t have to think long. “A sense of fulfilment.” Laura nods. “And with the feeling that it was actually too short. That they think: we want to come back here again. As owners, you really couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Visit the Cruyslandse Kreken website

July 2026