Before the hotel, there was a small VOC fort constructed in 1656 presumably to guard the southern end of the Molenvliet. In the mid-1680s, improving security in Java following the subjugation of the Banten Sultanate means that fortification was not needed any longer and so in 1697 the fort was vacated. The fort was later demolished in 1729. Following the massacre of the Chinese incident in 1740, a new security post was installed approximately at the same location. This new post would only be demolished under the governorship of Governor General Herman Willem Daendels in 1808-1809. Remnants of the old fortification could still be seen as of 1815.