Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp

Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp

Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp occupies a former 12th-century monastery in the heart of the city, its garden and original stone walls folded into a 20,000-square-metre property built around that history rather than over it. That monastic past is the one thing here no competitor can copy: the spa, with its sauna, steam room and indoor pool, sits inside a structure that has stood in Antwerp since the 1200s. The 108 rooms keep it simple, minibars, slippers and room service as standard, and the address puts high-end boutiques and the city's main sights within walking distance, good for anyone who would rather explore on foot than book a shuttle, though airport transfers are there for those who will not. As a member of the Leading Hotels of the World, the hotel runs a restaurant and bar alongside conference rooms and event spaces built for weddings as readily as board meetings, so it suits a couple marking an anniversary about as well as it suits a small corporate offsite. It suits families less: babysitting can be arranged, but the mood stays quiet and adult, and pets are not allowed on site. Check-in runs from 3pm and check-out is at 11am, ordinary hours that still leave a morning free for one more walk through the garden before the car to the airport arrives. What lingers afterward is not the gym or the business center, both perfectly serviceable, but the plain fact of sleeping inside a building that has outlasted the country around it. A 12th-century monastery turned 108-room hotel in central Antwerp, its spa and stone walls carrying that history through. It suits couples and small business groups more than families with young children. Check-in is 3pm, check-out 11am.