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Bar interior is confident and contemporary.Click to see the exterior
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"interior of the bar is one of the more successful and confidently handled areas of the interiors"
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From Reception springs the main areas of the hotel - the corridor from which open the meeting rooms, the lift and staircase leading to the bedrooms and the lounge from which access is gained to the contemporary bar and the gardens. Another Belgian tradition is respected in the gardens - that of the Surrealist movement whose major exponent was of course the Belgian artist René Magritte. Dominating the garden (which is also used as a temporary exhibition space for sculpture) is a very large red statue of a poodle. The bar built into a modern lead roofed conservatory style extension is in turn dominated by a central feature of giant sized artists brushes, the ends of which are tinted with changing colours as the LED lights within them change hue.
The interior of the bar is one of the more successful and confidently handled areas of the interiors, although the upholsteries look as if they are failing to stand up to the wear, with the fabrics compressing and showing rub patterns on their bold stripes and checks. Whilst the architecture is confident and assured and overall very successful the interiors throughout, the hotel seems to be overawed by the spaces. Interiors seem to lack a clear conceptual basis so errors of handling mar what is otherwise a beautiful hotel, such as the impossible to dust statuary around the interior roofline of the bar - confidence would have left this clear and sharp.
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The restaurant at the hotel is expressive of a quality that competes with the likes of Rocco Forte or Four Seasons but with a different sense of style, not yet design managed as well as those groups but on a par operationally
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Typical small meeting room - the designer keeps faith with the period, including large overmantel mirror. Click to see the restored chapel also available
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The traditional areas are handled much more confidently however, with the adjoining lounge being one of these more assured spaces. A samovar and tea offering mark the location for the taking of afternoon tea with the Belgian speciality of cakes. Similarly the meeting rooms and the restaurant are also in the traditional style and again handle confidently and well.
The restaurant works equally well for breakfast lunch or in the evening, and the central split means that even if guest numbers are low it can look busy. The use of candles and the arched ceilings with the chandeliers make this a romantic dining space in keeping with the romance of a ducal palace. Entrance is gained from the public areas along a well lit cloister, giving the restaurant a sense of place, which is also enhanced by the short turn at the end so that the brilliant daylight lit corridor puts the guest into a discreet candlelit foyer before entering the restaurant itself, enhancing the sense of theatre and place.
Meeting rooms have French windows into the gardens and make effective use of mirrors, as the tea lounge does, to amplify the space and create drama. However they also are a traditional way of enhancing daylight in classical rooms pre-dating the use of electric light and the interior designer has understood this and made effective use of them. Colour contrapuntal is provided by carpets and curtains whilst historic plasterwork is protected and enhanced by the colour scheme.
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Kempinski Dukes Palace
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