Hotel des Galeries

"Hôtel des Galeries is a smart 23-room boutique inside one of the city’s loveliest landmarks, the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert." - Mark Fedeli

"Hidden away within the mid-19 th -century grandeur of Brussels ’ Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, the recently opened Hotel des Galeries is an ode to contemporary Belgian design. Which is especially appropriate, since the royal galeries , in their original heyday, were centers of art and culture, attracting such francophone luminaries as Victor Hugo and Paul Verlaine. Conceived by Nadine Flammarion, of the publishing magnate family, the intimate boutique hotel’s industrial- and vintage-inflected style comes from the minds of two of Belgium’s top designers, who in turn sourced custom furnishings from local artisans—like carpets by Toulemonde Bochart and tables by Sylvain Willenz. Each of the uniquely decorated rooms and suites is bright and colorful, meant to feel like a private pied-à-terre, with rough-hewn parquet floors, colorful geometric ceramic bathroom walls, and large windows with views over the galeries , the Cathedral, or the historic rooftops. The aesthetic extends to the acclaimed restaurant, which is less a hotel restaurant and more the kind of Old World café where artists and intellectuals gather for its lively and relaxed scene. Perhaps the galeries haven’t changed so much, after all."

"The historic Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert may be reminiscent of times past but the hotel located at their centre pays homage to contemporary art and design. Opened in 2014 by Parisian publisher and art collector Nadine Flammarion, and laid out by her daughter Camille together with interior designer Fleur Delesalle, the Hotel des Galeries has raised the bar for hotels in Brussels. Spread across four floors, each of the 20 rooms and three suites retains the former shopping arcade’s parquet floors and shuttered windows. White walls are pepped up with vibrant prints by 20th and 21st- century artists such as Sonia Delaunay, the colours of which are picked out in rugs, cushions and other design details. Furniture by Belgian designers including Sylvain Willenz sits alongside antiques picked up in the Sablon neighbourhood, while books by Flammarion and ceramics made by Camille are dotted around the hotel."