The hotel is owned by Sabena, the former national airline of Belgium, and was constructed over a period of 27 years. Composed of three ailes, the first was build in 1937 and the last in 1964. It was named after the famous belgian painter Hans Memling. Sabena opened the hotel to offer its clients the possibility to stay in the hotel when flying their airline to Kinshasa.

Since the opening the hotel has gone through several renovation phases of which the first started already in 1985. The last phase started in 2002 and will be finalized in 2009 to ensure that the hotel meets the demands of the modern business traveller.