Travellers' Checks | Firm whose Cambodian resort Angelina Jolie raved about opens boutique hotel in Belgium

The Hollywood A-lister called Phum Baitang, where she stayed for three months in 2016, best she has seen, according to owner of Zannier Hotels, whose new property in Ghent is a Neo-Gothic gem

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Adam Nebbs

Published: 12:15pm, 7 Sep 2017Updated: 12:13pm, 20 Oct 2017

Angelina Jolie and her family lived for a few months just outside Siem Reap, at Zannier Hotels’ Phum Baitang resort, while she was in Cambodia directing First They Killed My Father (which comes to Netflix on September 15). She’s been quoted – by French owner Arnaud Zannier – as saying that it’s “the best hotel she has seen in the world”, and online reviews offer similar, if not quite as superlative, praise.

The 45-villa resort opened two years ago (Jolie moved in soon after) and a new Vietnam resort, which will have a 900-metre private beach somewhere in Phu Yen province, north of Nha Trang, is also anticipated. The Zannier Hotels website says it’s “opening soon”, but I’ve just been reliably informed that it probably won’t happen before late 2019.

Angelina Jolie talks about her movie First They Killed My Father in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where she stayed at Zannier Hotels’ Phum Baitang resort during its filming. Picture: AP

Zannier has, however, just added to its tiny portfolio an interesting boutique hotel in the Belgian city of Ghent, which will be much easier to reach from Hong Kong once Cathay Pacific begins its new four-times-weekly Brussels service in March. Called 1898 The Post, it occupies the upper floors of what was, until 2001, the central post office.

Designed in the late 19th century, the striking Neo-Gothic building was opened in 1909 and was an architectural centrepiece of the 1913 World’s Fair. Room categories such as The Stamp, The Postcard, The Envelope and The Letter get progressively larger, and there are several types of suite, including one that occupies part of the building’s octagonal tower, and gives 360-degree views over the historic city. Rates start from €150 (US$180) per night. Visit 1898thepost.com to find out more.