The Hotel Astoria is a currently closed historic five-star

luxury hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

in the Freedom Quarter of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. Built in 1909 for the Brussels International Exposition of 1910, in a true

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

ian spirit, the hotel's

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

facade and majestic interior lend it a distinctly aristocratic appearance. It is considered among the finest luxury hotels in the world, and has served as a famous meeting place for kings and other great statesmen and world personalities. The hotel has been closed since 2007 and is set to reopen in late 2023 as the Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria Brussels. The hotel is located at 101–103, rue Royale/Koningsstraat, not far from the

Congress Column The Congress Column (french: Colonne du Congrès, nl, Congreskolom) is a monumental column in Brussels, Belgium, commemorating the creation of the Belgian Constitution by the National Congress of 1830–31. Inspired by Trajan's Column in Rome ...

and

Brussels Park Brussels Park (french: Parc de Bruxelles, ; nl, Warandepark) is the largest urban public park in central Brussels, Belgium. Formerly known and still sometimes colloquially referred to as the Royal Park (french: Parc royal, nl, Koninklijk Park ...

. This area is served by Brussels-Congress railway station, the metro stations Parc/Park (on lines 1 and 5) and Botanique/Kruidtuin (on lines 2 and 6), as well as the

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

stop / on lines 92 and 93.

History

Origins and early history

The Hotel Astoria was built in 1909 for the Brussels International Exposition of 1910, at the request of

King Leopold II * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...

, to replace the former Hotel Mengelle, a vast neoclassical complex designed in the second quarter of the 19th century by the architect T.-F. Suys. The current hotel was designed by Henri Van Dievoet (1869–1931), a nephew of the architect

Joseph Poelaert Joseph Poelaert (21 March 1817 – 3 November 1879) was a Belgian architect. He was entrusted with important projects in Brussels, such as Saint Catherine's Church, the Church of Our Lady of Laeken, the Congress Column, the Royal Theatre of la ...

, in an

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

Beaux-Arts style, mixing borrowings from the

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

and

styles. Van Dievoet furnished the hotel's 108 rooms in the Louis XV style, with luxurious amenities such as hot water and electric chandeliers. The laying of the first stone took place in 1909, and the hotel opened in 1910, just in time for the International Exposition. One of the three most famous hotels in Brussels during the '' Belle Époque''—together with the Grand Hotel on the Boulevard Anspach/Anspachlaan (currently destroyed) and the Hotel Métropole on the Place de Brouckère/De Brouckèreplein—it belongs to the category of large European hotels. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the hotel resumed its activities under the management of

Georges Marquet Georges Marquet (18 September 1866, in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse – 27 March 1947, in Nice) was a Belgian hotel manager and owner of many luxurious hotels in Europe. He created the ''Compagnie Internationale des Grands Hôtels Européens'', which later ...

who would soon create many luxurious hotels across Europe.Jean d'Osta, ''Dictionnaire historique et anecdotique des rues de Bruxelles'', Brussels, 1986, p. 288–289

Contemporary

From 1975, chamber music could be heard every Sunday morning as part of the Astoria Concerts. For the wedding of then- Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde in 1999, King Albert II and

Queen Paola Paola (born Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria;AlthougThe Belgian Monarchy websiteattributes the title of "Princess" to Queen Paola prior to marriage, Burke's Peerage 1973, The Descendants of Louis XIII 1999, ''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels'' 200 ...

organised a grand reception in the hotel. Two years later, it was also there that then-

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Guy Verhofstadt and Minister Johan Vande Lanotte concluded an agreement with Swissair about the fate of Belgium's national airline,

Sabena The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its ba ...

, in the greatest secrecy. Since 21 September 2000, the hotel has been listed as a protected monument by the Monuments and Sites Directorate of the Brussels-Capital Region. The hotel closed in 2007 and was sold to Global Hotels & Resorts, owned by Saudi Arabian Sheikh Mohamed El-Khereji. In 2010, work began on renovations, including the demolition of an adjacent building for construction of a new wing for the hotel. The work was never completed and the hotel remained vacant. It was acquired by

Corinthia Hotels Corinthia ( el, Κορινθία ''Korinthía'') is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated around the city of Corinth, in the north-eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Geography Cori ...

in 2016 and is set to reopen under the name Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria Brussels in late 2023.

Famous guests

The Hotel Astoria has become a mythical place in Brussels. For a century, it has been the meeting place for kings and greats of this world. In the guestbook, many famous personalities can be found: heads of state and prime ministers like

Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Demo ...

, Ben-Gurion,

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath a ...

Édouard Herriot Édouard Marie Herriot (; 5 July 1872 – 26 March 1957) was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister (1924–1925; 1926; 1932) and twice as President of the Chamber of Deputies. He led the f ...

, Hirohito and the

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

; artists like Dalí; writers like

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

and

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...

; actors like

Pierre Fresnay Pierre Fresnay (4 April 1897 – 9 January 1975) was a French stage and film actor. Biography Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach, he was encouraged by his uncle, actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film. He joined the company a ...

and Gérard Philippe; singers like Maurice Chevalier; and musicians like Khachaturian, Menuhin, Oistrakh and Rubinstein.

Gallery

File:Hôtel ASTORIA, Bruxelles, architecte Henri van Dievoet, 1909.jpg, File:Intérieur Hôtel ASTORIA, Bruxelles, arch. Henri van Dievoet, 1909.jpg, File:Henri van Dievoet architecte.jpg, File:1909, Hôtel Astoria, Bruxelles, architecte Henri van Dievoet.JPG,

References

Notes

External links

{{portal, Belgium
Description of the Hotel Astoria of Brussels

Film by Sabine Ringelheim about the Hotel Astoria of Brussels
Astoria City of Brussels Buildings and structures in Brussels Protected heritage sites in Brussels Astoria Heritage hotels World's fair architecture in Belgium Buildings by Henri Van Dievoet