Hotel Metropole, Brussels

Hotel Metropole Brussels
Hotel Metropole Brussels
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General information
Location	City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
Address	De Brouckère Square 31
Opening	1895
Closed	2020
Technical details
Floor area	952 m2 (10,250 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect	Alban Chambon
Other information
Number of rooms	251
Number of suites	22
Number of restaurants	1 (Café Métropole)
Website
	Official website

The Hotel Metropole Brussels is a 5-star luxury hotel located on De Brouckère Square in central Brussels, Belgium. Built and opened to customers in 1895, it was the only 19th-century hotel still in operation in Brussels in the twenty first century until it closed its doors in April 2020 after 125 years of continuous operation.^[3] The hotel has 251 rooms and 22 spacious suites.^[4]

History[]

In 1890, Prosper and Edouard Wielemans, two brothers with a brewing company, opened the Café Metropole as a place in the city to sell their beer. The café was a huge success and the Weilemans-Ceuppens family then purchased the building next-door, a former bank, which would become the Hotel Metropole, inaugurated in 1895. Today, the hotel's reception desk is easily recognisable as the desk of the former bank, a significant historical and heritage glimpse of the past.

The Hotel Metropole in the 1920s

The brothers commissioned French architect Alban Chambon to be the chief designer of the hotel. Today, Chambon's design is still a prominent feature of the heritage hotel, which is considered an important historical landmark in the city.^{[citation needed]}

Not only was the Hotel Metropole one of the first luxury hotels, it was also the first to have electricity and central heating, and is now the only existing 19th century hotel in Brussels. In fact, many heritage tours of Brussels visit the Hotel Metropole to look upon its facades and design.^{[citation needed]}

The Hotel Metropole is famous for having hosted the first Solvay Conference in 1911.^[5] Moreover, it is the birthplace of the Black Russian cocktail, which was created in 1949 by barman Gustave Tops for the United States ambassador to Luxembourg, Perle Mesta.^[6]

Since 2002, the hotel's facade and ground floor, as well as the Belle Époque lift and ironwork, have been protected by the Monuments and Sites Directorate of the Brussels-Capital Region.^[7]

As of 29 June 2015, the hotel stands at the edge of a large pedestrian zone in the centre of Brussels. It however remains directly accessible via Rue Fossé aux Loups/Wolvengracht and Boulevard Émile Jacqmain/Émile Jacqmainlaan.^[8] It is also served by De Brouckère metro station.

In early 2021, the hotel is in the process of closing down. It has been facing severe financial difficulties because of drop in tourism due to recent terrorist attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium.^[9]

Building[]

The hotel's reception, lobby, and lounge are overtly ornate with Corinthian columns, rich furnishings, gilded details, and chandeliers. Similarly, the hotel's 11 meetings and conference rooms are decorated in a Renaissance style. The hotel offers eating possibilities in Le Café Métropole brasserie and Le Jardin Indien breakfast room. It also has a bar, Le 31, with a late 19-century style decor, as well as a fitness room.