1898 the Post

1898 the Post

1898 the Post occupies Ghent's former Hotel of Posts and Telegraphs, a Neo-Gothic building raised in 1898 by architect Louis Cloquet, who also restored St. Michael's Bridge a few steps away. The 38 rooms and suites, spread over two floors, run from roughly 20 to 65 square metres, each furnished with antique pieces, high ceilings and dark green walls rather than a repeated template. The Loft Suite has its own library and a marble bath under the roof; the octagonal Tower Suite, reached by a private winding stair, sits at the building's highest point with a 360-degree view over the rooftops; a corner duplex is built with families in mind. Mornings run slow at The Kitchen, where breakfast is cooked in full view with a fire lit on cold days, and evenings shift to The Cobbler, the in-house cocktail bar where the bartender reworks classic recipes and pours until 1am on weekends. What sets this address apart from Ghent's other boutique hotels is a MICHELIN Key, the guide's newer distinction for hotels, awarded here for character and service rather than square footage. It suits people who want a slow start, a short walk to Korenmarkt Square and Gravensteen Castle, and a drink made with some care. It will frustrate anyone chasing a pool, a spa floor, or an anonymous corporate room; there's a small gym and a garden terrace instead, plus a meeting room for those mixing business with the trip. Families get a playroom, wheelchair access covers the public areas, and the deposit and extra-bed fees stay modest. What stays with you afterward is the sense of a building still working, just for guests now instead of the post. A Neo-Gothic former post office turned into 38 rooms, each different, with a MICHELIN Key that most Ghent boutique hotels can't claim. Breakfast in The Kitchen, cocktails after dark at The Cobbler, and a Tower Suite view over the rooftops. Not for pool or spa seekers.