10 Best Hotels in Ghent 2026 — Graslei, Belfry & Gravensteen

Top of the list is 1898 The Post — a 5-star boutique set inside a Victorian-era post office in the centre of Ghent. Think high ceilings, deep-green walls and hand-picked vintage furniture across 38 rooms, every one designed individually so no two match. It scores 9.2/10 from real guests, and the location is hard to beat: a 2-minute walk to Korenmarkt, the city's central square, and about 5 minutes to Graslei, the old waterfront on the Leie. The ground-floor bar, The Cobbler, is a genuine local favourite — its tall arched windows look straight out at three old church spires. Rooms start around $229 a night.

Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof is a Louis XIV mansion built in 1724 and converted into a 5-star, 157-room hotel by the Dutch brand Pillows Hotels. Its 9.3/10 score is the highest of any hotel in Ghent, and the standout reason is the Wellness Center — a heated indoor pool, Finnish sauna, several treatment rooms and a fitness room, all free for every guest. Guests single out the grand rooms, very good staff and an excellent buffet breakfast served in a high-ceilinged hall. You are about 500 m from the old center, an easy 8-minute walk through streets of Flemish facades to Korenmarkt and the historic Graslei quay. Rooms start at roughly $177 a night, which is fair value once you factor in the spa access.

Ghent Marriott Hotel sits on the Leie river in the middle of the city, and the river-facing rooms look straight out at Korenlei and the medieval Korenbrug bridge lit up after dark. It scores 8.8/10 from guests and delivers the full Marriott 5-star kit — a fitness center, the Midtown Grill restaurant, and the Poppi Coffee & Wine Bar in the lobby. It is a 3-minute walk to Graslei, the prettiest stretch of historic quayside in Ghent, 5 minutes to Gravensteen Castle, and 10 minutes to St. Bavo's Cathedral. With 149 rooms, 9 meeting rooms and a business center, it leans usefully toward work trips too. Rooms start around $205 a night.

Hotel Harmony is a family-run boutique that reviewers rate 9.1/10 — the highest guest score among Ghent's 4-star hotels. It spreads across three restored historic buildings in the Patershol quarter, just 100 m from the 12th-century Gravensteen Castle. There's an outdoor pool (a genuine rarity downtown) and a summer terrace right on the Leie river where breakfast comes with water views. The 40-plus rooms are each designed differently — some with vaulted ceilings, some with old beams, some with arched windows facing the river. Rates start around $134 a night including breakfast, which is good value for what you get. It suits couples who want a romantic riverside base, families who want to be steps from the castle, and anyone who'd rather stay in a neighborhood where locals actually live.

NH Gent Belfort is a 4-star hotel from the NH Hotels brand parked right in the middle of old Ghent — step out the door and you are on Korenmarkt, the main square. It is a 3-minute walk to the Belfry, the UNESCO-listed belfry tower, and the same to St. Bavo's Cathedral, home of the Ghent Altarpiece by the Van Eyck brothers; Graslei, the historic harbor, is about 5 minutes on foot. Reviews put it at 8.6/10. The 172 rooms run to the NH playbook — clean, mid-toned, modern, with a proper work desk — and the building adds a restaurant, a fitness room and meeting rooms. Rates start around $120 a night without breakfast. It suits travelers who want a top-tier location on a sensible budget, roughly 40-50% under the 5-star hotels sharing the same streets.

The Ghent Belfort Hotel is a 4-star boutique that sits right against the Belfry, the symbol of Ghent — walk out the door and you are face to face with the giant 14th-century tower, a UNESCO World Heritage site listed alongside the belfries of Bruges and Mons. It scores 8.7/10 with guests, who rate the location and old-town atmosphere above everything else. Rooms start around $109 a night, which runs 30-40% cheaper than the 5-star hotels on the same square. It is a 2-minute walk to St. Bavo's Cathedral — home of the Ghent Altarpiece — and 5 minutes to Graslei, the historic harbour on the Leie. For travelers who want a genuinely central base without the 5-star price tag, this is the one to look at.

Monasterium PoortAckere is a hotel set inside a 19th-century Catholic convent in central Ghent — arched grey-stone gateways, a Cloister Garden ringed by covered walkways, and an old chapel converted into a common space. The original building survived a careful 2000s restoration that kept the bones intact, so what you get is genuinely hard to replicate in a regular hotel. It sits a 5-minute walk from the Belfry, deep in the historic core, yet reads as unusually calm — guests routinely mention sleeping better here than anywhere else on their trip. It scores 8.3/10 with rooms from about $91 a night, the lowest rate among the old-town options in this roundup. This one is for travelers who want a stay with a story behind it, not just a clean bed.

ibis Gent Centrum St-Baafs Kathedraal is the best budget pick in Ghent's old town, parked right across from St. Bavo's Cathedral — the church that holds the Ghent Altarpiece, the Van Eyck brothers' masterpiece. It scores 8.2/10 and rooms start from about $83 a night, which is roughly as cheap as the historic center gets. You get the standard ibis package: tidy rooms built around the brand's Sweet Bed, a clean bathroom with a shower, and a flat-screen TV. The real draw beyond price is the ground-floor bar pouring local Belgian beers, plus a walkable location — 3 minutes to the Belfry and 7 minutes to the Graslei quays. If you care more about standing on the cathedral's doorstep than about square meters, this is the trade you want.

Holiday Inn Ghent Centrum is a 4-star hotel in the IHG family, sitting in the heart of Ghent a 10-minute walk from the historic quarter or one tram stop to Korenmarkt. It scores 8.4/10 from guest reviews, and the appeal is straightforward: this is the pick for business travelers who want a dependable IHG standard and meeting rooms, plus families who want a convenient base at a mid-range price. You get a full fitness center, an in-house restaurant, and IHG One Rewards points on every stay. Rooms come in noticeably larger than the budget chains, with a big work desk and a separate bathroom. Rates start around $103 a night, which buys a lot of predictable comfort near the old town without paying 5-star money.