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Brussels' Hotel Amigo dedicates luxury suite to local hero Tintin

Illustration shows a Tintin comic character themed suite at the Hotel Amigo in Brussels, Thursday 10 June 2021. (BELGA PHOTO HATIM KAGHAT)
06:12 15/06/2021

A suite dedicated to the famous Belgian cartoon character Tintin has been inaugurated at the Amigo Hotel in the centre of Brussels.

The idea to create the suite was born 10 years ago, when director Steven Spielberg stayed at the Amigo Hotel while on the promotional tour for his Tintin film, The Secret of The Unicorn.

At the time, the Hollywood director signed a drawing depicting him and Tintin in front of the entrance of the hotel. The Moulinsart group, the company set up to protect and promote the work of Tintin’s creator, Hergé, subsequently agreed to invest in providing decoration for the suite, in accordance with the plans submitted by Olga Polizzi, the design director for the Rocco Forte group's hotels.

The suite contains multiple references to Tintin's adventures. The living room is decorated with the vase seen in the adventure of the Blue Lotus and, of course, there is a model of the famous white and red rocket. A plush Milou, Tintin’s loyal canine companion, stands guard in the room.

For families, a connecting room has been designed for children, who will be able to sleep surrounded by images of their heroes, which feature on the sheets and on the walls. A reading and drawing corner is also provided for them in the hotel restaurant, where Tintin-themed dishes and utensils are available.

"We want to give a luxury experience and at the same time make it very local," explained Jan Nielsen, general manager of the hotel. "We are an international group, but we are also local. We have had a Magritte suite for about 10 years, and we work with Belgian suppliers for chocolate, and cakes. We also have a beer brewed especially for the Hotel Amigo."

Nick Rodwell, managing director of Moulinsart, was pleased to be able, through this project, to support the revival of tourism in the home of Tintin: "We are delighted to help relaunch tourism in Belgium,” he said. “We had plans to create a Tintin hotel, but after 12 to 18 months of discussion, we did not find an agreement, so we gave it up."

Tintin, the great traveller, now has a room dedicated to him in his city.

Written by Nick Amies