Forever fav in Antwerp: boutique hotel De Witte Lelie, Antwerp (dogs welcome)
Hotel de Witte Lelie in Antwerp is a genuine favorite place. Foverever fav, as it is more popularly described. Even though? Yes. but really. For a number of reasons, starting with the great design. Colorful (heh), unique, artistic, stylish, chic, creative (okay, okay: eclectic), beautiful. From now on, even though the hotel is already several years old. And that's exactly our point: trends are stupid. Find your own style and stick to it, and then you will become a classic of a hotel where we have been treating ourselves to every now and then for years.
So it is not the case that the (pretty amazing!) leopard print bank De Witte Lelie came in when leopard prints from Samantha and Truus from the working-class neighborhood were suddenly claimed by popular fashion girls. Are you crazy? The people of De Witte Lelie brought in the 'we all want it now' sofa long before that. The same applies to the black and white tiles, the floor-to-ceiling linen curtains, the velvet sofas in hard, beautiful shades of green, blue and purple (side by side), the woolly rugs, the distinct art (love!) and the robust wooden beams in the luxurious bedrooms. That was all there before it became hip, and so it is an authentic, original hotel like De Witte Lelie where we prefer to copy the art.
You cannot eat from a handsome table and be happy Hotel de Witte Lelie least of all one good looking empty shell. Not at all: from the moment you ring the bell at the red door of the hotel, opposite an underground parking garage in the middle of the old center of Antwerp, you are treated like royalty. You even start to behave accordingly (that's what those Belgians always say about us clumsy Dutch people, if we're honest)… You check in in the large black and white hall (beautiful!) and then quickly go to your room. We found the attic room: a dream on two floors. Sleep downstairs and then climb the stairs to the loft to retreat with a good book: holiday.
While we're at it: also fun, Sleep 12 times in Antwerp
Although you probably don't want to just stay inside... We wouldn't either, and you don't have to. The location of Hotel de Witte Lelie is what you call 'spot on', right in the historical centre of Antwerp and all the nice shops, from new to classic, are close by. If you walk to the left, you'll be on the island in no time, if you walk to the right, it's a pleasant walk right through the city to 't Zuid.
(you can read more Antwerp tips here: Barts Boekje x Antwerp)
By the way, walking is a treat because Hotel de Witte Lelie is one of the few beautiful hotels in Antwerp where you can take your dog. Fine!
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