How We Rented Accommodation in Bruges

[Victor Tribunsky]

The Belgian city of Bruges made us fall in love with it during the two days we spent there in May last year, and we knew we had to come back. But the splendid Egmond Hotel in the old town cost 115 EUR per day, including an amazing breakfast. Is it possible to find anything less expensive? Yes, it’s possible as it turns out! But for this, you should live in a rented accommodation in Bruges, not in a hotel.

We were lucky to see a great variety of such accommodations during our first walks there–from tiny houses to nearly palaces.

After a quick search on the Internet, my navigator (ma wife) quickly has found the site belvilla.com and our future house in Bruges. If you speak a little English (or any of nine languages represented at the site) and have a credit card, it’s not difficult to rent an accommodation for a week or more. You have a choice: to pay for the whole period, or make a small down payment and pay the balance within three months.

Here is our Bruges accommodation—a small yellow Zoe's Cottage at Rolweg 37.

The minimum rental period is one week, and the rest depends on your wishes and the availability of rental dates. One week costs 470 EUR (that was in 2012). It is much more reasonable than any decent hotel in the old part of Bruges.

Later, at parting, the hostess gave me her calling card with her personal e-mail address in case I wish to rent this house for the next time. I suspect that the cost will be even lower.

Upon your arrival the owners will take 200 EUR in cash from you as a deposit. They will deduct light and gas charges out of it (there is a boiler for hot water) and you’ll get the balance back on your account after departure (you should have the details of your bank account with you so they can make the money transfer). We paid about 30 EUR for gas and light for a period of six days.

Those were the financial details; now for the pure romance. Read more...