Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Hot list 2009

Farhad Heydari selects the best new hotels, spas, shops and museums opening across Europe. Read on for where you should check into or check out next

Hotel Skeppsholmen
Stockholm

What was once a royal marine barracks dating from the early 17th century in Skeppsholmen, a lush islet in the heart of the Swedish capital, has been repurposed into a stylish, 82-room hotel. The ochre-coloured edifice will house a number of lounges and cocktail bars as well as an eatery where modern Scandinavian cuisine figures largely on the menu. www.hotelskeppsholmen.com

Acropolis Museum
Athens

Designed by architect Bernard Tschumi after a 30-year incubation process, the super-modern Acropolis Museum will restore a bit of cultural pageantry to the Greek capital when it opens in 2009. Visitors can look forward to a treasure- trove of archaeological finds spanning 2,500 years, including excavated ruins from the sixth-century BC as well as the reclaimed Elgin Marbles, which formed part of the original Parthenon frieze. www.newacropolismuseum.gr

Chalet Royalp Hôtel
Geneva

Built within the über-exclusive and private Domaine de Rochegrise estate, as the Geneva region’s first ski-in ski-out property, the Royalp Hôtel features 33 individually decorated and Alpine-styled rooms and another 30 suites. Each room has been fitted with state-of-the- art technology and offers breathtaking views of the Swiss and French Alps, just one hour from Geneva. www.lhw.com

Hyatt Regency
Lisbon

Located on Lisbon’s vast, historic and tree-lined 17th-century Avenida da Liberdade, the late-2009 opening of the smallish Hyatt Regency – which has just 88 rooms, small compared with the usual multi-hundred fare the group is known for – is sure to re-ignite interest in the Portuguese capital, especially among Hyatt-loving sybarites. www.hyattregency.com

Café Costume
Brussels

The misleadingly named Café Costume, the bespoke tailoring business of Bruno, Saskia & Angelique van Gils, opened its first Brussels store in November on the trendy Rue Léon Lepage. Launched in 2007 in Antwerp by three descendants of the van Gils emporium, the concept lets the customer determine what his suit will look like. He chooses the cut, the fabric, the lining and even the buttons by means of a menu, just like in a restaurant. The company works with the most exclusive fabric makers (Scabal, Zegna, Loro Piana, Vitale Barberis, Cerruti and Ormezzano, to name but a few). The suits themselves are produced in the studios of the van Gils family holding. www.cafecostume.com

Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat
Nice

After a 14-month facelift, the grand dame of the Côte d’Azur is set to emerge in May 2009 with updated surroundings, but also new trappings. In fact, the much lauded property will have 16 new rooms, eight new suites each with their own plunge-pool, and a state-of-the-art spa facility that spreads across 750 m2 and is decorated by the famous designer Pierre-Yves Rochon.
www.grand-hotel-cap-ferrat.com

Andel’s Hotel
Berlin

Following a handful of successful openings in Prague and Krakow, Andel’s is set to open its first German property in Berlin next spring. The brainchild of British interior architects Jestico & Whiles, the vast 557-room, cube-shaped hotel in Berlin’s Friedrichshain district, near Alexanderplatz, will feature rooms with the latest mod cons, two restaurants and a vast fitness and wellness centre. www.andelsberlin.com

Wakeup Copenhagen Hotel
Copenhagen

Promoted as a hotel with three and four- star amenities (everything from flat- screen TVs to free wi-fi), but at affordable two-star prices, the 510-room Wakeup Copenhagen was designed by noted Danish architect Kim Utzon, whose previous credits include a roster of large-scale buildings. Set to open in the autumn of 2009, it’s located on Kalvebod Allé overlooking the Sydhavnen. www.wakeupcopenhagen.com

The Augustine
Prague

Fashioned from a collection of five listed buildings – including a pair of monasteries dating back to the 13th century – the 101-room Augustine is the latest luxe hotel to take advantage of Prague’s historical riches. Part of the burgeoning Rocco Forte group, the property is being remodelled by homegrown architect Martin Kotik, who is incorporating a bounty of cloistered terraces, wooden ceilings, wine vaults and stone arches into the hotel design. www.roccofortecollection.com

W Barcelona
Barcelona

When it opens on the Nova Bocana in September 2009, the W Barcelona will become the first European outpost of this contemporary boutique hotel group. Like its US-based brethren, the 475- room waterfront hotel – designed by famed Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill – will be a cutting-edge property with exciting dining, nightlife and entertainment options. Facilities to note include the roof-top bar, large spa, indoor and outdoor pools and a retail store. www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels

Baglioni Hotel & Ràcz Thermal Spa
Budapest

Bringing a touch of la dolce vita to the Central European capital, Baglioni will soon unveil its first Hungarian property. Set at the foot of Gellert Hill, in the tranquil surroundings of the central Buda park and close to the famous Castle district, the 66-room hotel benefits, above all else, from one of the city’s many hot springs, which serves the half-dozen thermal pools and hammams in the expansive 8,000m² spa. www.baglionihotels.com

Park Hyatt Casares Golf & Spa Resort
Malaga

When it opens in mid-2009, the Park Hyatt Casares will quickly become the place to holiday on Spain’s Costa del Sol. Inspired by an Andalucian country estate, the hilltop property will feature 169 rooms with spacious terraces overlooking Casares Beach and the Mediterranean. The resort will boast a huge spa, an outdoor pool and a championship 18-hole golf course. www.park.hyatt.com

Taschen Shop
London

London’s Duke of York Square, a posh pedestrianised nave running alongside the Kings Road, is now home to not one but two must-visit destinations for art lovers. Adjacent to the just-opened Saatchi Gallery is the newly launched Taschen shop, designed by Philippe Starck. It features Taschen’s entire range of covetable art and design tomes on the ground floor as well as a gallery space in the basement. www.taschen.com

