Luxury European Boutique Hotels: The Interiors Edit.
Boutique hotels focusing on unique designs offer an unforgettable stay. We’ve picked out a few of our favourite unique and design-led hotels across Europe. Each of these hotels is uniquely different but strikingly beautiful and original. They might be modern such as the magnificent August in Antwerp; or The Qvest in Cologne, a former historic city archive in the shadow of the Basilica of St. Gereon. Nobis Hotel in Copenhagen the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music is equally impressive as Vila Foz Hotel & Spa in Porto, an Old World manor house converted to a contemporary boutique hotel.
August, Antwerp
A sublime celebration of history and Flemish culture, August is a modern-day sanctuary set within a former Augustinian monastery in the heart of Antwerp. These five heritage-listed structures—reshaped under the guidance of legendary Belgian architect and designer Vincent Van Duysen—have been designed and fashioned as a social hub for the city. Indeed, locals stepping behind the three walled-in gardens that shelter the hotel discover a welcoming place to have a coffee, a drink, or a meeting, while guests lose themselves in those quiet gardens and an indulgent intimate spa.
https://www.august-antwerp.com
Nobis Hotel Copenhagen
The grand 75-room Nobis Hotel Copenhagen is housed in a historic 5,400-square-meter landmark building that originally served as the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music. Bringing the Nobis magic to the midst of the Danish capital, the hotel is starchitect Gert Wingårdh’s “updated take on Le Corbusier. Danish classicism, which this building is a fine example of, is something special—more sophisticated, more stripped down than in Sweden,” he says. The historic landmark building on Niels Brocks Gade has been transformed into a cutting-edge contemporary luxury hotel.
The Qvest Cologne
A former historic city archive located on a quiet square in the shadow of the Basilica of St. Gereon, The Qvest in Cologne continues to be an important chronicle, albeit of a modern nature this time. The hotel links history and modernity by combining neo-Gothic architecture with a curated collection of furniture, contemporary art, and photography. Thanks to the owner of Qvest magazine, Michael Kaune, whose love of modern design manifests itself not just in the pages of this niche art, design, and culture publication but also in his contemporary photography gallery, the hotel is a mid-century and Bauhaus lover’s dream. With a large part of the hotel furnished with Kaune’s personal collection of furniture and photographs, the spaces form a veritable design museum.
Vila Foz Hotel & Spa Porto
Surrounded by beautiful gardens and regally set on one of the finest avenues in Porto’s Foz do Douro, Vila Foz Hotel & Spa offers a transformative experience that mirrors its own transformation from an Old World manor house to an intimate, contemporary boutique experience. Located just 20 minutes from the centre of this culturally rich city yet close enough to the sea to give guests the feeling that they are both in town and at a beach retreat, the 19th-century structure offers a succulent and embracing world of haute cuisine dining and wellness.
