Room with a hue: the Pantone Hotel is themed around every designer’s essential tool.
Cutting-edge design might not be the first thing that springs to mind when Brussels is mentioned. Maybe mussels, chocolate, lots of Euro-politics. As such, the Pantone Hotel is a much-needed blast of color in the midst of bureaucratic grey. If you’re a beige, greige or otherwise neutral palette person, then forget it. If you’re a designer, it’s hotel heaven.
Everything, from mugs and folding chairs to walls, is in a Pantone color showing its ID number or name. Even the bicycles (available for sale, though not for riding) are brightly colored.
Sixties moulded plastic chairs in zingy orange and Mediterranean turquoise, and stripey walls, are guaranteed to pep you up for a stroll round the city, but won’t look so great after too many brews.
Interiors are white canvases with splashes of color, each of the seven floors is themed by mood (earthy: brown; fiery: vermillion; vibrant: orange; fresh: aquamarine). The accents, used sparingly to dramatic effect, are provided by pantone panels on the walls showing each room’s palette along with tonally-coordinated original artwork. Block-color bedspreads abound in the bedroom; in the bathroom, cups, shampoo and toilet roll (yes, really).
The 61 guest rooms have LCD TVs and free WIFI; being a tall townhouse, the top ones offer great city views. If you’re a low-down, just pop up to the roof terrace to look out over this medieval city.
Rates from $143 including tax and every color in the rainbow and beyond, but not the Pantone products (cups, chairs, iPhone cases). The little colored sugar sachets are good to go, though.
Places & Spaces is a travel guide that will inspire you to carve out a vacation on your calendar. All of the gorgeous locations and accommodations in our guide share our concern for the environment. From tent glamping to lavish built environments, fair warning, you’ll feel compelled to pack your suitcase.