Albion Hotel Ypres

Arriving at the Albion Hotel means stepping through an entrance rebuilt to match the building that stood here before the First World War: yellowish polder clay brick and sandstone from Arras form the plinth, a deliberate echo of a Renaissance house with a stepped gable that once occupied the site. The hotel opened in 2000, when Luc and Christiane converted the historic building; their daughters Ruth and Daphne now run it alongside her. It is a small, family-run address in the centre of Ypres. Rooms number 32 across Classic and Premium categories, each with a box-spring bed, a small fridge, and a bathroom stocked with vegan toiletries. Premium rooms look over the rooftops of Ypres and carry a more contemporary finish; a lift serves every floor, and one room is fitted for wheelchair access. The Menin Gate stands 200 metres away, with the Grote Markt, the Cloth Hall, and the In Flanders Fields Museum all within walking distance. Breakfast draws on producers from the Westhoek region — bread from a bakery around the corner, cheese and brie made locally, meat from a nearby farm butcher. You can leave the car in the hotel's own enclosed car park, which also takes motorbikes and bicycles. Check-in starts at 3pm.