Dating back to 1908, the hotel was designed in one night by two Belgian
architects: Lener and Pompe. Their project was so innovative that it
won a restricted competition where rivalry was very high. The building
was erected on the site of many antiquated houses on Place Rogier.
The Palace has always been well-known for its luxury, refined comfort
and impeccable service. Totally refurbished from 2004 and 2008 in the
Art nouveau style of Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), Le Palace continues its
originality by offering to our guests a unique experience.
The Hotel Palace was and still is the hotel where an important number
of celebrities stayed: « stars » like Gina Lologbrigida, Jean Poiret,
Rita Hayworth, Brigitte Bardot, Orson Welles, the Highnesses like
Prince Philippe of Edinburgh, King Ibn Saud, Princess Grace of Monaco,
King Hussein of Jordany, and recently Condolezza Rice; and stars like
Fausto Coppi, Ray Sugar Robinson and many others…
HistoryHotel Palace in the Belle Epoque
In view of the World Exhibition in 1910 in Brussels, Les Grands Hôtels
Belges S .A. launched a contest in 1908 for the construction of a deluxe hotel.
The winner was the architect Adhémar Lener, assisted by the young Antoine Pompe.
The first building of concrete in Belgium with a height of 35 meters, was built
on a surface of 35 acres in record time of 11 months. This was an impressive
achievement, considering the enormous problems they encounter during the
construction. Due to the marshy ground, a new method for Belgium was applied the
skeleton of 7 stories high concrete was built on 1800 piles.
The Hotel Palace, owned by Georges Marquet, opened its doors on the 1st of
September 1910 and counted 400 rooms with individual bathrooms.
In 1911, the Hotel Palace promoted with 500 rooms, fully equipped with bathroom,
toilet and telephone with an outside line, as of 7,5 FB per room, « lightening
and service charges included »
In the «Belle Epoque », the Hotel Palace was a renowned deluxe hotel. In 1930,
in a special jubilee edition of the magazine « La Belgique Hôtelière », the
Hotel Palace was referred to as one of the three « Grands Hotels Belges S.A. »
(the Hotel Astoria in Brussels, the Château d’Ardenne in Houyet were the other
two hotels) and was described as follows: « It is worldwide renowned for the
formula : 500 rooms, 500 baths, 500 telephones and unanimously appreciated for
its luxury, its fine comfort and impeccable service ».
A promotional brochure of the thirties mentioned : « Same management : the
Claridge in Paris, the Palace in Lyon, the Negresco in Nice, the Palace and the
Ritz in Madrid, the Alfonso XIII in Sevilla, the Continental in St. Sébastien »;
which emphasized the highly prestigious character of the hotel Palace at that
time.
Le Palace: celebrities, international stars performances
The first renovation works took place at the end of the forties after
the Second World War: a part of the original rooms were refurbished in the « Art
Déco » style. A second renovation followed at the end of the fifties when
Brussels expected a large number of visitors for the World Exhibition of 1958.
The Hotel Palace was the hotel where an important number of celebrities stayed:
« stars » like Gina Lologbrigida, Jean Poiret, Rita Hayworth, Brigitte Bardot,
Orson Welles, the Highnesses like Prince Philippe of Edinburgh, King Ibn Saud,
Princess Grace of Monaco and King Hussein of Jordany; and stars like Fausto
Coppi, Ray Sugar Robinson and many others..
The Taverne of the hotel was also very popular at this time; not only because of
the ideal location at the Place Rogier, but especially because of the weekly
organized entertainment shows with international stars performances.
Till the sixties the Hotel Palace was one of the most successful hotels of
Brussels: « In the sixties, the ‘musts’ of the Belgian capital are the Amigo,
the Brussels, the Métropole, the Palace, the Plaza, the Westbury.. » (Paris
Match, the 13th of November 1987).
Difficult times…
In the 70’s, the building was for the first time in danger because of
the construction of the metro underneath the ‘Petite Ceinture’. To cut a tunnel
in the marshy ground seemed to be impossible.
First the local authorities considered to simply demolishing the hotel, but
finally the building was preserved thanks to the technique often used for the
construction of the metro: the freezing of the ground.
