Luxembourg’s historic Hotel des Postes is undergoing a remarkable transformation from a former postal and telecommunications hub into a luxury hotel, blending heritage with modern hospitality.
In 1869, the Luxembourgish postal service, the Post, took over the then-military engineering arm of Luxembourg. The building's striking facade was designed by Sostène Weis, and the building became the centre of Luxembourg's telecommunications. This was the case until the building's interior and technical capacity at Hamilius were no longer sufficient. When the Post moved its headquarters, the idea of a so-called 'Hotel des Postes' was born.
Long gone are the times where people used the Hotel des Postes as a meeting point to head into town together. As are the days where commuters shivered at the different bus platforms in the mornings on their way to work or school. Today the old ground floor of the building has been demolished, but transforming such a technical building into a hotel is no small feat and it takes complicated and careful planning. However, the idea of a hotel was not always set in stone.
General director of the Post, Claude Strasser explained: "There were several other ideas for the new construction, from a museum to more administrative buildings. These ideas would also have been feasible. If we had made office spaces here, I'm sure there would have been someone who would have paid a fortune to have an office here. However, we felt that this is not necessarily in the spirit of the Post. It's not what we are trying to do here. The building never used to be accessible. The former headquarters of the Post was a building filled with technology and offices. People knew the iconic building in the middle of the city, but not truly from the inside. This is why opening it to the public seems to us to be the right solution."
This metamorphosis will hopefully not only serve the hotel guests. With the audacious claim of being the City's next "place to be", the hotel will include a restaurant with a courtyard, a bar on the roof terrace. The Hotel des Postes will be open to everyone.
"Two restaurants on the lower floors, a spa, wellness centre, a pool, a gym: All of these amenities will be accessible to the guests of the hotel", Maria-Elysa Galichon, in charge of the construction site of the hotel, explained. However, she hopes that these amenities will be made accessible to locals and non-guests too.
Until that can happen, we will have to wait. Despite some unexpected surprises during the construction works, the workers remain steadfast and hard at work. But what exactly was this building before it became the Post?
John Voncken an architect at the National Institute for Architectural Heritage (INPA) explained: "This was once the strategic hub of the fortress, housing Luxembourg’s military engineering unit. While civil engineering exists today, the site originally served a military purpose. The Post took over the buildings as early as 1869. It’s also worth mentioning that, in the beginning, the Post didn’t exclusively occupy this space – various ministries were housed here. The building was too large for the Post at first, but over time, it became too small for them. They expanded it, and eventually, they moved out entirely. The Hotel des Postes is now becoming the Hotel des Post. It’s truly a remarkable transformation."
A sample room already exists, of course, but for now, that door remains closed. However, they do reveal one thing: in the Hotel des Postes, the touches that remind us of what this place once was will remain. But, patience is a virtue and we will only see what's in store for the City, at the earliest, mid-2026.
