Revamped Hotel Astoria celebrates Brontë connection

Brussels’ link with the Brontës isn’t perhaps acknowledged in the city as much as it could be. There is a planned Brontë Sisters Square in Koekelberg, but the name doesn’t tend to crop up when streets, buildings, etc. are being named. 

 

So what a nice surprise to find that the poshest hotel in town, the recently reopened Grand Hotel Astoria on Rue Royale now rebaptised Corinthia Brussels, has ... a Brontë suite! 

Hotel Cluysenaar, ca. 1840

The hotel describes this suite or penthouse as “a literary haven” and tells us: 

“Inspired by the literary legacy of the Brontë sisters, who once resided nearby and immortalised our hotel in Villette, the Brontë Penthouse offers a refined and creative retreat. Grand and elegant, this suite boasts a living room styled as a library, filled with curated books, alongside a study for your own musings. Savour gourmet moments in the dining room or unwind on the private terrace with breathtaking views of the city’s cathedral.”

If you want somewhere to go to read and muse, or gaze at the cathedral meditating about Charlotte going there to confession, I imagine there are cheaper places to do it. However, it’s nice to know that the Brontë connection was remembered when this Belle Époque hotel was being revamped. 

 

The Hotel Astoria in the Belle Époque

Just to explain this connection: The original building, designed by Cluysenaar (the fashionable architect who created the elegant Galeries royales Saint-Hubert shopping arcade), was an apartment building. At the time of Charlotte and Emily’s stay in Brussels, they had English friends, the Wheelwright family, living at the Astoria. 

Their five daughters attended the Pensionnat Heger, where Emily taught piano to some of the younger girls. Emily wasn’t very popular with them because she insisted on holding the lessons during play hours so as not to sacrifice her own study time. 

Charlotte remained in contact all her life with the eldest Wheelwright girl, Laetitia, who became a friend and correspondent. The Hôtel Cluysenaar, as the apartment building was called, very likely inspired the "Hôtel Crécy" in Villette where Paulina de Bassompierre and her father live. Charlotte describes it as "an hotel in the foreign sense: a collection of dwelling-houses, not an inn — a vast, lofty pile, with a huge arch to its street-door."

You can read about the history of the building on our blog.

Even if your finances don’t stretch to staying in the Brontë Penthouse, you can drop by the hotel and have a coffee or apéritif in the Palm Court, as I did the other day!

Helen MacEwan