10 Best Hotels in Bruges and the Coast, Belgium

What was once an Eastern European trade center makes for a handsome, 15th-century landmark building, with its Flemish Renaissance Revival--style facade. Try and grab a room overlooking the Goudenhand Canal, so named because legend has it that a golden hand was once found in its waters. Outside, the brick walls are lined with paned windows and flower boxes; inside, new ownership has seen sweeping refurbishments. Guest rooms are simple yet comfortable, and the public rooms include small sitting areas and a beamed, slate-floor breakfast salon.

This 15th-century mansion is the epitome of Brugian elegance, and each salon is more extravagant than the next: the firelit bar with its cozy tartan wing chairs, the neo-Baroque breakfast salon topped by a coffered ceiling, and the parlor with tufted Victorian chairs and a blazing fireplace. Throughout, genuine antiques, Venetian glass windows, and weathered marble are complemented by mixed-print fabrics and wall coverings in celadon, slate, and cream. Guest rooms range from hyper-romantic to sleek and modern, but whether you want a barley-sugar columned four-poster bed or a Swedish blonde bathroom, you're covered. Note that rooms with canal views receive some traffic noise; courtyard rooms are quieter. The hotel's wellness center includes a sauna, Turkish bath, and pool. When the weather holds, breakfast is served on the terrace.

Hotel de Orangerie, one of a swarm of boutique hotels that have colonized central Bruges, is family owned---and perhaps the most enchanting of its kind. Perched delicately over the Den Dyver canal, it lies in the beating heart of the city but just far enough removed from the busy main street. What was once a former 15th-century convent has been sensitively renovated. Rooms pitch hardwood floors against soft, flowery drapes, antique furniture, tapestries, and neutral tones. Afternoon teas range from the cream to the Champagne variety and are served daily (2–5) in the conservatory overlooking the water. They are worth a try (€20–€40) even if you're not staying here. While the bar is in essence a simple living room with a fireplace, it oozes stately home elegance—a phrase that accounts for much of the interior.

Set in a 15th-century former residence of the Dukes of Burgundy, it lies off the main drag of one of the city's more upmarket shopping areas---and in terms of sheer grandeur, nothing in Bruges can compete with this. In a city where space comes at an extraordinary cost, possessing a 3,000-square-meter garden is next to sacrilegious. Remnants of the original city walls exist on the grounds, though are sadly confined to a few crumbling bits of stonework. The hotel boasts one of the oldest elevators in the world (a genuine Otis dating from 1882). Rooms are gloriously over the top and recently refurbished, with gold-striped walls and portraits of dukes-gone-by. The spa is equally so: a hammam, sauna, U.V. cabins, and a salt wall complete the experience. Meanwhile, the restaurant and lounge bar are worthy indulgences, with prices that reflect the setting.

This little hotel is part of a comfortable family home situated in a quiet corner of the city. Slightly away from the center, it's still only 10 minutes' walk to most of the big sights. The hosts are likewise charming, and there's enough clutter to make you feel like you never left your own home. It also qualifies as an eco-hotel, with guests encouraged to save water, energy, and waste. Rooms are small and basic, but provide anything a modest traveler needs. Families of four should ask for the double room. Alternatively, the owners own the B&B Bariseele next door, which has three rooms that are a touch more polished and perfect for groups traveling together.

Once a private mansion, this charming 19th-century building has been converted into a sumptuous hotel—even if renovation has robbed the exterior of much of the original patina. Nevertheless, guest rooms are in keeping with the building's heritage—elegant, with chandeliers, reproduction antique furniture, and warm fabrics in reds and golds. Modernity makes its presence known in the form of iPads in every room and Jacuzzis in the suites. It's also well located, just a few minutes' walk from the Markt, and there's even a small sun deck on the top floor. During the evening, the breakfast room becomes part of the hotel's excellent La Mystique restaurant.

Run by a husband-and-wife team, this hotel's fresh, simple design stands in stark contrast to the antiques-heavy, more stately style of its rivals. It's also a little less charming, if more honest for it. However, modernity has its place, and of particular note here are the rooms: each one is decked out in browns, greens, and whites with a sliding-door bathroom, and a unique picture or design printed across one of its walls. Rooms are also relatively cheap by Bruges's standards, although try and bag one on the top floor, which commands excellent views of the Belfort. Four new family-size apartments were added a few years ago, which all have two rooms. Downstairs, a bar-café and pleasant terrace provide a charming spot for breakfast.

Five grand merchants' houses in the elegant Hanseatic district combine the grace of another era with the polish of a modern, first-class property. Parts of the buildings date to the 1300s, and the owners have preserved such antique details as tooled Cordoba leather wallpaper, rough-hewn rafters, and Delft tiles. Rooms with canal views overlook the busy street; back rooms with red rooftop views are quieter.

Situated in one of the most romantic nooks in Bruges, this lovingly and stylishly restored historic pair of houses with half-timbered facades offers enchanting views over the reien. Around 400 years ago these buildings were part of the business district, and the basement still has doors opening onto the water in order for boats to unload stock. Today, it is easily among the more charming hotels in the city. Guest rooms, whether with classic or modern furnishings, have been renovated in a handsomely luxurious fashion, replete with Neoclassical furnishings, grand fireplaces, and plush fabrics. The owner is also something of a collector and tends to deposit his treasures in the hotel. You're as likely to find a €10,000 carpet in your room as you are a sketch by Henri Matisse. The sheer randomness only adds to the charm.

Great care has been taken in the conversion of this 18th-century carriage house, and the result is a stylish, romantic hideaway shielded from the throngs of tourists but still just two minutes' walk from the center. In the library, antiques vie for space with old books and Louis Vuitton suitcases, while the bar has the feel of a gentleman's club from the 1930s. Rooms are steeped in Ralph Lauren fabrics and good taste, with four-poster beds and Jacuzzis in the suites. The top-floor rooms in particular offer great views of the city. Downstairs, eggs are cooked to order in the breakfast room, while the patio is as peaceful a spot as you'll find in all of Bruges.