Welcome to Issue No. 054 of Sojourn.
While staying at Hotel Rubens–Grote Markt in Antwerp with my youngest son this summer, mornings began with coffee and a Belgian waffle in the courtyard.
My room faced the same courtyard, and although the Grote Markt was less than a minute away, the hotel felt surprisingly quiet.
I loved that contrast.
We could have a slow start inside the hotel and then walk straight into the energy of Antwerp.
It was a relatively small part of the stay, but it became the part I actually remembered most.
I’ve always had a soft spot for boutique hotels. I like their smaller scale, their quirks and the feeling that they belong ‘exactly where they are’.
Rubens–Grote Markt felt like that kind of hotel.
Yes, while still there, I learned that it was about to become something much bigger.
A new chapter
The current 36-room hotel is being expanded into The Rubens Antwerp, part of Curio Collection by Hilton.
When it opens, the hotel is expected to have 83 rooms, a restaurant, bar, gym, underground parking and a much larger city garden… lots to look forward to.
But when I read about the plans, I didn’t find myself thinking about the restaurant or the new rooms, I kept thinking about that quiet little courtyard I had breakfast with my son every morning.
Would it still feel the same?
Of course, a hotel cannot grow without changing. Nor should the goal be to freeze everything exactly as it was but, this change made me wonder whether the hotel knows what people already value about it, and which parts of that experience are worth protecting.
What made this hotel work?
Hotels are usually described through what they have: number of rooms, restaurant, gym, location, garden, parking, and so on.
All of this is useful, but it doesn’t always tell us what staying there will actually be like.
What made Rubens–Grote Markt work for me before and after booking was not simply that it had a courtyard, but what a small courtyard would allow me to feel.
Like giving me a little ‘calm’ before stepping into the city. A space where I could connect a little deeper with my son without so many distractions.
That is a very different way of understanding a hotel and what brings me here today:
Instead of asking only what a property has, we can also ask:
What does this place make possible for the guest?
For me, the answer was simple:
A quiet beginning with my son in the middle of Antwerp.
Can that feeling grow too?
The plans for the new hotel include a larger hidden garden at its center. That feels promising to me because the idea of calm within the city is still there.
But I’ll note that a larger garden does not automatically create the same feeling.
The new hotel will have more than twice as many rooms. Its restaurant will welcome many more people, and the bar and shared spaces will bring additional energy into the property.
That could make the hotel more interesting and more connected to Antwerp, but it could also change its pace.
Will the garden still offer a quiet place to begin the morning?
Will hotel guests be able to step away from the activity when they want to?
Will the experience still feel personal with more rooms and more people moving through the property?
These may sound like small questions, but they are often what separates a hotel we simply enjoyed from one we remember.
Questions I ask myself before giving any hotel a booking consideration.
And what happens when a global collection enters the picture?
The hotel is not only getting bigger, it is also joining Curio Collection by Hilton.
That will give it access to Hilton’s reach, booking systems and loyal travelers. More people will find the property, and many may feel more confident booking it because they recognize the Hilton name.
That is valuable.
But it also brings another question:
Will people understand it as a particular hotel in Antwerp, or mainly as a Hilton hotel in Antwerp?
Curio Collection is meant to include individual hotels with their own character. So joining it does not have to mean losing what makes the property different.
