Best Hotels in Ghent: The Gravensteen, Van Eyck's Altarpiece & the Graslei (2026)
1898 The Post in Ghent's neo-Gothic former post office on the Korenmarkt, Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof in an 18th-century mansion, and Ghent Marriott behind medieval facades on the Korenlei — the best hotels in Belgium's underrated city for 2026.
Ghent: Bruges’s Edgier, Livelier Rival
Ghent was medieval Europe’s second-largest city north of the Alps after Paris, grown fat on wool and grain, and unlike museum-piece Bruges it never stopped living: some 50,000 university students keep the bars of the Overpoort and the quays of the Graslei loud year-round. The skyline is defined by the “three towers” in a row — St Nicholas’ Church, the UNESCO-listed 91-metre Belfry, and Saint Bavo’s Cathedral. Inside Saint Bavo’s hangs the city’s treasure: the Ghent Altarpiece, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, completed by Hubert and Jan van Eyck in 1432 and a founding masterpiece of oil painting. It is also, by common reckoning, the most frequently stolen artwork in history — taken roughly a dozen times over six centuries, coveted by Napoleon and Hitler, rescued from an Austrian salt mine by the Monuments Men in 1945; the Just Judges panel, stolen in 1934, has never been recovered. At the other end of the old town squats the Gravensteen, the moated castle of the Counts of Flanders built by Philip of Alsace in 1180, complete with a cheerfully grim arms and justice museum. Ghent’s rebellious streak is literal: after Charles V — born in Ghent in 1500 — crushed the city’s 1540 tax revolt, its leading citizens were made to parade barefoot with nooses around their necks, and Gentenaars proudly call themselves Stroppendragers, “noose wearers,” to this day. Eat waterzooi, the creamy local chicken stew, and try a cuberdon, the cone-shaped raspberry candy sold from carts on the Groentenmarkt.
The Korenmarkt and the Quays
1898 The Post — Rooms in the Old Post Office
Price: €200–400/night | Location: Graslei 16, on the Korenmarkt
1898 The Post occupies the upper floors of Ghent’s flamboyant neo-Gothic former post office, whose clock tower is one of the defining silhouettes of the Korenmarkt. The hotel, run by Zannier Hotels, leans into the building’s story: moody ink-green and brass interiors, rooms named after postal ranks, and The Cobbler cocktail bar in the old counter hall. Corner rooms and the tower suite look straight down the Graslei, the medieval guild-house quay that is Ghent’s showpiece view. You are one minute from the tram, the boat jetties, and St Michael’s Bridge — the classic three-towers photo spot.
Ghent Marriott Hotel — Medieval Facades on the Korenlei
Price: €180–350/night | Location: Korenlei 10, on the old harbour
The Ghent Marriott hides a full-size modern hotel behind a row of preserved historic facades on the Korenlei, the west bank of the medieval port; the glass-roofed lobby atrium incorporates the old brick walls. It is the sensible pick for travelers who want river-view rooms, reliable four-star services, and a location on the exact stretch of waterfront where evening Ghent gathers — the Graslei opposite fills with students and picnickers at the first hint of sun.
Patershol and the Historic Centre
Hotel Harmony — Family-Run on the Kraanlei
Price: €150–300/night | Location: Kraanlei 37, Patershol quarter
Hotel Harmony sits on the Kraanlei embankment at the edge of Patershol, the knot of cobbled medieval lanes that is now Ghent’s densest restaurant quarter. It is family-owned and it shows: personal service, generous breakfasts, and upper rooms with terraces looking across the Leie toward the Gravensteen, whose towers are two minutes’ walk away. For atmosphere per euro in the historic core, it is hard to beat — book the canal-side rooms early.
NH Gent Belfort — Opposite the Town Hall
Price: €150–300/night | Location: Hoogpoort 63, facing the City Hall
The NH Gent Belfort is the dependable big hotel of the monument district, directly opposite the lace-Gothic facade of Ghent’s City Hall and a two-minute walk from both the Belfry and Saint Bavo’s Cathedral — no hotel in the city puts you closer to the Altarpiece. Rooms are contemporary and quiet given the location, and the underground parking is a genuine asset in a centre that is otherwise one of Europe’s largest car-free zones.
The Elegant West Side
Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof — An 18th-Century Mansion with a Garden
Price: €180–380/night | Location: Hoogstraat 36, ten minutes’ walk west of the Korenmarkt
Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof is built around an aristocratic 18th-century mansion — the former Hôtel Reylof — with a modern wing wrapped around a courtyard garden, a rarity in central Ghent. The style is plush contemporary boutique (velvet, marble bathrooms, a serious cocktail bar), there is an indoor pool and spa in the vaulted cellars, and the house restaurant has been one of the city’s more ambitious hotel kitchens. It trades a five-minute walk to the sights for calm, space, and the best wellness facilities of any hotel in town.
Beyond the Hotels
Seeing the Mystic Lamb Properly
The restored Ghent Altarpiece is displayed in a dedicated, climate-controlled chapel of Saint Bavo’s Cathedral, its colours startling since the 2012–2019 restoration stripped centuries of overpaint — most famously revealing the lamb’s unsettlingly humanoid face, which briefly became a global meme. Buy the timed ticket that includes the augmented-reality tour of the crypt; go at opening to have the chapel near-empty. Afterward, climb the Belfry (lift available for most of the ascent) for the rooftop view over all three towers’ territory.
FAQ
Ghent or Bruges — which should I choose? See both if you can; they are 25 minutes apart by frequent train. Choose Bruges for concentrated medieval prettiness and romance, Ghent for the same Flemish architecture with real urban life attached — better bars, a bigger food scene, fewer tour groups, and lower hotel rates for equivalent quality.
How many nights does Ghent deserve? Two nights is right: one full day for the Gravensteen, the Altarpiece, the Belfry, and the quays; a second morning for the Patershol quarter, the Design Museum or STAM city museum, and a canal boat trip. Ghent also works as a base for day trips to Bruges, Antwerp, and Brussels, all under an hour by rail.
What are the Gentse Feesten? Ten days of free street festival each July — music stages, theatre, and all-night squares — drawing over a million visitors and ranking among Europe’s largest city festivals. It is brilliant fun, but hotel prices spike and light sleepers should choose rooms away from the central squares that week.