How a cult Parisian food concept helped turn a hotel into a cultural destination
The hospitality industry is increasingly under pressure. Hotels can no longer rely on room bookings alone. Restaurants, bars and cultural programming have become critical drivers of relevance, footfall and revenue.
For The Standard Brussels, success depended on becoming more than a place to stay. The hotel needed to attract locals as much as travellers and establish itself as a destination in its own right.
That wasn’t easy. Located in Brussels North, away from the city’s established cultural hotspots, The Standard couldn’t depend on passing traffic or existing creative communities.
People needed a reason to come.
The question was simple: how do you turn a hotel into the place where culture happens, not just where people sleep?
Today’s travellers don’t just visit cities. They want to experience them from the inside, through the people, communities and experiences that shape a city’s identity. At the same time, locals are increasingly drawn to places that bring different communities together. The strongest destinations are no longer defined by what they offer, but by who and what they bring together.
Founded in Paris, Paperboy started as a New York-style sandwich shop but quickly evolved into something much bigger. Through food, fashion and movement, it built a loyal creative community that extends far beyond its restaurant walls.
That made Paperboy the ideal partner for The Standard.
If The Standard wanted to become a place people actively sought out, it needed more than a collaboration. It needed a community. One that could bring together locals, international visitors and creative tastemakers around shared experiences rather than traditional hospitality.
Together, The Standard and Paperboy brought the Paperboy universe to Brussels. Not simply through food, but through the people, culture and rituals that surround the brand. By transforming the hotel into a temporary meeting point for creative communities, the collaboration turned The Standard into a place where connections were made, cultures collided and new experiences emerged.
Rather than promoting the hotel as a destination, the collaboration gave people a reason to make it one.
The collaboration centred around a three-week takeover of Double Standard Café, The Standard Brussels’ all-day restaurant and bar. Paperboy brought its signature stacked sandwiches to Brussels for the first time, complemented by an exclusive co-branded merchandise collection.
The launch weekend brought the takeover to life. On Friday evening, a curated guest list of local tastemakers, media, creators and international guests gathered at The Standard to experience the collaboration firsthand. Throughout the weekend, invited international creatives stayed at the hotel and explored both Brussels and the cultural experiences surrounding the takeover, creating authentic content and extending the story beyond the event itself.
On Sunday, the collaboration moved into the city through a community run organised with Brussels running collective Cadence. The run connected local communities with international visitors while showcasing the newly launched merchandise in its natural environment: on the streets, among the people and within the culture that inspired it.
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