Boutique hotels in Belgium

Belgium is a country of detail: guildhall facades, Art Nouveau townhouses, medieval beguinages, brasseries and chocolate shops. Its boutique hotels often live in buildings with a story, whether a convent, a bank, a post office or a baron's mansion, and many have a good restaurant or a bar serving the country's remarkable beers.

The Flemish art cities

Bruges is the classic, with canal-side hotels in medieval houses. Ghent is livelier and younger, with mansions in the Patershol and the Millionaires' Quarter. Antwerp mixes fashion, diamonds and a baroque old town; Mechelen and Leuven are smaller, quieter cities with converted churches and convents. Damme and Ypres are gentle, history-rich retreats.

Brussels and Wallonia

Brussels has a handful of design hotels around the Grand Place and the Louise district. Wallonia's Namur, Dinant, Liège, Tournai and Mons are less visited and better value, while Durbuy, Bouillon, La Roche and Spa offer forests, castles and spa towns in the Ardennes.

The coast

Knokke-Heist, De Haan and Ostend line the North Sea with Belle Époque villas and long beaches, best from May to September.

When to go

Spring and autumn are ideal for city breaks; December is atmospheric for Christmas markets. Book Bruges weekends well ahead.