Hotel Métropole to 'remain a jewel' in Brussels and reopen under new ownership

The Hotel Métropole in Brussels has been sold and will be renovated in preparation of a grand reopening in 2025.

Founded in 1895, the five-star hotel has long been an emblem of the Belle Epoque style and was one of the last major independent hotels in the capital, owned by the Bervoets family.

The family has now sold it to private equity company Lone Star Fund, which intended to have the hotel “pursue its history and remain a jewel in the crown of the Brussels' hotel sector”, according to a press release.

The hotel has been struggling since 2015 as a result of various events that had a great impact on the hospitality sector, including the Brussels bombings, construction works and then the pandemic.

It formally closed as a hotel in April 2020, though various activities such as seminars, film shoots and exhibitions were held there in order to “keep the hotel alive”.

The brasserie was also reopened via a temporary lease.

“Our ambition has always been that the building, which is partly protected, should be able to return to its hotel vocation once the economic and tourist dynamism of Brussels has been restored,” said Charles-Henry Bervoets, director of the Société Hôtel Métropole SA.

“After having been independent for more than a century, we were convinced that the hotel's future would depend on its integration into a solid financial group and a more international hotel chain. The buyers have made us a proposal that will ensure the building's long-term future and respect its original vocation.”

Bervoets called it a “page-turning” moment for the family, which has held the hotel for six generations.

“But we are happy to have found a solution in this sense. With the new shareholders, the Hotel Métropole will be able to reopen, experience a new dynamic, recreate jobs and shine again.”

Hôtel Métropole, which still employs 10 people, stretches from Place de Brouckère to Rue Neuve with 250 rooms, the Café Métropole, as well as nine commercial stores, mainly located on Rue Neuve.

The takeover will take effect at the end of December 2022 and the agreed-upon amount of the sale is confidential.