Hotel Métropole, Brussels

Origins and early history Under the reign of King Leopold II, following the covering of the river Senne (1867–1871), Brussels was remodelled with large boulevards and green avenues. The then-mayor of the City of Brussels, Jules Anspach, contributed to the transformation of the urban landscape of the capital by the realisation of thoroughfares from the North Station to the South Station, including from south to north and from west to east: the Boulevard Maurice Lemonnier/Maurice Lemonnierlaan, the Boulevard Anspach/Anspachlaan, the Boulevard Adolphe Max/Adolphe Maxlaan, and the Boulevard Émile Jacqmain/Émile Jacqmainlaan. In 1890, Prosper and Edouard Wielemans, two brothers with a brewing company, opened the Café Métropole on the Place de Brouckère/De Brouckèreplein—a major square on the new boulevards—as a place to sell their beer. The café was a huge success, and in 1891, the Wielemans-Ceuppens family purchased the next-door building, a former property of the ''Caisse générale d'épargne et de retraite'' (ASLK/CGER), and turned it into the Hotel Métropole, inaugurated in 1895. This main building had been built in 1872–1874 by the architect . Moreover, it is the birthplace of the Black Russian cocktail, which was created in 1949 by the barman Gustave Tops for the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, Perle Mesta. During the Second World War's occupation of Belgium, the Hotel Métropole was requisitioned by the Germans forces, then for a year by the Allied forces. After the war, the hotel experienced another golden era. Great statesmen, artists and entertainers visiting Brussels all stayed at the hotel: Eisenhower, the General De Gaulle, the Shah, Jacques Brel, Maurice Chevalier, to name a few. Toots Thielemans made his debut in the jazz orchestra that played in the Café Métropole. Ten years later, the hotel celebrated its centenary. It is also served by the metro and premetro (underground tram) station De Brouckère on lines 1, 4, 5 and 10. The hotel faced severe financial difficulties after the drop in tourism due to the 2016 Brussels bombings. It closed in April 2020, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, it was announced that the closure would be permanent. , its former brasserie, the Café Métropole, located next door, temporarily reopened under a pop-up lease, before it finally closed as well in February 2022. ==Building==

The hotel's façade, in eclectic style with an Italian neo-Renaissance dominance, has three levels and nine bays, crowned by an attic balustrade that was maintained during the 19th-century transformation into the hotel, but was raised by two levels under a mansard roof, as today. The current modern awning, originally in iron and glass, spans the entire width of the façade and is rounded in a barrel above the entrance. The hotel's reception, lobby, and lounge are overtly ornate in an eclectic style of French Renaissance character, with Corinthian columns, rich furnishings, gilded details, and chandeliers, largely preserved in the state made by Chambon. Similarly, the hotel's eleven meetings and conference rooms are decorated in a neo-Renaissance style. The lobby is lit by a skylight, and still conserves its original lift and main iron staircase. The hotel offers eating possibilities in the Café Métropole brasserie and Le Jardin Indien breakfast room. It also has a bar, Le 31, with a late 19-century style décor, as well as a fitness room. File:Hotel Métropole (2).jpg|The Hotel Métropole's main façade File:Bruxelles - Café Métropole - 01.JPG|Café Métropole File:Bruxelles - Hôtel Métropole.jpg|Closeup of the café's façade File:Reception 1 HD.jpg|The hotel lobby File:Hotel Métropole Brussels corridor.jpg|The corridor ==See also==