The rich history of the hotel started on its location when G.A. Heineken opened his first Heineken brewery between 1864 and 1870. Due to the city council filling in the canal in front of the building in the name of modernisation, he moved to the present location on the Stadhouderskade. The Hulscher brothers continued the business and on 5 September 1870 a unique beer house, called Die Port van Cleve, opened its doors. It did not take long for it to evolve from a beer house into restaurant with the De Poort brasserie serving typical Dutch dishes and what were to become the famous numbered steaks. Since 1870 these steaks have been served and in 1997 the magic number of 6,000,000 numbered and certificated steaks was reached. Evolving from a beer house to a Dutch steakhouse, it was not long until the first rooms made the building the Die Port van Cleve hotel. The name Die Port van Cleve comes from a memorial stone with the inscription 'Die Port van Cleve' which was found during the takeover by the Hulscher brothers. Some unchanged features include the unique frontage, which has listed building status, and also the unique interior of De Blauwe Parade bar-bodega. The Delft blue tiles in the Bodega date back to 1887.