When I planned to visit Namur, I knew I definitely had to stay in Hotel Les Tanneurs. Its the most historic hotel in the whole of the city. Today its a combination of a historic hotel, contemporary hotel, a gastronomic restaurant, a grill restaurant and a roof-top bar.
To begin with, the first thing you need to see in this hotel would be the floor of the gastronomic restaurant. That would give you an idea of how old it is actually!!!!
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The actual origins of this is unknown. All we know is that its original foundations are older than 14th C CE!!!! That's perhaps the oldest 'hotel' building I've stayed in (the next would be Ghent River Hotel - the very unique 16th C house converted to hotel)! Its been mentioned by Theophile la Paien (1314-1377 CE) that here was the guardrooms of the fortifications. By 17th C CE this was the street with the tanneries and the old guardrooms were used by pr*stitutes to do their 'business'!.Around 1650 CE, these were burnt and its believed that it was by Celestine Nuns who wanted to put an end to the 'business'. Unfortunately what they didn't realize was that the fire could destruct more than just the guardrooms!!!! Almost all homes, which were built of wood, were all burnt down!
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Anyways, even after this unfortunate event, the streetwalkers continued their services till.......... 1990!!!!!! That's almost 3 centuries........... The ruins of the fortifications was bought by the gardener of the nuns and soon houses of the Quartier des Tanneurs was built there in 1670-1716. Today, 15 of these houses have been combined together to form this fantastic 4 star hotel with a rather fascinating history!!!!
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This main historic wing of the hotel has 31 rooms and the hotel has a brand new, contemporary building, just beside with 4 rooms in it. This contemporary wing is perfect for elderly persons esp., with bad knees (I'll tell the reason soon), wheel-chair bound persons and those who need a kitchenette in room. The terrace of this building has a rooftop bar.
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Like most other historic hotels, each room is completely different from one another. Since the original architecture & layout of the old houses have been maintained, the hotel set-up is rather........ quirky! Each floor is not in the same level! Some rooms are in one floor while some are in duplex! The prices are a range, different for each & every room with no slabs or categories! You can book a particular room itself online!
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Here's the unbelievable thing - 8 rooms are equipped with sauna - inside the room. This is perhaps the most pampering thing I've ever experienced in a city hotel. While jacuzzi is common in many city hotels, I've never been to a city hotel with a private sauna within the room!!!!!! This is something expected only in resorts in far-away places, not in the city-centre!!!!!!!
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We had a look at a few rooms that were not occupied when we visited. Here are some that stood out. One was room 303. It has a quirky set-up which seemed like a bad idea in the first instance, but then its a rather excellent idea! The jacuzzi is at the foot of the bed - open jacuzzi, without a separate 'room'! While water spillage was the first thing that crossed my mind, when I further thought about it - 'I could rest in the bed and watch TV or sit in the jacuzzi with a glass of sparkling wine in hand and watch TV'!!!! Well......
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Another room is room 307. This is one of the rooms with a sauna! This also had a jacuzzi that's large enough to fit 2 adults and a kid!!!! All this in the privacy & comfort of your own room is something that was totally unexpected in a city hotel! There is a separate storage rack as well. This is a duplex as well with toilet, jacuzzi and sauna in mezzanine floor. This is the reason why I mentioned earlier that some rooms may not be suitable for senior citizens, esp., with bad knees. If one needs to use the toilet in the middle of the night, they have to climb a flight of stairs. With its sauna and jacuzzi and duplex style, I'd say this is the perfect honeymoon room.
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Being true to the original architecture has some disadvantages though. For eg., both this room & room 303 were a duplex with the jacuzzi in the mezzanine floor, which unfortunately has no railing for a certain part. This room may not be suitable for families with toddlers who might hurt themselves trying to climb or jump!
The next room we saw was room 318, This is also one of the rooms with a sauna. Its original woodwork ceiling is interesting. The bathroom with small jacuzzi and sauna were a short flight of stairs below. This was safer without the above mentioned issues in 303 or 307.
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The hotel has quite a few parking lots and meeting rooms as well, esp the ones in the attic and cellar are quite unusual!!! The cellar meeting room is called Kurbali (closed in summers) and is a part of the original fortification.
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The hotel provides a buffet breakfast, which is, like most other European hotels, is only ok for vegetarians/vegans. It has a wide variety of meat & cheese slices, breads, cereals etc. I'd love it if they could add some mashed potatoes, hash browns, salad etc to make it more healthy and tasty for us instead of us filling up on breads! They did have some fruit salads with cream cheese and which was fantastic!
P.S: I was invited by Wallonia Tourism to experience the city for review purposes, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.
The next room we saw was room 318, This is also one of the rooms with a sauna. Its original woodwork ceiling is interesting. The bathroom with small jacuzzi and sauna were a short flight of stairs below. This was safer without the above mentioned issues in 303 or 307.
Pic Courtesy: Hotel Les Tanneurs, Namur
To Get There:
On Google Maps: Hotel Les Tanneurs
Nearest Railway Station: Namur
From Namur: 0.7km (9 mins walk)
To Book online: Hotel Les Tanneurs
Room rates begin at €70 (for double room)
Breakfast: €13
Breakfast: €13
Hotel Ph no: +32(0)81 240024
My complete Namur Travelogue: coming up soon...
P.S: I was invited by Wallonia Tourism to experience the city for review purposes, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.