13th century Belgium farmhouse

Impluse trip and farmhouse accommodation

We decided to have a short trip to Belgium after Christmas on the spur of a moment. Anyone would know that booking your trip and your accommodation at the last minute will cost a fortune. Besides, the period between Christmas and new year’s was a peak tourist season in Belgium. All affordable hotels are booked out. We did not want to break an arm and a leg for a quick getaway yet I really want to get out of France. My husband then resorted to looking for hotels in areas between Brussels and Gent and he found one, a 13-century farmhouse.

Mid-range French Hotels

But first, allow me to digress a little. If you have been to France and have stayed in one of its medium priced hotels, you are no stranger to nothingness. That is right, French hotels are usually equipped with near zero amenities. In all my travels, French hotels are some of the worst I have been. If you are expecting the usual suspects of amenities such as a toothbrush with mini toothpaste, mini soaps and perhaps shower caps, you will get a nasty surprise. These things are not usually provided. Even if they were to provide you with soaps and shampoos they are cheap and do not always serve their purposes.

What about a kettle, fridge and hair dryer? What we think of as the basis for any hotel, they are only reserved for the high-end hotels in France.

13th century farm house

Having stayed in quite a few hotels in France, I am no stranger to their minimalistic philosophy. However, this newly restored 13th-century farmhouse apartment hotel just blew our minds away. For 69 euros during relatively peak tourist season, the room is equipped with a kichenette, all utensils necessary for cooking and serving, a fridge, a microwave, and a coffee making. Tea and coffee were also provided. There is a flat screen tv with a small but sufficient dining table. Its bathroom is spacious and equipped with hair drying, a comfortable and large shower box. The living room has a view of part of the 13th-century storage house.

Getting there

This beautiful accommodation can be reached by taking the local bus from Aalter’s train station or by car. It can be difficult to spot while you concentrate on driving but once you know the way, there will be no problems. It is close to the local supermarket and the Aalter town where you can get your groceries, the bakery, and fuel.

Aalter is a town between Brussels and Gent. Getting to Brussels by car from Aalter takes about 1 hour and to Gent and Brugges, half an hour each.

Checking in and checking out

The check-in process for this hotel apartment is rather unique. In fact, this hotel is not equipped with a reception. After your reservation is confirmed by email, they will send you instructions on how to get to the hotel and how to check it. They will also send you a code to open their safe deposit box where you will find an envelope with your name, invoice, a map of the area, and of course the card to your room. Despite the absense of a reception, checking in was pretty straight forward for us.

Their welcome book did not contain information on how to check out. However, it is pretty self explanatory too. We just dropped our card into the check out letter box and we did not have any problems.

Dining and room service

Although the farm house has a restaurant which only opens at night, you could not however order any room service. If you got there by car you could drive into town and dine in one of its restaurants. No breakfast is provided but you could pop by their other hotel which is about 10 minutes away.

The verdict

We find that staying is Aalter is the most practical as it allows us to get to our destination within the hour. The price for the hotel was extremely reasonable and its rooms are well equiped. They also have rooms with different sizes to cater for larger group or family.