The best budget hotels in Bruges, from historic houses to modern apartments
The international budget hotels are represented in Bruges – but why go to a city as special as this and stay in a room that could be anywhere in the world? The budget hotels listed here fit the bill because their prices are are attractive, but they also have character and a personal touch. Some are medium-size, modern hotels; others are historic buildings, with many original features. For an affordable stay in Belgium's city on water, here's our pick of the best budget hotels in Bruges.
This medium-sized, four-star on Wijngaardstraat, a small and picturesque cobbled street in the southern part of the historic centre, is very well located, close to the main sights and within easy walking distance of the railway station. Many of the 90 rooms are decorated in grey, rose pink and mauve, with dark wood fittings, but the hotel undertakes a regular schedule of refurbishments and some of the newer rooms have a more palatial, boutique-style air. There's no restaurant but a vast breakfast buffet is offered.
Flanders Hotel is the sort of hotel that is happy to keep a guests’ comments book in the lobby, so confident is it that the comments will be favourable. Despite its historic roots, the hotel is primarily modern, decorated in stylish black, grey-browns, creams and white, softened by limed wood panels and wooden flooring, and simple upholstered chairs. There are two gardens, one small with a pool (a rarity in Bruges), and another larger formal garden. While it doesn’t have a restaurant (breakfast is offered), there are plenty of places to eat in the area.
Hotel Fevery occupies part of the former Hotel Bariseele, built here in 1920. The décor of the public rooms still echoes that past, with antique clocks, wooden speculoos (biscuit) moulds, a lace-maker’s chair – like a traditional Belgian home. The 10 rooms are simple, functional and attractive. There's a lounge where free tea and coffee is available, and where beer and wine is also served. It is an excellent base from which to explore Bruges’ rewarding but less well-known attractions, such as the museum and Baroque church of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Potterie.
Freren Fonteinstraat is a quiet street close to the centre, just south of the pretty Groenerei canal, and a short walk to the Burg, the historic square at the heart of old Bruges. The main house was built in 1634 and retains its step-gabled, red-brick frontage, with features including exposed beams, and antique furniture. A second building, sharing a large courtyard garden, is more modern, with Art Deco touches. Some rooms have exposed beams, others have painted wall panels; many have chandeliers and objets d’art.
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This listed 17th-century building is named after the extraordinary late-Renaissance polymath Anselmus De Boodt – naturalist, mineralogist, doctor, musician – who once lived here. Its listed status means it has a certain wonky charm to it, echoed by its semi-antique appearance in parts of the interior. The owners and staff are helpful and friendly, and keen to make sure your stay is as comfortable as possible – as such it has the feel of a guesthouse. One particular asset is the beautiful little courtyard garden, with adjacent conservatory and breakfast room.
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Nathalie Standaert has been in charge of this hotel for over 20 years, and the personal welcome, attention to detail and tidy presentation of the rooms is very much the product of her dedicated approach. The building dates to 1650, and has a historic feel, with is pretty, step-gabled fa?ades, exposed beams, tapestries and stone fireplace, but all has been tidily and stylishly renovated, mixing the old with the new. A buffet breakfast is served in a room with a large open log fire in winter. An agreeable walk along cobbled streets, beside some of the prettiest canals, brings you to the historic centre of Bruges.
The main building is the grand 19th-century former home of a mayor of Bruges, refurbished to create this four-star hotel. Most rooms are decorated in a simple and pared-back style, with a grey and beige colour scheme. The restaurant, Den Heerd, is something to shout about, serving Belgian and European cuisine such as gravadlax with asparagus sorbet, sprinkled with tiny herbal salad leaves. The copious buffet breakfast places special emphasis on high-quality Belgian fare – and a chocolate fountain.
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The building’s history as a maison de ma?tre (grand townhouse) is evident from the high-ceilinged rooms on the ground floor, and the courtyard garden with its view onto an old, step-gabled coach house (with the medieval tower of the Lords of Gistel just beyond). The bedrooms, however, are utterly modern. The Markt – the square at the heart of historic Bruges, with its landmark Belfry – lies just a couple of minutes’ walk to the south, and all the main sights and the best shopping streets are similarly within easy walking distance.
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Bonobo is in a small, relatively quiet cobbled street almost under the spire of the Sint-Salvatorskathedraal, and you can reach the Markt (the heart of historic Bruges) in about five minutes. The décor is essentially functional without being Spartan, but what sets Bonobo apart is the warm and genuine hospitality of the owner-managers Magda and Hans. For self-catering, there are supermarkets and excellent bakeries and delicatessens close by in Bruges’ main shopping street, Steenstraat. Good restaurants to suit all budgets, plus bars and cafés, are also in rich supply.
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The name Aragon refers back to Burgundian times, when Bruges was part of the Spanish Netherlands (1579–1713), but this soberly neoclassical mansion has been thoroughly refurbished and modernised. The result strikes a balance between the efficient and the comfortable, with easy-on-the-eyes fawns and browns and pastel shades, painted and limed wood finishes and tidy upholstered furniture. Four-star rated and immaculately presented, it offers good value for money. It also has apartments, which can be an attractive option for families.
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A building has stood on this site at least since 1470: once an inn, it became a patrician’s house in the 16th century, and was converted into a hotel in the 1980s – and it retains something of all these eras. Recent renovations have given the rooms a tidy, classical elegance in pastel greys, pinks and faun. Antique furniture, exposed beams and lead-lattice windows in a medieval cellar all testify to the building’s age, but it's also a comfy, easy-going place. And very good value for money.
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Guests might be dismayed by the hotel’s location away from Bruges’ clumsy grid of curious medieval streets, but the Boeveriestraat, on which the NH sits at the head, is equally charming, with a cobbled surface and lined by cute 17th-century houses. The building itself is a former monastery, now classified, and its interior conveys a sense of history, even if it is a little tired. The hotel boasts a large terrace and garden with outdoor seating as well as a bar and restaurant.
Contributions by Hugh Morris