Monty

Brussels

The capital of Belgium is a vibrant, effervescent, cosmopolitan, multilingual city known for its traditional cafés and its Art Nouveau. Brussels , lesser known than certain other European capitals ,has a great deal to offer especially in the area of architecture where medieval and classical facades of the historical center exist side by side with Art Nouveau structures whose curves and vegetal creations reveal the use of ironwork, mosaics, frescoes and stained glass.

As part of its cultural activities, the city is home to the Belgian Comic Strip Center, a veritable institution in the country. Although Belgium’s international reputation for culture is well-known, one hears less often about the country’s gastronomy, which is sad since Belgium, to the initiated, possesses the finest culinary tradition in Europe after France, in addition to being the country of chocolate and beer, of which there are more than 400 varieties available, to the delight of beer connoisseurs.

Intimate, comfortable, design and trendy

In the heart of the elegant Montgomery quarter, adjacent to the celebrated square of the same name, an important traffic circle on the edge of the very yuppie commune of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre in the east of the capital, an elegant 1930s manor has been entirely renovated with ultra contemporary interiors. On the porch, there is a scarlet red cow stands as a souvenir of the Art on Cows exhibit of 2003, setting the tone for an avant-garde design hotel that combines the contemporary with the charm of a more traditional structure. The Monty Small Design Hotel is “open to everyone. Its limited capacity and personalized atmosphere respond to the desire of a clientele looking for something other than standardized comfort” explains Jean-Michel André, the Monty’s owner. A former jurist and a great lover of contemporary art, André purchased the site from its Lebanese owner and immediately envisioned creating a totally innovative hotel. “When I decided to open my own hotel, I immediately thought of a different kind of décor than what you usually find.” The interiors of scarlet reds and relaxing grays are the work of architect Thierry Hens, creator the famous “Object of Desire”. “We wanted to create a pure interior which played with spaces, materials and light, and we built 18 rooms on three floors.” The furniture embodies this ultra-contemporary touch for which the hotel is known. Chairs, lights and furniture were all created by the greatest names in design including Philippe Starck, Ingo Maurer and Charles Earnes, designer of the Rocking Chair and other famous 20^th century chairs.

“The majority of our guests are new as compared to the old establishment. They’re essentially medium category business men and women. The profile of our clientele? In their 40s, classy but laid back. We don’t receive any celebrities, and I doubt that we ever will!” (J. M. André, from Tendances magazine – August, 2003.