Regeneration plans of Grand Hotel Astoria as Corinthia Hotel Brussels wins Top Hotel World Tour competition

As construction gears up for the regeneration of the landmark Grand Hotel Astoria as the Corinthia Hotel Brussels, the project has been recognized by the hospitality industry for its planning, foresight and architectural integrity. Last month, GA Design won the Creative Spark competition for Europe for its regeneration plans of the new Corinthia Hotel Brussels. Presented annually by the Top Hotel World Tour, the project satisfied the competition criteria for authenticity, innovation and overall impression of the scheme.

The competition is integrated into Top Hotel World Tour, a series of one-day conferences around the world for leaders within the hospitality field.

Corinthia’s plans will see the full regeneration of what was renowned globally as the Grand Hotel Astoria, the former grande dame of Belgium’s hotels, originally built in 1909. Corinthia acquired the vacant building in 2016 and has set about regenerating it to its former position as the country’s leading luxury hotel. The property’s listed facade and ground floor will be fully restored, while the rest of the property will be extensively refurbished and in parts rebuilt to accommodate 126 bedrooms, including 36 suites, as well as an array of dining options, meeting rooms and what will be the city’s largest luxury hotel spa. The new Corinthia will open its doors in 2020.

GA Design of London, the company behind the interiors at Corinthia’s award winning London hotel, has been engaged to re-imagine the Brussels hotel.

“To be shortlisted to the final three and then to win, is recognition of the painstaking thought process and creative design that has gone into the planning of the property’s regeneration,” said Jessica Morrison, Senior Designer at GA Design.

The hotel is the latest in a line of 19th century grand hotels across Europe restored by Corinthia Hotels. The award-winning Corinthia Hotel London, the Corinthia Hotel Budapest, formerly the Grand Hotel Royal, and the Corinthia Hotel St Petersburg, Russia, are all 19th century trophy properties which have been acquired, redeveloped and relaunched by Corinthia Hotels. Furthermore, last month, Corinthia Hotels announced that it would be operating the 19th-century Grand Hotel du Boulevard in Bucharest, Romania when this landmark building opens its doors after extensive refurbishment on 1st December 2019.

In Brussels, other than GA Design, Corinthia has retained the services of architect Francis Metzger, owner of Brussels-based MA2, well known for his work on heritage buildings in Belgium.