DebitNM

I have narrowed down our choices to the following 3 hotels. We will be there from Monday until Friday in mid May. Prices are pretty much the same for all 3. I did a search and most posts seem to fairly old.

Also, is it worth it to get a rate with breakfast included or are there enough reasonably priced places near each hotel where we could eat, maybe a different one each morning.

Jan Brito

Hotel Acacia

Aragon Hotel/House - not sure what the difference is between hotel and house??

Thanks~

PalenQ

Hotel breakfasts IME in Belgium are good deals - you'll spend more and get less probably - there is not a raft of breakfast places and most restaurants outside hotels tend to open later.

See what WoinParis says - topping for him and others to see.

Christina

I didn't stay in one of those hotels, so can't debate their merits. But the difference in Aragon Hotel and HOuse is that the hotel is a hotel and the other is apartments (the house).

If you need to eat breakfast in a different place every day for four days, I would not count on that. I don't think you are going to find tons of places serving breakfast right around your hotel that you can have 4 choices, and I presume by that you mean a full meal, not just a cup of coffee. Some places are just cafes/pubs and don't even open that early. Sure, there are going to be restaurants around the market square which I think is not too far from those hotels where you can eat breakfast, but they will be really expensive. I suspect your hotel buffet will be a better deal if it is good. I don't like having to wander around first thing, anyway, but I don't really eat breakfast or want food first thing in the morning, so it's not an issue for me. If you want to eat a lot, I suspect the hotel breakfast might be a better deal if it is 15 euro or so (my guess).

Sue4

I'll also be in Bruges in mid-May, and have been researching hotels. I didn't look at too many, but decided on the Aragon myself. It looks quite nice, fairly reasonable and convenient. It had really good reviews on Trip Advisor which I suppose you saw too. I'll be coming from Paris and am still deciding on the timeframe and logistics, etc. I'm staying a couple of days in Ghent also, and possibly a night or two in Brussels, on my way back to Paris. I hate to steal too much time from Paris, but have never been to Belgium so want to make the most of it.

As for hotel breakfasts, I usually just do it - even though some seem pretty expensive. The convenience is worth it to me.

Anyway, maybe we'll cross paths in Bruges! I'm really excited about seeing Belgium, as I love medieval architecture, old churches and all those things.

DebitNM

Sue -
we are doing 3 nights in Paris, then the train to Brugge for 4 nights [will do day trip to Ghent and maybe 1 Antwerp] and then the train back to Paris for 3 more nights.

As of now, I have reservations at Jan Brito.

It would be fun to meet and have a glass of wine; always love a Fodors GTG! my email is same as Fodors name @ me . com if you want to connect.

Sue4

Thanks, would be fun! If I can make up my mind about dates, places to stay, etc. I'll contact you. My first idea was to do as you are - stay in Bruges and do daytrips to those other places. I may go back to that plan instead of moving around so much.
But I love having an hotel room to take breaks from the sightseeing. I'm definitely staying in Paris for 5 (or 6) nights at beginning of trip. I have 2 weeks altogether, (not including the traveling days), which is nice. But the more I research the more time I want!

Andrew

Bruges is wonderful as I and many others have noted. And as we've also said, it's extremely touristy especially during the day. That's one thing that makes it a good base for day trips: you can go to Ghent for the day say while all the day trippers are in Bruges, then come back at night when they are mostly gone and the place is a lot more quiet.

If you are close to the center of Bruges, I doubt you can find a bad location. I stayed at a cheap B&B without any frills - no canal view or anything, but it was very comfortable. Bruges is a great walking town. I was there in May too - it did rain a few of the days, though.

I recently re-watched part of the 2008 movie "In Bruges," a black comedy with Colin Farrell. It's a dark but funny movie about two criminals who lay low in Bruges for a few days at Christmastime. (The last time I watched it, I was...in Bruges, ha ha ha! Watched it at my B&B on my laptop.) Anyway, I noticed early in the film a shot of a dog in a house window, a tan labrador, and I thought, "Wow - that dog looks familiar!" I went back to my Bruges pictures and found I had photographed the same dog (or one that looked exactly like it) in the same window, along the canal, five years after the film came out! Pretty cool.

Sue4

Andrew, I read about that dog awhile back, I think a yellow lab.His name was Fidele, and he died at age 12, I believe in Feb. of this year. So precious, he loved to watch the tourist boats go by on the canal. His house was a B&B on a canal.

Andrew

How sad, Sue. I got the idea that he must have been a local institution of some sort after I saw him in the film, but I didn't realize it while I was photographing him.