Pairi Daiza After Hours

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At Pairi Daiza Resort, the first surprise often comes after guests enter their room. Beyond the window, a polar bear may slip into the water, a tiger may cross its territory, or a walrus may turn toward the glass with unexpected curiosity. Nothing is scheduled, and no encounter is guaranteed. That uncertainty is part of what makes the experience so memorable.

“The animal is not appearing for a scheduled performance. It is simply living in its own environment,” says Johan Vreys, spokesperson for Pairi Daiza. “It reminds us that we are guests in its world, not the other way around.”

Vreys helps tell the story of a place where nature, architecture, heritage and hospitality are brought together by a shared commitment to the living world.

Pairi Daiza occupies the former site of the Cistercian Abbey of Cambron, founded in 1148. Across the 80-hectare estate, historic buildings, gardens, animals, minerals and cultural artifacts form a series of distinct environments known as Worlds. The scale is impressive, but the larger purpose is emotional. Pairi Daiza wants visitors to feel close enough to nature to care about protecting it.

That idea eventually led the park to become an overnight destination. Founder Eric Domb believed that travel changes after dinner, when the sun begins to set and the pace of the day slows. Rather than adding a conventional hotel beside the park, Pairi Daiza created accommodations that allow guests to remain immersed in its different environments.

“By staying overnight, guests can slow down,” Vreys explains. “They have time to observe, listen and become more attentive to the environment around them.” A daytime visitor may watch an animal for a few minutes. An overnight guest can spend an evening noticing its behavior, look through the window during the night or see the habitat gradually awaken in the morning.

Pairi Daiza also feels different once most visitors have left. Sounds that disappear during the day become easier to notice, from water moving through a habitat to an animal stirring at dusk. Resort guests can explore designated areas beyond the park’s regular hours and enter the wider park at 9:00 a.m., one hour before day visitors arrive.

“Those moments, walking through part of the park almost alone or quietly watching an animal before breakfast, often become the memories guests value most,” Vreys says. Building that kind of experience requires more than placing rooms near an animal habitat. Zoological teams first determine what each species needs in terms of space, climate, water, vegetation, privacy and opportunities for natural behavior. Architects, landscape designers, craftspeople and hospitality teams then develop the guest experience around those requirements.

The rooms are designed to feel connected to the World outside them. Materials, colors, objects and sightlines are chosen to reinforce the surrounding environment without turning it into a decorative theme.

“The result should never feel like a themed hotel placed beside an animal habitat,” Vreys says. “It should feel as though the accommodation has grown organically from the World surrounding it.”

The animals’ well-being remains the priority. Habitats include places where they can withdraw from view, and their routines are set by zoological teams rather than the resort’s schedule. Guests may spend hours watching an animal swim, rest or play. They may also wait and see nothing at all.

Pairi Daiza does not treat that possibility as a shortcoming. It is an honest reminder that the animals are not there to perform and that their proximity is a privilege rather than a promise.

This approach is especially visible in Edenya, Pairi Daiza’s new tropical World. Spread across more than four hectares beneath an immense glass structure, it brings together dense vegetation, waterways, rock formations and habitats for jaguars, manatees, sharks, otters, capybaras and squirrel monkeys. The addition of 88 accommodations inside Edenya brings the resort’s total to 209.

The rooms offer very different experiences. Some open onto tropical forest and animal territories, while others place guests below the waterline. The setting may feel theatrical, but much of its design is highly practical. Temperature zones, misting, natural ventilation and water and air circulation systems were planned around the biological and climatic needs of the animals.

“The animals were not added to a decorative setting,” Vreys says. “The ecosystem was created around their needs.”

Choosing where to stay can be difficult. Pairi Daiza now offers more than 20 accommodation options, and Vreys suggests beginning with the kind of encounter that feels most meaningful. One guest may dream of watching walruses, sharks or manatees underwater. Another may prefer a terrace overlooking wolves or the movement of squirrel monkeys through the trees.

Families with younger children often gravitate toward the Farmhouse Lodges, where the experience is particularly interactive. Couples may prefer the calmer atmosphere of The Paddling Bear Hotel. Repeat guests frequently return to try a completely different perspective.

“There is no single ‘best’ accommodation,” Vreys says. “The most meaningful accommodation is ultimately the one in which a guest feels a genuine personal connection.”

That personal connection is also where the resort experience meets Pairi Daiza’s conservation work. An animal encountered briefly can remain a distant symbol of its species. After several hours, it becomes easier to notice an individual presence with its own habits, movements and responses to the world around it.

Pairi Daiza cares for numerous species classified as Critically Endangered. Through the Pairi Daiza Foundation, it also supports conservation programs, field projects and a rescue center that cares for endangered turtles. The goal is to connect the emotion of a close encounter with a clearer understanding of what is at risk.

“We protect only what we know and love,” Vreys says.

Guests will, of course, remember the photograph of a tiger beyond the window or the sight of a manatee passing their room. Pairi Daiza hopes something less visible remains with them too. Perhaps they pay closer attention to nature, speak to their children about protecting it or find their own way to support conservation.

“The greatest success is not simply that guests say, ‘I slept beside a Siberian tiger,’” Vreys says. “It is that they leave caring more deeply about whether Siberian tigers and their habitats have a future.”

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Photo: Courtesy of Pairi Daiza

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Behind the Stay is an editorial series by The Curated Itinerary exploring the people whose leadership shapes some of the world's most memorable hotels. Through conversations with general managers, founders, and hospitality leaders, the series looks beyond the rooms and into the philosophies, decisions, and people that define exceptional stays.