Wonderful weekend in a hotel in Ostend, Belgium

If you stay in a hotel Brussel and have some time, it is worthwhile to make excursions to some of the other famous sights in Belgium such as the impressive Flemish art, especially Bruges, but also Ghent, Antwerp and Leuven, the wooded region of the Ardennes, which begins upstream of the charming city of Namur, dominated by the citadel on a rock. All this can be achieved in about one hour by car or by train from the center of hotels in Brussel.

Brussels is a cosmopolitan city, so will you during your stay in Hotel Brüssel clear, with a liveliness and an appeal in closely related with its role as a crossroads for the whole of Europe. Architectural styles range from Gothic cathedrals and churches to the gracious classical facades of the Palais des Nations, the Royal Palace and the many art nouveau and art deco houses in the comfortable neighborhoods where the Bruxellois’ live. Even if you choose a budget hotels Brussels you can not get bored.

The heart of Brussels, where my last hotels in Brussels was an excellent luxe hotels Brussel and the place to start getting to know the city is the Grote Markt. This historic square, lined with exuberantly ornate guild houses and focused on the height of the Gothic Hotel de Ville, is widely assumed that one of Europe’s best.

Brussels is a city greatly appreciated, too often taunted for his dull image and for his cooperation with the EU. Allow me to let you in a well-kept secret: Brussels is a great destination, especially for a weekend away. First, it is easily accessible from any part of the United Kingdom. How a fellow guest in my luxury hotels Brussels saw it: Brussels is astonishing for its new restaurants, bars and shops which - added to the Glories of Art Nouveau heritage, its famous cartoons, world-class museums and of course the traditional mussels and fries - it gives a real dynamism and excitement.

In 1537 hotel in Gent had refused to pay more taxes for a new war of Charles V against the king of France. To go with his rebellious native city once and for all, Charles V had the city walls destroyed. He also abolished most of the city’s privileges and ordered the most important people for him to ask for mercy, while a rope around their neck as a sign that they are ready to be suspended if the emperor would order.

The punishment is not new. The people of hotel in Gent already experienced this on the basis of one of their former rulers. The first to do it, was Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy in 1458, and this is what the people of Ghent pay. Duke Philip was the punishment of citizens for their uprising of 1448. He had already defeated the city in the bloody Battle of the Gavere in 1453, where more than 10,000 soldiers died in Ghent, but Philip the city retained the rights and privileges (a virtual halt of trade) to a major ceremony staged in 1458 to Garner the Duke’s forgiveness.

At the beginning of this ceremony, Duke Philip marched the leaders of the city and guilds outside the city walls, stripped to their underwear, had them kneel in the mud wearing nooses around their necks, and pledge eternal loyalty to him. After this, they led him by the Ghent streets decorated with banners and torches and dramatized mythological and biblical scenes, including a live-action version of the Van Eyck ‘Ghent altarpiece as center.

Gent hotel is the fourth largest city in Belgium with approximately 250,000 inhabitants. It is not as big as Antwerp but bigger than Bruges. It is also less famous among tourists than the often praised Bruges.

However, for some people hotels in Gent is the real diamond of Flanders and Belgium. In a unique way, Ghent has managed to keep its medieval power with the times. The city center alone is a showcase of medieval Flemish wealth and commercial success. Modern Ghent certainly not be overlooked in Belgium. The city has an important port, thanks to the canal Ghent-Terneuzen which ships their products to the city and its industrial hinterland. Ghent University (UGent) continues to grow in importance. The presence of so many young people and students involved in Hotel Gent an important Flemish cultural center.

hotel Ghent is also the flower city of Belgium. Flower growers from the region around hotels in Gent sell their beautiful begonia’s and azalea’s all over the world. Every 5 years the successful ‘Gentse Flower “(Ghent Flower Show) attracts thousands of tourists to the city will not eyes enough to admire the beautiful architectural wealth, which is a beautiful combination of impressive business and idyllic charm of the proud and (in former times) often rebellious city hôtel à Gand.

Have you been in a hotel Antwerpen gelogeerd, a stunning city trip Antwerpen made? No? Then you must definitely do this year, the sooner the better! The city has all the potential tourist to the house you completely make sense to you …

The statue of Brabo on the Antwerp market square.In 1356 the town was annexed to the county of Flanders and lost a lot of privileges, partly to Bruges’ advantage. Fifty years later the political and economic tide again and the run-up to the Golden Age began when Antwerp was a center of world at all levels: a sort of sixteenth-century Manhattan. a weekend or longer in a Anvers hotel thus ensures sufficient grandeur, pomp and circumstance. It was the center of commerce and culture that Florentine Lodovico Guicciardini described as’ the most beautiful city in the world. ” The best-known names from that age are the painters Quinten Metsys and Bruegel, the printer Plantin, the humanists and scientists Lipsius, Mercator, and Ortelius Dodoens, just as the name of my hotel Antwerp.

