Credit: Orpea

Luxembourg's Ministry of Family Affairs, Integration and the Greater Region has given French group Orpea the green light to open its new "Récital" mixed-use senior housing development in Luxembourg-Merl.

According to Orpea, the residence will open its doors "soon", after the final administrative procedures. "Récital" will take the form of a mixed-use residence made up of a 123-bed nursing home, or an "integrated centre for the elderly" (Centre intégré pour personnes âgées - CIPA), and an assisted living facility with 23 apartments. The residence will be run by Stéphanie Rondoz, Director of the establishment, and her team of nurses, caregivers and cooks, among others. 

The theme of this residence is music, which has inspired the decor, the names of the common rooms and the activities offered.

According to Orpea, the nursing home part of the residence will include a "gourmet" restaurant led by award-winning chef Gérald Vanhove, a floor dedicated to residents with Alzheimer's disease and another floor reserved for highly dependent people, several balneotherapy areas, modern physiotherapy rooms, relaxation and sensory areas, a piano bar and a hair and beauty salon.

The assisted living facility is designed, according to Orpea, to allow able-bodied and independent people (alone or as a couple) to live securely in independent accommodation with their own furniture. Each of the 23 apartments features an equipped kitchen and an adapted shower room. The apartments are flexible according to the needs of each occupant. In addition to meeting spaces, there is a balneotherapy area, a wellness area with a swimming pool and a restaurant.

The French group had been planning to open such a residence in Merl for several months but Luxembourg Members of Parliament (MPs) expressed concern earlier this year over allegations of abuse in its care homes in France. In summer 2022, Corinne Cahen, Luxembourg's Minister for Family Affairs, Integration and the Greater Region, confirmed that she had requested additional information from Orpea.

The ministry has since granted Orpea provisional approval to open the Récital residence, although no date has been confirmed yet for the opening.