THE BULLETIN

July / August 2011

44 unusual hotels

And now for something completely

Tired of bland weekends and ho-hum holidays? Then how about a night in a treehouse, a church or even in a replica of a human digestive tract? Emma Beddington investigates some of Belgiums unusual nights away

different

Les Cabanes de Marie

Tree houses are springing up all over Belgium, offering travellers a chance to spend a night at the mercy of marauding squirrels in varying degrees of comfort. Les Cabanes de Marie, from the team behind LOrangerie in Egmont Park and the MIM Brasserie in Brussels, is the five-star version, perfect for those who want the back-to-nature experience but have limited tolerance for chemical toilets. The structure was designed and constructed by Alain Laurens, whose childhood fascination with tree houses led him to give up a career in advertising in order to make cabanes full-time. Today, his client list includes photographer Yann Arthus-Betrand and green politician Nicolas Hulot, and what he offers is treetop living at its most chic: Les Cabanes de Marie boasts proper plumbing, heating and a Nespresso machine. You can spend a night in the canopy of the woods surrounding the beautiful 17th-century Chteau de la Rocq, and even order in your evening meal. The Chteau, situated in Arquennes near Seneffe, is situated on 30 hectares of parkland and even has its own moat.

Les Cabanes de Marie, Chteau de la Rocq, Rue Omer Lion, Arquennes. Tel 02.381.03.22. 300 per night for two; drinks and breakfast included. De Barge, 15 Bargeweg, Bruges. Tel 050.38.51.50. From 110 per double room per night, including breakfast. Set menu at the Captains Table from 35 per person. www.hoteldebarge.be CasAnus, The Verbeke Foundation, Westakker, Kemzeke. Tel 03.789.22.07. www. verbekefoundation.com 120 for two, including breakfast, served inside the digestive tract. Delightful.

with its own lifejackets you cant be too careful. Theres also a restaurant on board the Captains Table, inevitably which specialises in seafood. The barge was rescued from demolition by owner and head chef Jacky Inkelberghe, who bought it for 100,000 BEF (2,500) in 1966, and spent two years painstakingly renovating it himself (a documentary on the renovation shows him determinedly welding in his chefs whites and toque). The boat is moored barely half a mile from Bruges medieval city centre, and a short walk takes you to all the celebrated attractions.

De Barge
Bruges is famous for its canals, so how about sleeping on one of them? De Barge yes, a barge once plied its trade along the Bruges-Ghent canal where it now hosts guests in 23 cosy, nautically furnished dark wood cabins. Each room has a view of the canal and comes

CasAnus
Unsual accommodation doesnt come much more, well, unusual than this. CasAnus is a polyester replica of a human bowel created by artist Joep Van Lieshout in Kemkeze, in the middle of an artists colony and exhibition

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Some rooms are located in the monastery, others in the nave of the church, whilst the luxurious suites are situated, appropriately, or possibly blasphemously, over the altar (which is still visible in the hotel dining room). The medieval city of Mechelen has Unesco world heritage status and an embarrassment of historical riches. It is home to the ancient Het Anker brewery (first recorded mention 1369), the unfinished tower of St Rumbolds cathedral and the former palace of Margaret of Austria. The 14thcentury wall paintings, including St George and his dragon, discovered in 2008 in the church of St John, are worth the trip alone, but a night out in the busy Vismarkt and Art Nouveau bar De Gouden Vis is the icing on the cake.

LHtel du Vieux Moulin

The Htel du Vieux Moulin, deep in the Ardennes, is a 17th-century flour mill (the wheel is still intact), its walls filled with nesting birds, with three tree houses and a Roulotte, a stationary gypsy caravan, dotted through the wooded grounds for a thoroughly wild weekend. The caravan sits in a clearing at the edge of a stream where you can fish for trout, whilst the tree houses are in the ancient walnut forest canopy. The Soupe aux Choux restaurant attached to the hotel specialises in regional produce, cooked in an ancient oven including what it describes as Madame Debelles famous rillettes.

Get thee to a monastery: St Martins Patershof offers rooms on sacred territory

The Bubble Lounge Hotel

space funded and managed by the Verbeke Foundation, founded by collectors and philanthropists Geert and Carla Verbeke Lens in 2007. If you tire of sitting in, well, a human digestive tract, you can go out and investigate the Foundation site, a vast temple to contemporary art covering 12 hectares of parkland and 20,000 feet of enclosed studio and gallery space. The permanent Verbeke collection of over 2,000 works, mainly focused on Belgian artists, is on show, and there is always a wide range of temporary exhibitions and installations to explore.
Martins Patershof hotel, 4 Karmelietenstraat, Mechelen Tel 015.46.46.46. Rooms from 99 per room per night, breakfast included. Deals available on www. martinshotels.com Htel du Vieux Moulin, 60 Rue de la Lisonette, Dinant. Tel 082.22.63.80. www.hotelcabane.be Tree houses 150 and Roulotte 125 for two, breakfast included. Half board costs 30 extra per person. The Bubble Lounge Hotel, 17 Bruggensteenweg, Hoogelede. Tel 051.77.27.77. www.bubbleloungehotel.com From 259 per room per night, Crazy Vegas suite costs 590.

Martins Patershof hotel

This beautiful, carefully repurposed 19thcentury church is attached to a Franciscan monastery and has made the stained glass, vaulted ceilings and pillars central design features of the rooms and public spaces.

The Bubble Lounge Hotel is a temple of kitsch, with named rooms including Pop Art, Youkelele and Chic Boudoir that range from the merely eccentric to the plainly insane. Their USP: every room comes with its own jacuzzi, and several feature full-sized bars. Most mind-blowing of all is the top-of-the-range Crazy Vegas suite, which has its own swimming pool (including a pool bar for those all important mid-swim martinis) jacuzzi, roulette wheel, billiard table, waterfall, and even a not-so-small scale Statue of Liberty. You can lie on your giant circular bed and watch a film on the cinema screen, or just admire the glittering fibre optic ceiling light display. The Bubble Lounge can arrange for you to arrive by limousine or Hummer, should you so desire, and theres even the possibility of taking a helicopter ride around the area. The Bubble Lounge is a short hop from Lilles shopping district, so if you can tear yourself away from the bubbles, take your limo and stock up at Gap or superior cheese shop Philippe Olivier, depending on your shopping proclivities.