13 Grandiose Churches Reincarnated as Restaurants, Hotels, and More

It hardly gets more romantic than Worcestershire’s imposing Stanbrook Abbey, England’s newest country house hotel. Built in 1625 as a Gothic Revival-style abbey for Benedictine nuns, the 52-room manor retains its red-brick façade, bell tower, Harry Potter-esque great hall (afternoon tea is at 4 p.m.), and landscaped gardens. Alternatively, guests can channel their inner lord (or lady) at the separate five-bedroom Georgian manor house on the grounds.

This stunning 12th-century landmark in the heart of the Loire Valley has lived many lives, from monastery to prison to the burial ground for Richard the Lionheart and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Its latest iteration: a 54-room hotel from Parisian design duo Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku, who, careful not to disturb the historic ceilings and walls, incorporated raw materials like beechwood, linen, and blackened steel as well as a simplistic aesthetic into custom-created furniture in order to recall the former abbey’s monastic legacy.

There’s nothing clinical about this military hospital chapel, now a hip, high-concept restaurant courtesy of Dutch design firm Piet Boon. Details of its minimalist-meets-rock-and-roll theme—mosaic floors, tattoo-printed steel surfaces, a giant neon skull, a show-stopping chandelier by lighting designers PSLAB—are rivaled only by the small bites (jellied oyster ceviche, pumpkin falafel) prepared by Michelin-starred chef Sergio Herman.

Former Notting Hill restaurateur Catherine Butler and her architect husband have brought new life to this 17th-century congregational chapel, converting the space into a country bolthole and community gathering space, complete with an on-site artisan bakery, double-height restaurant, wine shop, and hotel whose eight sophisticated rooms overlook the neighborhood’s rust-red Saxony rooftops.

The revamped 19th-century chapel turned hotel, in the fast-growing port town of Nantes at the mouth of the Loire River, is a true feat of design. The big idea? Construct a hotel that can be disassembled without damaging the original structure. The result: 28 rooms that retain the building’s original exposed vaulting and stained-glass windows with the addition of all the essential modern amenities (iPod docks, mini-bars).

One of the most beautiful cities in Holland might also have claim to one of the country’s most beautiful hotels. A 15th-century Crutched Friar monastery and the connecting Gothic church were given a contemporary refresh, with statement chandeliers, muralled walls, a glass wine cellar, and a new-build mezzanine, where guests can enjoy a light lunch accompanied by views of the city through chancel windows.

Escape the city life for Mechelen, a charmingly picturesque Flemish town just a 20-minute drive from Brussels, and take sanctuary at this neo-Gothic Franciscan church turned hotel. Vaulted ceilings, stained glass rose windows, arched alcoves, stone pillars—the space has it all. Guests take continental breakfast within the choir room and its looming 19th-century original altarpiece. Room to book: the Best of Home suite, in the church’s top dome.

Diners can’t help but look up inside Restaurant Grace, which occupies an 1856 Gothic Revival former Methodist church in the heart of downtown. What was saved: the structure’s 27 original stained glass windows, exposed beams, organ, and meticulously restored woodwork. What was added: a central bar beneath a triquetra chandelier, where bartenders mix playfully titled cocktails like Redemption and Holier Than Thou.

The tranquil wine estate along the Duero River is reopening its 1145 Romanesque-Baroque abbey-turned-Relais & Chateau property with additional rooms and suites in the former stable, connecting to a new spa. The other 21 contemporary rooms occupy the ancient monks hall, overlooking verdant vineyards. Don’t miss star chef Pablo Montero’s innovative Spanish cuisine at Michelin-starred restaurant Refectorio, in the former refectory. Another bonus: bikes are on loan for spins along the riverbanks.

You’d never know this lofty see-and-be-seen restaurant and bar was once an abandoned garrison church within a former British Army camp. Today, well-heeled lunchers and young socialites gather in the sunlit dining room, punctured by expansive Romanesque arched windows, for elevated European comfort dishes including truffled macaroni and cheese, forest mushroom ravioli, and lobster bisque.

A crumbling Portuguese Catholic church in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of El Jadida was converted into the town’s first boutique hotel. Rooms are modernized, with mid-century furniture and Arabian flourishes like Moorish archways, elaborate bedframes, and beaded chandeliers. The former nave, now the lobby lounge and bar, is a favorite meeting place.

Beer is like a religion for the staff at Church Brew Works brewpub, who pour aptly named drafts like Pipe Organ Pale Ale and Pious Monk Dunkel from inside a repurposed 1878 Roman Catholic church. Guests belly up to tables between still-standing pews and dig in to hearty bar snacks like pierogies and beer-battered corn dogs.

Belgium’s hottest nightclub injected a heavy dose of glamour into the airy confines of its old Anglican church locale: velouté settes, gold-gilded Corinthian columns, ornate Murano glass chandeliers. Revelers can dance their hearts away on the former sanctuary floor, then head to one of the three bars for strong martinis or flutes of champagne.

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