Hotel Julien

A visionary, Mouche Van Hool opened one of Antwerp’s first boutique hotels in 2004. Her ambition was to create a small, intimate luxury hotel — “a place that feels like visiting good friends.” She named it Julien, after one of her sons. The hotel had to work within the constraints of two listed 16th-century buildings, while rethinking a somewhat tricky layout. Huge picture windows were installed around the courtyards, along with an even more surprising one facing a whitewashed brick wall. The present day met the past in the former reception rooms, with their fireplaces, ceilings and doors still bearing their original painted decoration. But as the years went by, what was contemporary 20 years ago inevitably became part of the past. The entire hotel, including its 20 rooms and suite, needed a refresh. In 2025, Mouche called on longtime acquaintance and interior designer Bea Mombaers, who works alongside Peter Ivens. Their tour de force? A renovation so respectful of the place’s character that you barely notice it. Things were pared back, of course. The lobby now feels like a sitting room, while the sitting room flows into the wine-red bar before opening onto an immaculate, pared-back space. Upstairs, no two rooms are alike, dictated as they are by the buildings’ individual layouts. The walls are hung with photographs, many of them from Gallery Fifty One. White dominates throughout, creating a sense of calm, punctuated by discreet touches of colour. On the third floor, beneath the eaves, Room 30 looks out over the treetop of the tree enclosed by the surrounding buildings. Fall asleep with the Velux windows open and the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves. Better than any sandman.