Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof Ghent

Style

Dead Poets Society

Setting

Heaven Ghent

In a Louis XIV-style townhouse that once belonged to the namesake poet, Pillows Grand Hotel Reylof in Ghent is a palatially proportioned Belgian stay. Sweeping staircases, roaring fires and wood-panelling rub shoulders with contemporary furniture and lighting in a chic palette of browns, creams and greys. If the setting has you feeling inspired, you can wander the series of high-ceilinged salons while crafting your own verse… or just settle in for fine-dining fare in the elegant dining room. And you can rest assured: anywhere with the word ‘pillows’ in its title is going to give good sleep.

Facilities

Rooms

156, including 29 suites.

Checkout

Noon, but flexible, subject to availability and a fee. Earliest check-in, 3pm, also flexible.

More Details

Rates don’t usually include breakfast, from €35 a person.

Also

The hotel's restaurant and ground-floor rooms are accessible for wheelchair users, but no rooms have been specially adapted.

Fitness Center

Free Internet Access

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

Spa

At the Hotel

Free WiFi throughout, valet parking, gym. In rooms: LED TV, air-conditioning, minibar, free bottled water, tea-making kit, Nespresso coffee machine and Pillows bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

If you want to ponder your next volume of poetry from the bath, book a Reylof Suite, which has a freestanding tub by the window. For added inspiration ( and some Ghent rooftop gazing), go for a room with a balcony.

Poolside

There’s a heated adults-only pool in the spa.

Spa

Spa Reylof is open between 6.30am and 10pm every day except Monday. There’s a sauna, steam room and treatment rooms for rituals ranging from mani-pedis and Asian-inspired peels to hi-tech Sothys facials.

Packing Tips

Bring suitably sweeping-staircase-ready attire.

Also

The hotel’s entirely cashless, so be sure to pack your plastic.

Children

All ages are welcome, but there’s nothing special for mini Smiths.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Go for a table by the lofty windows to enjoy the natural light, or hold court in the chic central banquette.

Dress Code

Don smoking jackets and slippers to make Baron de Reylof proud.

Hotel Restaurant

Breakfast is available in Lof Restaurant, Lof Café and the Living; it’s a buffet in the former, coffees, granola and croissants to go in the café, and dishes to order in the latter. The Michelin-starred Dutch chef Ron Blaauw designed the menu for the restaurant, which features French and Flemish fare, all washed down with a global wine selection. High ceilings, huge windows and parquet floors up the elegance. Lof Café is opposite, and is great for cups of coffee (and cups of wine), depending on the time of day.

Hotel Bar

The Living is upstairs from the main restaurant, in the room where the baron penned his poems, but with similarly palatial proportions – settle in for a Raspberry Reylof or a Belgian beer in style.

Last Orders

Breakfast is served from 7am to 11am. LOF serves lunch from noon to 2.30pm and dinner between 6pm and 9.30pm, Tuesdays to Saturdays. LOF Café is open all day from 7am to 11pm (10.30pm on Mondays). The Living is also open all day.

Room Service

A selection of French bistro classics can be served in-room.

Planes

There’s no airport in Ghent, so you’ll have to land in Brussels and make your way from there. Hotel transfers for the 50-minute trip cost €125 each way.

Trains

Ghent’s Dampoort station is about a 10-minute drive from the hotel. From here, trains come and go from other cities including Brussels and Antwerp. The Eurostar has direct trains from London to Ghent (journey time, around two hours).

Automobiles

Driving to and from Brussels will take under an hour; there’s valet parking when you arrive (€50 a day). It’s easy to get around Ghent on foot, but it’s worth hiring a car if you don’t fancy catching the train from Brussels airport.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Pen your next poems in one of the salons or cosy nooks throughout this palatial home, enjoy the shiny new spa or feast on some seriously fancy fine dining in a sleek modern space, before heading out to explore this often-overlooked Belgian city. Art lovers will enjoy the modern works on display at SMAK, the city’s Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art on Jan Hoetplein; closed Mondays. If cobbled mediaeval lanes, artisan ateliers, tiny restaurants and independent shops are more your thing, make a beeline for the Patershol part of town. Or compare notes between the two abbeys: Saint Peter’s and Saint Bavo’s. Count the crenellations at Gravensteen Castle, the waterside former fortress of the counts of Flanders.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .