The Kurhaus hotel in Scheveningen, which first opened its doors in 1885, has asked for court protection from creditors after running up debts of over €8m, the NRC reports on Tuesday.

The Kurhaus, which still dominates the Scheveningen sea front, is owned via a complicated financial construction which the NRC traced back to a trust office in Amsterdam. At one point it was owned by Dutch property magnate Willem Endstra, shot in a gangland killing in 2004.

The hotel was hard hit by the shift towards package sunshine holidays and was partly demolished and totally refurbished in the 1970s.

Famous guests

The hotel has had famous guests such as Winston Churchill and Audrey Hepburn and the Rolling Stones gave a concert there in 1964.

The curator does not expect to have any difficulty in finding a new company to take over running the hotel. Amrâth Hotels is said to be one of the interested parties.

The Kurhaus is not the only Scheveningen attraction looking for a new owner: the pier is also up for sale but may now have found a buyer.