Unique B&Bs in Belgium

The artist David de Graef has created a fabulous guest house in a historic Bruges house he bought in 2007. The two guest rooms are designed in the style of a Jan van Eyck painting with old stone fireplaces, stained glass windows and huge oak beds. They look out on a mediaeval walled garden and a little canal, while breakfast is served in the owner’s art studio. 

Filip Deschacht, a former chef, runs a sublime B&B in a fin-de-siècle town house built in 1899. He spent three years restoring the house and redecorated the rooms with rustic white furniture, contemporary paintings and maritime details like jars of seashells. The breakfast is a spectacular spread served at a long wooden table in the basement, or out in the garden if it is warm. There is even a garage across the road where you can leave your car. 

This stylish B&B occupies an old watermill on the River Jeker just a few metres from the Dutch border. The building was restored in 2016 to create four guest rooms, along with a library, wine cellar and waterfront terrace. The owners have carefully renovated the historic mill wheel, which is used to generate electricity and grind flour. The B&B is a short walk from the acclaimed Château Neercanne restaurant and 15 minutes by bike from Maastricht. 

Bea Mombaers runs a sublime B&B in an old farmhouse with a thatched roof near the beach town of Knokke. You can sit out in the garden eating breakfast at a big communal table and cool off at the end of the day in the swimming pool. The three spacious guest rooms are calm, contemporary spaces with concrete floors and grey walls. Bea has furnished the rooms with an eclectic collection of 1950s vintage chairs, tables and lamps from her interior design shop, so if you like that chair in the bedroom you can just buy it on the spot.

This unique B&B lets you spend the night in a former Russian military plane dating from 1962. The vintage Antonov AN-2 is parked in a field on the edge of the Hoge Kempen National Park. The cockpit has been restored to its original state while the cabin contains a lounge and double bed. The bathroom is outside, along with a barbeque and hot tub.