Need to know
Rooms
38, including eight suites.
Check–Out
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 4pm.
More details
Rates don’t include breakfast, but there's à la carte or an American-style buffet laid out in a vintage-style open kitchen for €35 per person (€15 for under-13s). Expect home-made bread, cold cuts, flaky pastries, cereals and fruit.
Also
Ghent didn’t take the idea of hosting the 1913 World Fair lightly. As well as building the grand post office (which took more than a decade), the city gave many of its historic areas a thorough facelift before the crowds arrived. The buildings along the Graslei went under the knife more than most, which is partly why they look so good today.
Please note
Between 19 and 28 July 2024, Belgium is host to the annual Gentse Feesten cultural festival, which has two central stages by the hotel. If you’re planning to stay during this week, but would rather visit when the city is a little calmer, the hotel is happy to modify or cancel bookings for free up to three days before arrival. Please note that if you are still planning on staying during the festival, the usual entrance at Graslei 16 will be closed and replaced with a temporary entrance at Korenmarkt 16.
At the hotel
Lounge, terrace, laundry and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen TV, minibar, Nespresso coffee machine, free bottled water and Le Labo bath products.
Our favourite rooms
For sheer old-world romance, it has to be the Tower Suite, which looks like it sprang from the page of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Split over two floors in the hotel’s octagonal tower, the suite has a white-marble bathroom with a double-headed shower on one level, and a king-size bedroom with antique wooden floorboards above. 360-degree views are the icing on this two-tiered cake.
Packing tips
Holster your favourite pen – you can’t help but feel inspired to recapture the pre-email era by dashing off a letter or two.
Also
All of the public areas are wheelchair accessible, as are the ground-floor rooms. The Envelope No. 1 is adapted for disabled guests, with wider door frames and rails in the bathroom.
Children
All ages are welcome. Cots are available on request, but numbers are very limited, so be sure to ask in advance.
Sustainability efforts
Room temperatures can be controlled by front office in order to conserve energy while guests are out, and keycards ensure minimal electricity is used. The hotel also has lighting sensors and LED bulbs, and minimises plastics.