During a short or long holiday in a hôtel à Anvers, whether a luxury hotels Antwerp or budget hotels Antwerp makes little off. However, in the second half of that century the town was the focus of the politico-religious struggle between the Protestant North and Catholic Spain and as such was hit by a series of catastrophic events: the iconoclasm (1566), Spanish Fury (1576 ) and finally the fall of Antwerp (1585). After the fall of the city again under the reign of Philip II and the Northern Netherlands closed the Scheldt. From an economic standpoint, this was a disaster. To make matters worse it was not only the Protestants who fled the city, but also the commercial and intellectual elite. From the city of 100,000 inhabitants in 1570, by 1590 only about 40,000 remained, as I learned from the receptionist in my hotel Antwerpen.

But the city continued to grow until the mid-seventeenth century cultural painters such as Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens and Teniers, the sculptor Quellin families and Verbrugghe, printers as Moretus, the famous Antwerp harpsichord builders, etc. .. In my last Hotel Antwerpen was a lot of art, primarily prints, exhibited, it seemed like a museum, really even original. There is little to celebrate stories of Antwerp between 1650 and the nineteenth century. The Scheldt remained closed to traffic and the city was a provincial town. Under Austrian rule (1715-1792) Joseph II attempted to free the river by military force, but the plan misfired. In 1795, under French occupation, it succeeded but this time the ship was an English blockade. Someone in my Antwerpen hotel just could not stop.

Lovely long slept in that Antwerp hotel, my citytrip Antwerpen, really! This was not surprising since Napoleon considered the port of Antwerp as a gun pointed at the heart of England. While it is true that Antwerp owes the beginning of a modern port that the French period (1792-1815) at the same time the city’s cultural heritage fell prey to art plundering and destruction on a scale rarely seen. There were even plans to roll menu cathedral. city trip Antwerp is always diverse and exciting!

I just got back from an amazing couple of days in a hotel in Oostende, the one and only true city by the Belgian coast. Among English-speaking tourists, Ostend or Oostende is best known as a ferry port. Ships have shuttled between Dover and Ostend for more than 150 years, and today’s high-speed catamarans move hundreds of passengers and vehicles between the two ports in just two hours. As a result, many British vacationers make day or weekend trips to a hotel in Oostende, where they get a taste of the Continent before sampling duty-free wares on the trip home.

The Dover-Ostend ferry route also provides quick access to Bruges and Ghent, two of Belgium’s most attractive cities for tourists. Like in Ostend hotels many of them spend the night (or a couple of nights) there. The city of Oostende, protected from the North Sea by a network of dikes, is the largest population center on the Belgian coast, with 67,000 residents. Oostende received a city charter in the 13th century, though it is unclear how much earlier the site had originally been settled; at the time it was a small fishing village. Nowadays, thousand of tourists come and stay in one of the many fine hotels Oostende each year.

Plagued throughout its history by a constant onslaught from seaborne invaders, it was the decision by the first two Belgian Kings, Leopold I and Leopold II, to spend their summers in Oostende that raised the town’s fortunes and transformed it into a fashionable 19th century resort. Sadly, in the twentieth century, destruction came again, this time in the form of World War II aerial bombardment. Modern Oostende is a transportation hub and resort town and there are, compared to some other cities by the Belgian coast, many really good hotels in Oostende. In what follows you can read a little bit more about my experiences throughout the years with hotels in Ostend. Hope you enjoy it!

The Best Western Hotel Imperial is the perfect place to stay in Ostend whether for business or leisure.

Discover the 61 rooms in this hotel in Oostende which are very comfortable, tastefully decorated and nicely equiped to give a feeling of being at home.

Throughout your stay in Ostend, you will be helped by an experienced staff, offering a personal and friendly service, to make your stay unforgettable. One of those Ostend hotels leaving wonderful memories ….

Hotel Acces is to be found on a a fantastic location close to the sea and beach. All hotelrooms are en suite and are fitted with many standard facilities. For your convenience some of the hotelrooms have air conditioning, while there are also designated rooms for non-smokers.

Leisure facilities at this hotel in Oostende include a nice sunny terrace, a fitness centre, a solarium and sauna.

This Ostend hotels offers a beautiful gastronomic restaurant for a nice dinner or lunch.

Mondo Hotel is a well situated hotel in Ostend, with a personal touch. Near the Casino Kursaal in Ostend, the main shopping centres, the beach, the Leopoldpark, the municipal swimming-pool and the library & famous museum of modern art in Ostend.

This hotel Ostend offers a large variety of rooms. All the hotelrooms are en-suite with shower and toilet, and are equipped with telephone and television. One of the best hotels Oostende I ever stayed at!