Hotel Metropole, Brussels

The Metropole Hotel is a luxurious five-star hotel located in the center of Brussels, Belgium. It was built between 1872 and 1874 in an eclectic style with elements of Neo-Renaissance and Louis XVI. The hotel opened in 1895 and is the only 19th-century hotel still operating in Brussels.

The hotel is located at 31 Brouckère Square, near Adolphe Max Boulevard/Adolphe Maxlaan and the glazed shopping arcades of the Northern Passage, as well as Brussels’ busiest shopping street - Rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat.

The hotel’s façade, designed in an eclectic style dominated by Italian Neo-Renaissance, has three levels and nine bays, topped with a mansard balustrade that was preserved during the 19th-century hotel conversion but was raised by two levels under the mansard roof, as it is today. The current modern canopy, originally made of iron and glass, spans the entire width of the façade and is rounded like a barrel above the entrance.

The hotel’s reception desk, lobby, and lounge are openly decorated in the eclectic style of the French Renaissance, featuring Corinthian columns, rich furniture, gilded details, and chandeliers, mostly preserved in the state created by Chambon. Similarly, the hotel’s eleven conference rooms are decorated in the Neo-Renaissance style. The lobby is illuminated by a mansard window and retains the original elevator and main iron staircase.

During the reign of King Leopold II, after the covering of the Senne River, Brussels was reconstructed with large boulevards and green avenues. The then mayor of Brussels, Jules Anspach, contributed to transforming the cityscape of the capital by implementing transport routes from the North Station to the South Station, including from south to north and west to east: Maurice Lemonnier Boulevard/Maurice Lemonnierlaan, Anspach Boulevard/Anspachlaan, Adolphe Max Boulevard/Adolphe Maxlaan, and Émile Jacqmain Boulevard/Émile Jacqmainlaan.

In 1890, Prosper and Édouard Willems, two brothers and owners of a brewery,

opened the "Metropole" café on Brouckère Square/De Brouckèreplein — the main square on the new boulevards — as a place to sell their beer. The café was hugely successful, and in 1891 the Willems-Keppens family purchased the neighboring building and converted it into the Metropole Hotel, which opened in 1895. This main building was constructed between 1872 and 1874 based on the design of architect Antoine Trappeniers. The former hotel reception desk is still easily recognizable today as a former bank counter, which is an important historical testament to the past.

After the purchase, the Willems brothers commissioned French architect Alban Chambon, who was already responsible for designing the Metropole café, to design a luxurious international-class hotel. Chambon called upon the best artists and craftsmen of the time to assist him in his work. Today, Chambon’s design remains a distinctive feature of the heritage hotel, which is considered an important historical landmark of the city. The Metropole Hotel was not only one of the first luxury hotels but also the first to have electricity and central heating, and until 2020 it was the only surviving 19th-century hotel in Brussels.

In the 20th century, the hotel was expanded through successive annexations of neighboring buildings and occupied almost the entire block between Brouckère Square, Fosse-aux-Loups/Wolvengracht Street, Neuve/Nieuwstraat Street, and the glazed shopping arcades of the Northern Passage, divided by the Cheval/Paardgang cul-de-sac. The most notable extension was the Metropole Cinema, a 3,000-seat Art Deco-style cinema designed by architect Adrien Blomme and opened in 1932, which included a projection hall, tavern, shops, the La Frégate disco, and two floors of additional hotel rooms with an inner courtyard above the cinema.

The Metropole Hotel is famous for hosting numerous national and international events, including the first Solvay Conference on Physics and Chemistry in 1911, which gathered personalities such as Einstein, Marie Curie, and Henri Poincaré. Moreover, it is the birthplace of the "Black Russian" cocktail, created in 1949 by bartender Gustave Tops for the United States ambassador to Luxembourg, Perle Mesta.

During the occupation of Belgium in World War II, the Metropole Hotel was requisitioned by German troops, then for a year by Allied forces. After the war, the hotel experienced another golden era. Great statesmen, artists, and entertainers visiting Brussels stayed at the hotel: Eisenhower, General de Gaulle, the Shah, Jacques Brel, Maurice Chevalier, and many others. Toots Thielemans made his debut with the jazz orchestra playing at the Metropole café. Annie Cordy also had her own room in the hotel. In the second half of the 20th century, additional renovations were carried out. In 1985, Le Bar 19ème and the restaurant L'Alban Chambon were opened. Ten years later, the hotel celebrated its centenary.

Since February 28, 2002, the hotel’s façade and ground floor, as well as the Art Nouveau-style elevator and metal structures, have been protected. In the same year, the restaurant was completely renovated, giving it an Italian Baroque décor.

Over the years, the Metropole has been used as a filming location for well-known movies:

Among them:

"Les Anges Gardiens" (The Guardian Angels), France, 1994, starring Gérard Depardieu and Christian Clavier,

"The Song of the Gods," France-Canada, 1984, starring Jodie Foster and Lambert Wilson,

"Odetta for Peace" (France), 2006, with Catherine Frot and Albert Dupontel,

"I Love You" (Belgium), 2008, with Daniel Auteuil and Marie-Josée Croze,

"Villa Amalia" (France), 2008, with Isabelle Huppert,

"The War Continues" (France), 2009, with Michèle Presle,

"French-style Snack," France-Algeria.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_M%C3%A9tropole,_Brussels

https://famoushotels.org/hotels/metropole-brussels