Velvet Hotel
Manchester

Awash in an unattractive melange of big-box hotels, Manchester will finally get a long-awaited boutique hostelry when Velvet Hotel opens in early 2009. The €4.8m (£4.1m) property is spread over four floors of an 18th-century Victorian building and features just 20 individually decorated rooms, whimsically conceived with handwoven rugs, sumptuous fabrics, luxurious draperies, oversized beds and sand- blasted bare brick walls. www.velvetmanchester.com

Roomers Hotel
Frankfurt

Having transformed both a former flour mill and a textile factory into cutting-edge hotels, the renowned Romanian-born, Frankfurt-based designer Oana Rosen is now setting her sights on his latest project: an empty office building. Set for completion in March, Roomers will feature 117 rooms and suites spread over five avant-garde levels and topped by an illuminated cupola. www.roomers.eu

Magritte Museum
Brussels

This one is a big deal for Brussels – the René Magritte Museum will finally be ready in 2009. Just over forty years after his death, René Magritte’s paintings will have a fitting home of their own. The René Magritte Museum will be housed in a neo-classical building known as the Altenloh Hotel, part of the Museum of Modern Art complex on the Place Royale in Brussels. The museum, in the centre of Brussels, will bring together some 150 works by the Belgian surrealist painter, who spent most of his life in this city. www.magritte.be.

FR Les adresses sélects 2009

Nous avons sélectionné les nouveaux hôtels, boutiques, restaurants et musées les plus ‘high-life’ de toute l’Europe. Notez bien ces lieux sublimes à découvrir prochainement et à intégrer dans vos circuits.

Conçu par l’architecte Bernard Tschumi après un processus d’incubation de 30 années, le nouveau Musée Acropolis à Athènes, à la pointe de la modernité, redorera le blason de la capitale grecque en matière culturelle lors de son ouverture en mars 2009. Du côté de Bruxelles, le Musée René Magritte, un des tous grands événements pour la ville, sera finalement prêt en 2009. Après une série d’ouvertures réussies à Prague et à Cracovie, les hôtels Andel’s vont inaugurer leur premier établissement allemand à Berlin au printemps prochain, tandis qu’à Budapest les hôtels Baglioni dévoileront bientôt leur première implantation en Hongrie. Lorsqu’il ouvrira ses portes en septembre 2009, le W Barcelona dans le quartier de la Nova Bocana représentera le premier relais européen de ce groupe d’hôtels boutiques contemporains. Dans une autre direction, le Wakeup à Copenhague, consacré hôtel 4 étoiles mais à des tarifs abordables d’un 2 étoiles, entrera en activité en automne. Prévue en mars, l’ouverture de l’hôtel Roomers ne passera pas inaperçue avec ses 117 chambres équipées de hi-fiet de suites réparties sur cinq étages d’avant-garde. Dans la région de Genève, à une heure précisément de la cité, le Royalalp accueille déjà des visiteurs. Cet hôtel des environs de Genève est le premier établissement avec accès aisé aux pistes.

Lorsqu’il sera inauguré au milieu de 2009, le Park Hyatt Casares deviendra rapidement l’endroit trendy où passer ses vacances sur la Costa del Sol en Espagne. Après un long facelift de 14 mois, le Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat sur la Côte d’Azur devrait renaître en mai 2009 tandis qu’à Prague le groupe en expansion Rocco Forte ouvre l’Augustine. Ce qui était autrefois des casernes de la marine royale datant du début du 17ème siècle dans la capitale suédoise, a été transformé pour devenir l’Hôtel Skeppsholmen.

NL Hotlist 2009

We hebben een selectie gemaakt van de 20 beste nieuwe hotels, winkels, restaurants en musea in Europa. Lees hier waar je absoluut moet langsgaan en wat je absoluut niet mag missen

Het nieuwe supermoderne Acropolis Museum in Athene, van de hand van architect Bernard Tschumi, geeft een goed beeld van de culturele pracht van de Griekse hoofdstad en opent eindelijk zijn deuren in maart 2009, nadat er 30 jaar over werd gebroed. En deze is een topper voor Brussel … het René Magritte Museum zal in 2009 eindelijk afgewerkt zijn. Na een handvol succesvolle openingen in Praag en Krakau maakt Andel’s zich op voor de opening van hun eerste Duitse vestiging in Berlijn deze zomer. In Boedapest, daarentegen, wordt het eerste Hongaarse luik van Baglioni onthuld. In september 2009 opent op Nova Bocana het W Barcelona, de eerste Europese vestiging van de moderne luxe shopping-hotelgroep. In Kopenhagen heet Wakeup, een hotel met viersterfaciliteiten maar dan aan tweesterprijzen, zijn klanten welkom vanaf het najaar. Vanaf maart kunnen reizigers in het nagelnieuwe hotel Roomers genieten van 117 hi-fikamers en suites, verspreid over vijf avant-gardeverdiepingen. In de streek rond Genève, op een uur van de stad om precies te zijn, is onlangs de Royalalp open gegaan. Een primeur: het hotel is het eerste in de streek met rechtstreekse toegang tot de skipistes.

Wanneer het midden 2009 opent, zal het Park Hyatt Caseres al snel de titel claimen van meest trendy en populaire stek aan de Spaanse Costa del Sol. Na een facelift van 14 maanden is de opening van het Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat aan de Côte d’Azur gepland voor mei 2009. In Praag opent intussen het Augustine zijn deuren, onderdeel van de opkomende Rocco Forte groep. En tot slot kan je in de Zweedse hoofdstad overnachten in Hotel Skeppsholmen, een prachtig verbouwde locatie die tot het begin van de 17e eeuw dienstdeed als kazerne voor de koninklijke marine.

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