Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria Brussels
hotel in the Freedom Quarter, Brussels, Belgium
The Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria Brussels is a historic five-star luxury hotel in the Freedom Quarter of Brussels, Belgium. Built in 1909 as the Hotel Astoria for the Brussels International Exposition of 1910, in a true Parisian spirit, the hotel's Louis XVI façade 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 meeting place for statesmen, artists and other personalities. The hotel closed for renovation in 2007 and reopened in December 2024.
The hotel is located at 101–103, rue Royale/Koningsstraat, not far from the Congress Column and Brussels Park.
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, 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, a nephew of the architect Joseph Poelaert, in an eclectic Beaux-Arts style, mixing borrowings from the Louis XV and Louis XVI styles. Van Dievoet furnished the hotel's original 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.
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