The 13 Best Places to Drink and Stay in Ghent

Ghent's old Central Post Office looks medieval but is barely a century old, its neo-Gothic stonework doing a convincing job of fooling everyone. Now a boutique hotel with a Michelin Key, 1898 The Post leans into the deception: winding staircases, dark stone public spaces, and guest rooms moody enough to feel like a film set. Room categories run from Stamp up through Carriage, which is either charming or a gentle reminder of your budget.

1. Michelin Guide 1 Key
2. Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide

A 1724 townhouse fused with its 20th-century neighbor in the pedestrianized heart of Ghent, this boutique hotel holds a Michelin Key and takes its name from a wealthy 18th-century poet, which sets the tone. Empire-style public rooms run to ornate mantelpieces and pedimented doorways, while bedrooms trade the theatrics for parquet floors and floor-to-ceiling windows. A carriage house spa, an indoor pool, and two restaurants round things out for guests who plan to stay put a little.

1. Michelin Guide 1 Key

1. Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide

1. Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide

1. Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide

1. Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide

1. Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide

1. Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide

Canopy beds and rococo oils by van Reysschoot share space with contemporary artwork in this four-room bed and breakfast inside a preserved 18th-century mansion just off the old port in Ghent. The owners are interior designers, and it shows: antique furnishings sit in rooms tall and airy enough that nothing feels fusty. Breakfast in the dining room is the unhurried kind, and the French garden with its box parterres is there if the weather cooperates.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

The bar and restaurant spills into an open-plan space where guests and locals mix over cocktails, local beers, and a Mediterranean-leaning dinner menu. This design-forward boutique hotel sits just east of Ghent's old center on Brabantdam, close enough to the city's better eating and drinking to be genuinely useful. Rooms lean into modernist styling, and the crowd skews young enough that everyone seems to know where the after-party is.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. The 50 The 50 Discovery