Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp: Best Hotel Concept

Independent Hotel Show
Awards 2023

Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp Wins
Best Hotel Concept of The Year!

The Independent Hotel Show Awards, presented on 14 March 2023 in Amsterdam, set the benchmark for luxury and boutique hotels. Winning the Best Hotel Concept of the Year represents a triumphant success for Antwerp’s first 5-star superior Leading Hotel of the World. The award-winning concept for the Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp encompasses the revitalisation of a 15th-century monastery complex with outstanding experiences for gourmets, spa aficionados, culture and design lovers, business travellers and shopping enthusiasts. Largely shaped by the hotel’s Managing Director Marc Alofs and the marketing deluxe agency, this destination development and revival project is extraordinary in scope, quality and luxury.

The Best Hotel Concept award recognises a unique, innovative concept in an independently spirited hotel destination that contributes to better service quality and an enhanced customer experience. It offers recognition for the kind of hospitality that pushes the boundaries of what a luxury hotel should be with innovation and creativity.

The Jury’s Verdict
Botanic Sanctuary has definitively put Antwerp on the map as a luxury hotel city and as a culinary destination. The combination of eye-catching design and an overwhelming amount of brilliant catering concepts make this an obvious winner. Despite all the different facilities and the enormous surface area, the hotel exudes a lot of warmth and there is a lot of attention for the guests. The entire site has a wonderful tranquillity that is in stark contrast to the bustle of the old city centre. It is a wonderful example of the reuse of monumental buildings, with respect for the past and an eye for the present. When you check in here, you only want one thing: never to leave.

Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp - Best Hotel Award Winner 2023 - Award
Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp - Best Hotel Award Winner 2023 - Team
Luxury Branding Agency - Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp - Online Marketing
Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp - Best Hotel Award Winner 2023 - Award Show 1
Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp - Best Hotel Award Winner 2023 - Award Show
The Independent Hotel Show

The Independent Hotel Show was founded in London in 2012. The Independent Hotel Awards recognise the passion of independently spirited hoteliers, hotels and suppliers who drive the hospitality sector forward. Since 2019, the Independent Hotel Show has also been held in Amsterdam. As part of the third show with around 200 exhibitors on 14 and 15 March 2023, the Independent Hotel Awards were presented for the first time in Amsterdam, in addition to London and Miami.

We are very proud to bring this international award, presented in Amsterdam, London and Miami, to Antwerp. The result of an almost 4-year team effort from project development to current operation, this award is dedicated to the whole team, who makes an immeasurable daily effort to provide our guests with the utmost care in terms of hospitality and gastronomy. Sincere thanks are also due to the owners for their huge investment and trust in the team!

Managing Director, Marc Alofs

Luxury Branding Agency - Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp - Communication
Luxury Branding Agency - Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp - Communication
Our Role in the Botanic’s Success

As a leading luxury branding agency, developing distinguishable brands built on a foundation of trust and exclusivity is at the core of marketing deluxe’s expertise. A tailored approach to each of our clients means paying close attention to them as we devise strategy, develop a project, market the product, deliver high-quality and niche content, shape the digital landscape and create an engaging print world. This is what we did, and continue to do, for the Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp.

Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp - Best Hotel Award Winner 2023 - Hotel
Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp - Best Hotel Award Winner 2023 - Reception
Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp - Best Hotel Award Winner 2023 - Restaurant

The Hotel Concept: Pure Luxury

A 15th-century listed monastery in the heart of the Botanical Garden was transformed into a unique restoration project which culminated in the extraordinary 5-star superior Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp. New standards were set with the mission to completely redefine luxury as an experience of nature, space and true privacy. It was important to preserve the heritage of the historic site as well as the legacy of Antwerp’s famous botanist and pharmacist Peeter van Coudenberghe, considered the Botanical Garden’s founder. In his pharmacy, herbs from the monastery garden were processed to make medicines. The knowledge of nature’s healing powers that he shared with the monks of old is brought back to life throughout the hotel, and especially in the Botanic Health Spa.

Spa Specialists

Our input was pivotal to the spa’s concept. As health and spa specialists we recognised the value of this setting, and identified Traditional European Medicine (TEM) – which is based on medieval monastic medicine – as a USP that was highly relevant and simply begging to be exploited. We are acutely aware of the increasing importance of modern herbal medicine that takes both a scientific and a holistic approach and this too helped form our vision of the spa.

The longing for the healing effects of nature and the need for holistic solutions are increasing in our stressful times.

Claudia Reichenberger

marketing deluxe’s Managing Director Claudia Reichenberger was the spa consulting expert in charge of the strategic development and positioning of the Botanic Health Spa. She explains: ‘Here, in this special place, it was mission and vision at the same time to take up the tradition of monastic and natural healing and to carry it into this millennium with a holistic concept.’ Her approach is reflected in the treatment concept as well as in the infrastructure.

Furthermore, highly effective cosmeceuticals, certified natural cosmetics and monastic medicine have also found a new home in the lavishly restored historic pharmacy of the Botanic, which was brought to new life and now shines as the Botanic’s pharmacy store by Saint Charles.

Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp - Best Hotel Award Winner 2023 - SPA - MylifeChanger
A TEAMD Success

Success doesn’t happen overnight – it needs a great TEAMD: multi-talented, multilingual and multicultural. It comes from tried and tested methods and expertise, starting with good strategies and specialised concepts, with comprehensive brand support, and both written and visual brand communication.

Claudia Reichenberger

Marketing deluxe provides valuable perspectives on positioning and marketing luxury brands. For the Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp we began with the question: how do we make this extraordinary project truly unforgettable? This award confirms our talent for creating outstanding hotel concepts. Most of all, it recognises the Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp as the wonderful, special and extraordinary destination it is. Our congratulations go to everyone who helps steer this amazing hotel – here’s to your future!

Photocredit: ©marketing deluxe, Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp, Michael Huber Photography, Hugo Thomassen, Pieter D’Hoop, Rafael Barak