The Hotel Montovani is a reasonably priced hotel that offers you all that you would expect or need. Its biggest asset, of course, is its location. It is located a block off the main avenue, Hoefijzerlaan and is just mere blocks away from the Historic City Center. The hotel has a lounge area and a glass covered veranda that opens out to a lovely small garden. This was the ideal location in which to enjoy the delicious breakfast or, perhaps to relax in the afternoon with a hot beverage. These were included in the room rate. The rooms were comfy and clean, the bed and pillows, comfortable, enabling you to wake up refreshed and ready to start your day of exploration. The service was friendly and efficient. There was free wifi. There was no onsite parking, but free parking was available on the nearby avenue, just minutes away. Bruges is the capital and largest city of West Flanders. It was inducted into UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2000. We were visiting Bruges with the intent of adding this World Heritage Site to our list, in this case, there would be three. Bruges's Historic City Centre is distinguished by its canals, cobbled streets, medieval buildings. In fact, along with cities such as Amsterdam, it is often referred to as the ”Venice of the North'. The Belfry of Bruges is part of the World Heritage Site of Belfries of Belgium and France list, which includes 56 Belfries in total. The tower, which dates from the 13th century, has 366 steps which lead to the top of the 272 feet high building. This is a must ”to do” climb! The third site is the Ten Wijngaerde Beguinage, a beguinage built in the 13th century and included in the World Heritage Site of ”Flemish Beguinages”. A Beguinage was an architectural complex which was built to house beguines, lay religious women who lived in the community without taking vows or retiring from the world. As we were only here for two nights, I do not have a lot of recommendations on where to eat dinner. The one dinner that we did eat here, was at the Cafe Sportsman, situated on the Markt. The meal was good and the service was good, but what was most extraordinary, was the location. There are many restaurants situated around this square, so your choice is quite overwhelming. The buildings are extraordinaire, the Belfry was located across from us, and in the evening, the light is very distracting. A visit to Bruges is worthwhile and actually deserves more than two nights, but there was still much ahead in our journey. So whether you stay longer or shorter, the Montovani comes with a high recommendation!
