At the southernmost tip of the Netherlands, Maastricht does a neat job of recycling its surplus venerable religious structures; witness the chapel that's now a city-centre bookshop, the abbey turned old folks' home and - drum roll, please - the 15th-century monastery and church that was given a spectacular flip to become Kruisherenhotel. Opened in 2005, its amalgam of surreal luxury - think non-belligerent Game of Thrones diced with an upmarket travel show - is never short of entertaining. The hotel occupies its own secluded square but is in walking or cycling distance of the city centre.
A copper tunnel forms the entrance, which leads to what was once the nave. This substantial space has been divided horizontally, with the lobby, bar, library and lounge areas sited beneath the restaurant and meeting rooms, which are perched on a mezzanine floor. The interiors feature designs by Le Corbusier and Philippe Starck, and are illuminated by the light installations of German artist Ingo Maurer. The bulk of the accommodation is set around a courtyard (below), within which guests can relax. The overall effect is one of exuberance and there's a tremendous frisson in stepping out of a 21st-century all-glass lift onto stone slabs that have been trodden for half a millennium.
Slotting 60 up-to-date rooms and suites into a centuries-old shell would have been no easy task, so it's no surprise that each has a unique layout, though the general theme is one of bold colours, unobtrusive technology and outsized sepia pictures of neighbouring Belgium in days gone by. Most of the rooms are in the former cloisters with 10 housed in the former gatekeeper's lodge and an adjacent new building. The finely judged contrast between ancient and modern is both comforting and thoroughly exciting.
Kruisherenrestaurant (top) is the hotel's only formal dining area. The menu's solidly European - strong on meat, fish, Dutch cheese and desserts. The ornately decorated ceiling - several metres above patrons' heads - and intricate wall paintings ensure that this is a dining destination garnished with panache. Immediately below, the former chancel houses Rouge & Blanc, a bar flanked by a "wall" of wine bottles that acts as the cellar.
