Sometimes awakening takes longer. In the case of the ancient spa, the Spa is twenty-two years old. After more than 130 years of operation, the neo-Renaissance giant had to close in 2003. The thermal baths, which opened in 1868 and were the work of prominent Belgian architect Léon Suys in the second half of the 19th century, were in dire need of renovation and the area where they were applied was dilapidated. Further operation of this magnificent facility with 52 treatment cabins and an equally large number of marble or copper baths, in both cases located in the basement, was impossible. Moreover, the once sophisticated Belgian spa town, where Emperors and Tsars, Gustav Mahler and Igor Stravinsky, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí were in their heyday, and, in a long phase of decline, John Lennon and David Bowie entrusted themselves to the power of healing springs, is considered badly run down. This makes an investor’s prospects seem hopeless.
Six years after its closure, the city government announced a competition to reuse the old hot springs. A miracle happened. The Denys group, backed by Johan Van Wassenhove, one of the country’s richest men, emerged victorious in the process. The Flemish thinks big, drives a Ferrari, and is known for his polemical remarks. The entrepreneur, dubbed “the Elon Musk of the Belgian construction industry” by the business newspaper “De Tijd”, is already considering building a subway between Brussels and Ghent. Therefore, it is not surprising that Van Wassenhove is very familiar with Donald Trump. The two real estate moguls know each other personally. Van Wassenhove’s wife, Régine Mahaux, is a photographer of the official residences and palaces of American presidential couples.
Van Wassenhove’s particular focus is on monuments of national importance. He was responsible for the renovation and rededication of the old Brussels Stock Exchange, the old trading exchange in Antwerp, and the historic Montefiore Institute in Liège. Therefore, the magnificent old hot springs entered the portfolio. Van Wassenhove’s plan was to build a luxury hotel that would eventually attract rich and famous clients back to the Spa. Make Spa great again!
Which of course takes time. It was only in 2019, ten years after the competition was announced, that renovation of the hot springs, some of which are listed as historical monuments, could begin. It was just before twelve o’clock. Sponges are all over the walls. While construction work is still ongoing, UNESCO added the old spa and thermal baths to its World Heritage List in 2021. Architect Barbara Van der Wee, who was commissioned for the renovation and is renowned as a specialist in the renovation of important 19th and 20th century buildings, took the UNESCO award as an opportunity to have the two salons flanking the foyer, as well as four representative halls, two application rooms and a corridor equipped with floor terrazzo listed as a historical monument in addition to the foyer which is already listed as a building, and the north facade which is also listed. Van der Wee also tried his best to restore the Suys building to its original condition. Renovations and extensions from the period after 1900 were removed and the original ceiling and wall paintings were discovered and restored.
Frenchwoman Stéphanie Amyot du Mesnil Gaillard was commissioned to design the interior. The interior designer, who specializes in upscale hotels and restaurants, based his color scheme on preserved ceiling and wall paintings. In the old building, the rooms are pink or pistachio green, while in the new building behind them, the rooms are sand or gray-blue. What all the rooms have in common is a copper-clad freestanding bathtub in the bathroom, reflecting the hotel’s original purpose, which also applies to the long hallway, where chairs and tables next to the room doors create a touch of Magic Mountain Sanatorium. Amyot du Mesnil Gaillard also succeeded in carrying out a coup. The original chairs, canapés and side tables from the old hot springs, which he found in the storage of the Municipal Spa Museum, were given to the hotel after stubborn negotiations. Elaborately restored, they complete the foyer dining area.
The rest is luxury at the highest level. A private garage for luxury cars and the only spa in Belgium, in collaboration with Clarins and the Clarins myBlend brand, emphasize the hotel’s five-star claims – which, however, are unrecognizable at first glance. Due to heritage reasons, there is not even a hotel sign on the front facing Rue Royale. Additionally, the stately building, whose gables spell out “Bains” in gold letters, is more reminiscent of an opera house with its monumental double staircase, fountain, rich program of figures, and fluted columns. The confusion was over for a moment and the search for the hotel entrance was inevitable. Long story short: a portal flanked by pilasters is at the back. By the time they reached the lobby, the incoming hotel guests would be left breathless. From the reception, surrounded by four monumental columns, you pass through the Celebrity Wall with portraits of all the celebrities who have visited the Spa, to the atrium garden the size of a tennis court equipped with flower pots, umbrellas and heavy lawn chairs – and last but not least to the former foyer, which has become a restaurant. A matt gold charging plate sits on the table. Burned in the glaze is a quote from Oscar Wilde, praising the Spa for “the glory of society and the balm of tranquility.”
But his gaze wandered upwards in disbelief. In the pastel ceiling painting, flowers spill over the edge of a trophy vase. Gilded lion heads protrude from the walls beneath the twelve and a half meter high ceilings. Graceful pale nymphs recline on monumental rocaille on the balustrade. Columns alternate with pilasters on two floors. Such splendor is rare, even in Belgium, which is rich in magnificent 19th-century buildings.
