Brugge - B&B Den Witten Leeuw
 

Hello

Has anyone stayed at B&B Den Witten Leeuw in Brugge?

We have been looking forward to our stay there in February however I am a little put off as they have not responded to a friendly email I sent them with some simple enquiries I sent 2 weeks ago.

Has anyone had any first hand experience with this place?

Tony

I haven't stayed at the B & B you're asking about before, however, if you do end up needing to find another one, I can highly recommend Bed and Breakfast Bruges. A husband and wife own and run it, and she was very responsive over email; that's how I arranged everything. Her name is Mary-Rose Debruyne, and the contact information is below:

Bed and Breakfast Bruges
Lange Raamstraat 18 8000 Brugge
Tel.: +32 (0)50 34 76 06 [email protected] www.bedandbreakfastbruges.com

Best of luck with what you presently have booked! Bruges is fantastic. Enjoy!

Hi Kyliebaby3, we decided to cancel our booking at B & B Den Witten Leeuw as I felt that the non response to my email was pretty poor service.

We decided to go with a standard hotel rather than a B&B such as yours, for the convenience of being able to pay by credit card.

This seem to be a major source of negative feedback for B&Bs in Europe, the fact that people are being caught unaware that they don't take credit card - not everyone has 300 Euros cash in their pockets.

Thanks for your feedback though. We can't wait to get to Bruges !

Enjoy Bruges, Tony! I'm glad you got everything worked out, and it escapes me right now whether or not we were able to use a credit card at the B & B, but that is a valid point. I agree with you though about the radio silence from the other B & B, and I'm glad you were able to come up with a Plan B.

I'm not sure what your plans are for Bruges, but if you get the chance, you might head up to Ghent as well. It was only like 30 minutes on the train, and I really enjoyed it! In fact, if you want any recs for Bruges or Ghent (restaurants, et al.), here are links to my blog posts about the two places:

Bruges: http://kylemcnichols.blogspot.com/20...-4-6-2009.html

Ghent: http://kylemcnichols.blogspot.com/20...-6-7-2009.html

Bon voyage!

Thanks Kyliebaby3 !

One of our first concerns is getting from the train station to the hotel!

Are there taxis around that will take customers on these short trips?

Even though Bruges is small, I dont think the weather would be right for wheeling suitcases through the streets, walking to the hotel.

We are staying at Langerei 52 Bruges, 8000 Belgium

Thanks again, we will certainly read the blogs you recommend.

Taxis are no problem from the station to town hotels.

Did you consider that your B&B owners might just have been taking a break over Christmas which is why your emails weren't answered quickly?

stfc, yes that is possible, but I think 3 weeks is more than enough time to answer an email when you are running a business.

Its not just that....the fact that they dont take credit cards is also a turn-off because I don't want to be carrying loads of cash on me while traveling.

I agree with STFC re: the taxis. We caught one right at the train station, and it had us at the door of the B & B in about 10 minutes or less. Our hosts called for a taxi to take us back to the train station for our outbound trip, so depending on whether or not taxis are plentiful at/near your hotel, I'd plan on having them call you one when it's time to leave.

Glad you're going to take a look at the blog posts! Strong recommendation for Den Dyver in Bruges (restaurant), particularly if you're into beer. Great experience and food!

I think we might take the advice and go and see Gent while we are in the area. It look amazing !
If its only a 30 minute train ride, we could just spend an afternoon there....

Are there any small villages near Bruges that we could explore that are as beautiful as Bruges and Gent ? Would need to be able to get there by train.

I wouldn't be turned off by places not taking credit. I found it that way in Europe and in Canada too. The places are usually understanding that you will have to withdraw the money using a debit card and all the places I have stayed at did not require the money to be paid upon check-in; most I paid at check-out. I have always wanted to go to Brugges. Enjoy your stay!

You should definitely go to Ghent, and don't miss Van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece, "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" in St. Bavo's Cathedral. It was a highlight!

We arrived in Brussels on the train, went straight to Bruges from there, and then backtracked to Ghent and then Brussels for a few days each before returning to Paris. So, I can't offer any insight into other small villages near Bruges for exploration. I'm sure someone else will be able to offer you insight though!

We will be coming directly from Paris by train...I guess that goes via Brussels? We're just going to purchase train tickets on the day...early February...I dont think there will be a mad rush of tourists at that time.

We are so excited to be going to Bruges...it's a real privilege and a LONG way from Sydney !

Yowsers- that is a long way! One word of caution regarding purchasing train tickets the day-of...they can be considerably more expensive at the stations.

I'm not sure if you meant from Paris to Bruges (that will go via Brussels), or some other part of your trip, but this is what happened to me and the person I was traveling with. I had purchased my ticket back to Paris before leaving the states, and he bought his the day-of. Mine cost something like €30 for the Brussels- Paris leg, and his cost €70'ish the day-of. I think this issue would be more pertinent to the trains going from France-Belgium and vice versus, and not the shorter trips within Belgium. I'm sure you'd find purchasing those day-of since they're likely considered 'intercity.'

Here is the website to book tickets to/from Paris... I'm not sure if this can be switched to English or not, but I could maneuver it in French: http://www.voyages-sncf.com.

Good luck!

That was meant to say, "I'm sure you'd BE FINE purchasing those day-of since they're likely considered 'intercity.'" Long day!

Interesting! More expensive at the station ? I would have thought it would be cheaper bying them the "old fashioned way" but I will take your advice on that !

So you think buying online is the way to go?

To clarify....my trip will be paris / bruges / amsterdam

I have priced the Eurail pass but they seem very expensive and offer little if any discount on buying individual tickets.

Thanks for the info and link to ticket purchase.

I agree about the Eurail pass. In fact, I priced it out yesterday versus point-to-point tickets on the Italy portion of my trip, and based on RailEurope's prices (where I'd never buy tickets from), it was more expensive to buy the pass.

I definitely would recommend looking into purchasing the tickets ahead of time online if you can. It was easy for me, and I just printed them up and took them with me. In fact, I've done the same for an upcoming trip, and was able to take advantage of cheaper PREM's fares.

In the end, i purchased a pass because buying 2 of them brought the price down to $480 each for 5 first class trips within the countries we are going to.

I have heard to many varying stories about prices of trains in europe. People tell you to look at the train web sites and then other say that the info on the these sites is wrong etc...it was (is) doing my head in, so i just bought a pass.

Now I at least know how much of my budget will be needed for train travel.

Oh good-- glad you sorted out something that will work for you! Have a ton of fun...all Paris, Bruges and Amsterdam are all amazing places :)