Whilst staying at the Pand Hotel in Bruges I slept in bed sheets by Ralph Lauren, I saw vintage Louis Vuitton luggae in the lobby, I washed with complimentary toiletries by Hermes and I drank a glass of champagne each morning at breakfast. Do I need to carry on with this review?
Ah okay, I’ll share a few more details with you.
The Pand Hotel is a centrally located boutique luxury hotel in Bruges. Staying here, you are just metres from the most picturesque corner of Bruges – de Dijver – and just a few hundred metres from Grote Markt, the Belfry Tower and the Church of Our Lady, not to mention the many restaurants and bars in the area. We visited Bruges in December for my boyfriend’s birthday and I was astonished how much this city oozes festive spirit, kicked off by the cosy feeling I immediately felt inside Pand Hotel thanks to a busy open wood fire, a sparkling Christmas tree and a full bush of mistletoe hanging at the entrance.
We were shown to our Junior Suite (it was my boyfriend’s birthday!) by one of the Pand Hotel’s helpful staff and I have to admit when I walked through the door, I suddenly felt like I’d left Belgium and been transported to Scotland. Our room was very tartan! But not just any tartan, Ralph Lauren tartan! I fought the urge to put on a (bad) Scottish accent during my very comfortable stay and my boyfriend liked beating me at chess on the chess set built into a desk.
After sleeping comfortably in our four-poster bed (I could get used to that!) we headed downstairs for breakfast not expecting too much seeing as the hotel doesn’t have a restaurant that is open all day. How wrong we were! I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the breakfast we enjoyed at the Pand Hotel was the best breakfast I’ve ever had in a hotel, ever! I’m not sure what made it so special – maybe it was the light, white and airy decor or perhaps it was the very friendly waiter service – but we felt like we were really being spoilt with our breakfasts which included pastries, breads, cereals, yoghurt and eggs cooked exactly how you want on the aga you can sit close to. Or maybe it was  just the champagne… Either way, I cannot applaud the Pand Hotel enough for their breakfast; even when it was busy, they delivered a meal well worth waking up for.
Seeing as we spent our days sight-seeing and exploring on bike (you can read more things to do in Bruges here), having a nearby base to chill out in and refresh was a luxury worth having, especially after the sun went in and the weather felt instantly colder. We warmed up most nights by trying local beers in the bar – de Brugse Zot was a favourite – or playing backgammon by the fire in the lounge area.
In many ways this sums up our experience at the Pand Hotel; we felt at home and we felt very cosy. I was a little nervous about going to Bruges just before Christmas, knowing that the Christmas markets would bring lots of tourists, but the ambience at the Pand Hotel made me realise that there is plenty of Christmas cheer to go round in Bruges and it defnitely got to me, leaving me eager to see the city, even if it was busy.
Besides, once you’ve had that breakfast, you can face anything!
This post was written by Frankie Thompson who was a Travelette from 2012 – 2015. Originally from London, UK, Frankie was nomadic for several years before settling in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where she lives with her Australian partner and baby boy. She spends her time buying vintage dresses, riding a rusty old bike around the canals and writing books inspired by her travels. Frankie blogs about travel, writing and motherhood at As the Bird flies blog.
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