This Valentine’s weekend we’re saying no to heart-shaped chocolates and instead indulging in true romance at The Verhaegen – a former royal residence and secret patch of idyll in the bustling centre of Ghent, Belgium.
Just steps from St Michael’s bridge and the historical centre, the house blends deceptively well into the surrounding area. But walk through its front door and you’re instantly transported to a land where the bygone era of dukes and duchesses collides tastefully with beautiful, functional design.
The Verhaegen provides a travel experience like no other, marrying together the intimacy of staying at a family home with an immersive historical tour.
Far from feeling like a sterile museum space, the house is home to Jan, Marc and Tomba the dog, who needed just one hour to decide to make the purchase in 2004 after experiencing the same inexplicable feeling when mounting the stairs for the first time.
Since then, the couple has spent years painstakingly restoring its original features and injecting their own personal style. As you stand in their living room and wonder how 18th century murals fit so perfectly with abstract Jonathan Horowitz art, you realise that Jan and Marc – interior designers by trade – were the ideal match for the job.
The Verhaegen is a B&B – a term that both downplays its undeniable grandeur and accurately captures its unique authenticity. It does indeed provide bed and breakfast; however those beds come with satin sheets and that breakfast is freshly-baked croissants served under antique silver cloches.
We were fortunate to stay in the B&B’s brand new wing – a converted stable suite in the grounds that provides modern luxury against the historical backdrop. The suite opened for guests in December 2021 after 11 years of battles for planning permission and full-scale restoration of the space.
Separate to the original palace building, the stable suite offers unique privacy and a self-sufficient space with all the necessary amenities, allowing the guest to choose whether to stay in and cook or take advantage of Ghent’s incredible gastronomic scene.
Again, great design is the centrepiece of the suite, bringing together quality soft furnishings in earthy tones with the clean terrazzo and brass combination of the bathroom. It’s created for comfort and to be lived in – whether that’s enjoying a book indoors in wintery weather or a coffee overlooking the gardens in spring.
These gardens, housing 1000 tulips, also merit a special mention as a protected historic site and place of sanctuary. When you’re wandering around the lemon tree, admiring the art nouveau details of the building, it’s hard to believe that you’re in the city centre of Ghent and not the grounds of a secluded country manor.
Indeed, this flexibility of experience forms a major pillar of The Verhaegen’s ethos. The house welcomes guests from all corners and walks of life, and its owners strive to cater for their individual needs. In their own words, it’s not designed to provide the experience of a five star hotel and – although hard to fathom – there are those guests for whom the luxury element doesn’t live up to palatial expectations.
For us, The Verhaegen is pure luxury by its most basic definition: comfort, elegance, and richness of experience. It offers an exclusive and personalised stay in a warm and welcoming environment.
It’s a haven of otherworldly tranquility just a stone’s throw from the thriving independent businesses and Michelin-grade restaurants of Ghent’s ‘Left Bank’.
And this location is important to mention, because Ghent – and Jan and Marc’s passion for the city – plays a central role in The Verhaegen’s narrative. It personifies the juxtaposition of history and culture that makes Ghent so special, framing the old world through its roots as the home of Baron Verhaegen and his family, and bringing in the new with its ability to be many things to many people – a versatility that is uniquely Gentse/Gandois.
The Verhaegen is truly one of the most distinctive stays we’ve ever experienced and a place where no two visits would be the same… at least that’s our excuse to, hopefully, make a return visit in the not-too-distant future.
Book one of the unique rooms at The Verhaegen here.
We ate
Delicious breakfast of freshly-made viennoiseries from a local bakery with honey, jam and marmalade; coffee; grapefruit juice; toast and eggs two ways – fried and scrambled
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