A brochure of the famous hotel group ‘Leading Hotels of the World’ only listed
one hotel in Brussels in December 1976: The Hotel Palace. The hotel Palace
emplois about 400 persons, which meant one person per room, a normal situation
for a deluxe hotel.
But in the middle of the 70’s, a lot of deluxe hotels were built in Brussels.
The revenue decreased and the badly controlled costs took ‘Les Grands Hôtels
Belges S.A. to bankruptcy. The Hotel Palace closed its doors in June 1981.
This time, it looked like the building needed be to make place for modern office
buildings. A Dutch company showed interest and the Commune de Saint-Josse-ten-Noode
seemed to be ready to change the plans of urbanism (a zone of offices in stead
of a zone of habitation).
But on the last minute a buyer ready to invest in the building showed up: the
16th of November 1982, City Hotels bought the Hotel Palace at an auction for the
sum of 107,5 million FB(2,7 million EUR).
The prestigious Hotel Palace showed important marks of aging as result of two
years of neglecting and of the stay of ‘squatters’. City Hotels hired about 200
workers. A miracle, the original furniture was saved from public sale. During
two months two polishers processed all the furniture. After that the problem
arose to return them in their original room. As most of the furniture was tailor
made and only fitted to one specific room. Thanks to Jean Kirch, the electrician
who worked 30 years of his career at the Hotel Palace, the 360 rooms where
refurbished in its original state.
Five months later, the 1st of April 1983, the Hotel Palace reopened its doors.
The aim was to offer the client a reasonable comfort an affordable price. The
intention was not to make a deluxe hotel of the Hotel Palace. On the contrary:
in 1983 an advertisement said : « A great dream…….available for everybody». At
that moment, the room rate was 2.300 FB (57 EUR) to 2.800 FB (69 EUR) in stead
of 5.000 FB (124 EUR) to 7.000 FB (174 EUR) before the reopening.
The hotel gets back the position of ‘Le Palace’ in Brussels!
In December 2003 the hotel was taken over by the Swedish Pandox¹ ready
to invest 18,5 million EUR. Two months later, in February 2004 a first
announcement was made: the Crowne Plaza Brussels City Centre wants to take back
the position of ‘Le Palace’ in Brussels. The hotel started the renovation works
mid June 2004.
In the summer of 2005 the first 110 guest rooms were fully refurbished. The
architect, Karin Espinosa Morel, turned to the Art Nouveau lines and curls of
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) for inspiration, echoing Le Palace’s (1908) original
turn-of-the-century style.
The first months of 2005 the Restaurant and Bar were taken in hand and re-opened
on the 19th of May with an innovative and surprising concept.
Spring 2005 - 208 of the 356 rooms are renovated in ‘Nouveau Style’. The last
148 rooms were renovated during the autumn period.
Winter 2005-2006 extensive renovation works turned the traditional meeting rooms
into a very modern conference & meeting complex with a totally new meeting
concept and floor (+1) ‘Balanced Senses’ , a stimulation of the senses that
makes you want to meet!
In the winter of 2006-2007 the last works took place and transformed the old
meeting rooms on each separate floor into very luxurious balanced senses suites
offering scented rooms bathed in natural colors and soothing source. Also 10
Century rooms echo Le Palace’s original turn-of-the-century style; refurbished
with the original tailor made furniture and accessories from bygone times…
The hotel is ideally situated just a short walk from the Grand Place
and the main shopping area.
Crowne Plaza Brussels Le Palace is located next to the botanical
gardens and close to the Brussels Midi train station, terminal of the
Eurostar train and Thalys train. You can easily reach the major business
district, exhibition centres, World Trade Center and NATO headquarters and the
EU district (European commission, European Union and European Parliament).
Entirely refurbished
in August 2009, the
Nouveau Taste restaurant
offers
to our guests a real meal experience, in line with our philosophy enjoy,
discover and taste. For breakfast, lunch and/or diner, for business or
for Leisure, The Nouveau Taste opens you its doors.
Our bar ‘Deco Verre’: Trendy comfortable lounge, where you will find a
large choice of more than 35 different Belgian Beers including our own:
‘Deco verre’ beer! Because let’s not forget that we are in the capital
of the beer country ‘par excellence’: Belgium.
