Top 10: the best hotels in Bruges city centre
An insider's guide to the best hotels in Bruges city centre, around the Markt square and Burg, and close to attractions including the Town Hall, Groeningemuseum and Beguinage.
Hotel Dukes' Palace Brugge
Bruges, Belgium
9Telegraph expert rating
This is the only five-star hotel in Bruges. You might think it almost too grand for the little city, but the relaxed, professional polish of staff, pampering attention to detail and central location, make this a special place to stay, and at prices that are often surprisingly affordable. The Dukes’ Palace is set in its own quiet enclave 300m to the west of the Markt, the square at the historic heart of Bruges. All the main sights – such as the Town Hall, the Groeningemuseum with its classic collection of Flemish Masters, the Beguinage – and the city’s most attractive shopping streets are within easy walking distance. Read expert review From £128per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Hotel Van Cleef
Bruges, Belgium
9Telegraph expert rating
There is no other place to stay in Bruges quite like this: a small luxury boutique hotel in a neoclassical mansion with large terrace overlooking a pretty stretch of canal. Family-owned and managed, and designed with exquisite attention to detail; at once gloriously palatial yet intimate. Hotel Van Cleef is on the edge of the Sint Anna district, the charming, quieter eastern quarter of Bruges; yet the Markt, Burg and all the key sights of the historic city centre are a mere five or so minutes’ walk away. Free guided tours of the city are offered during the week. Read expert review From £155per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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The Pand
Bruges, Belgium
8Telegraph expert rating
The Pand is a well-established boutique hotel of great comfort and charm, occupying a grand former town house. The property has been beautifully refurbished and stands in a quiet street close to everywhere you want to be in Bruges. In short, it is a wonderful place to stay. The intimate interior is redolent of the past, with a pine-panelled library/lounge featuring an open fire, antiques and curios, and old wooden floors – and an overall decor threaded with a comfortable, classic elegance. Read expert review From £129per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Hotel De Orangerie
Bruges, Belgium
8Telegraph expert rating
Romantic, sumptuous, historic; de Orangerie is one of a handful of small hotels in the heart of Bruges that established the city’s reputation for being not just a place to visit, but somewhere to stay and linger in pampered luxury. While tucked away in a quiet street, the hotel could hardly be more central – just a short walk from main historic squares and key attractions. Its large terrace at the back overlooks a famously picturesque stretch of canal called Den Dijver, and is the envy of the many tourists who pass in tour boats, and who throng the opposite bank. Read expert review From £114per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Hotel De Tuilerieen
Bruges, Belgium
8Telegraph expert rating
David Hockney, Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell, Brian May, the King and Queen of Belgium have all stayed here, as the photos in the entrance hall attest. Celebrity-glamour apart, this underlines the hotel’s four-star levels of comfort, and solid, professional standards of service. Overlooking the Dijver canal – one of Bruges’s prettiest – Hotel De Tuilerieen is a two-minute stroll from the Grote Markt and the Belfry, and just a few doors down from the Groeningemuseum – home to paintings by van Eyck, Provoost and a lone Magritte. Read expert review From £146per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Hotel Heritage
Bruges, Belgium
8Telegraph expert rating
A privately-owned four-star hotel with the rare distinction in Bruges of having its own restaurant. The Hotel Heritage is a member of the French-based Relais & Châteaux group, and has all the virtues this affiliation would suggest: luxury, history, quality of service, and good cooking. It's on Niklaas Desparsstraat, a relatively quiet street just to the north of the Markt, and all the main sights are within walking distance, such as the Town Hall, the prettiest stretches of canal, and the Groeningemuseum. The best shopping streets are also close at hand. Read expert review From £168per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Grand Hotel Casselbergh
Bruges, Belgium
8Telegraph expert rating
This four-star hotel is grand, and has a remarkable history, restored in palatial style. Guests can enjoy its considerable facilities and comforts, as well as its prime central location, often at very attractive prices. The Casselbergh is right beside the Burg, the prettiest of Bruges’ two main historic squares, containing the fairytale Town Hall and the Basilica of the Holy Blood. The fitness room, sauna and Turkish bath are in remarkable cellars dating back to the 14th century. Read expert review From £102per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Hotel Oud Huis de Peellaert
Bruges, Belgium
8Telegraph expert rating
This is like staying in a grand, aristocratic, 19th-century mansion in the very heart of historic Bruges. The hotel is part of the small but excellent Swan Hotel Collection, which ensures high standards of service as well as beautifully presented rooms. Think flattering elegance combined with four-star luxury. Oud Huis de Peellaert is on Hoogstraat, a moderately busy, cobbled street, but all the rooms overlooking it are double-glazed. In just 150m it leads straight into the Burg, and all other sights – the Belfry, museums, canals – are within easy walking distance. Read expert review From £94per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce
Bruges, Belgium
8Telegraph expert rating
The 'Cruyce' is the cross in the emblem of the Dukes of Burgundy, who made Bruges their capital in 1429 and became a byword for opulence – an apt reference for this luxury boutique hotel with just 16 rooms in the heart of historic Bruges. Behind the medieval façades are sumptuous but modern rooms, managed with refined professionalism. What’s more, it overlooks one of the most famous scenic viewpoints of Bruges, on a bend in the principal canal. Read expert review From £160per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Hotel Navarra
Bruges, Belgium
8Telegraph expert rating
Although one of Bruges’ larger hotels, there is a special, admirable quality about Hotel Navarra. Behind its grand, ambassadorial frontage is a well-run, family-owned, modern hotel, close to the centre – and, given its four-star comforts (plus jazz bar and a small swimming pool), it is attractively priced. A two-minute walk down Sint-Jakobsstraat leads straight into the Markt, and all the other sights and best shopping streets are within easy walking distance. The entrance to the hotel, and much of the accommodation, is set well back from the street. Read expert review From £86per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
