{"id":24574,"date":"2026-06-29T03:34:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T03:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/24574\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T03:34:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T03:34:45","slug":"antwerp-is-europes-effortlessly-cool-design-destination-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/24574\/","title":{"rendered":"Antwerp is Europe’s effortlessly cool design destination"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hotel Flora<\/p>\n

Spending the night at Hotel Flora feels like a secret. Buzz the green door on Korte Nieuwstraat, and you\u2019ll be led down a landscaped path to a 15th-century merchant\u2019s mansion, converted into a boutique hotel with bold, maximalist decor by Belgian designer Gert Voorjans. In a nod to the port city\u2019s gem trade, the seven rooms are named for precious gemstones. Can\u2019t choose? Bring your friends along and book the entire place.<\/p>\n

Guesthouse Galalith<\/p>\n

Jewellery designer Pascale Masselis has opened a guest house with two apartments above her beautiful boutique. Available for short-term stays (a two-night minimum), the one-bedroom apartments have fully equipped kitchens and tasteful decor, such as artwork by contemporary visual artist Julien Delagrange.<\/p>\n

Hotel August<\/p>\n

A former Augustinian convent sets the stage for the first hotel project by acclaimed local architect Vincent Van Duysen. Sister property to the stylish Hotel Julien, this serene 44-room enclave offers a wellness space with an outdoor swimming pond and a restaurant overseen by chef Nick Bril of The Jane fame.<\/p>\n

Where to eat and drinkPriv\u00e9Priv\u00e9e<\/p>\n

To add to the breadth of his culinary empire (Le Pristine, Blueness), celebrity chef Sergio Herman is making headlines for his new culinary concept. A champion of the Zeeland terroir, Herman cooks for just 20 diners at a time in a private, art-filled kitchen at Priv\u00e9Priv\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

Website: sergiohermangroup.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

A standout dish at Hertog Jan is potato foam with coffee, vanilla, and shaved mimolette cheese<\/p>\n

Pieter D’Hoop\/Hertog Jan\/Botanic Sanctuary\"Image<\/p>\n

Chef Gert De Mangeleer and sommelier Joachim Boudens of Hertog Jan<\/p>\n

Tim Tronckoe\/Hertog Jan\/Botanic SanctuaryCobra<\/p>\n

Antwerp\u2019s creatives congregate at Cobra, a hot spot since it opened last summer \u2013 and not just because of its fashion cred (it was launched by Esfan Eghtessadi, co-founder of Essential Antwerp). The restaurant turns out stellar cocktails and crowd-pleasing nibbles that are meant to be shared (croquetas, vitello tonnato, Irish Mor oyster with Champagne granitas). Plus, there\u2019s a terrific terrace for people-watching.<\/p>\n

Address: Cobra, Leopoldplaats 3, 2000 Antwerpen, Belgium
Website: cobra-antwerp.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hertog Jan<\/p>\n

Fans of Chef Gert De Mangeleer and sommelier Joachim Boudens\u00a0were relieved when this Bruges<\/a> institution, closed in 2018 after 13 years, was resurrected inside the Botanic Sanctuary Hotel with its own greenhouse and vegetable garden. Still on the menu? The all-time classic potato foam with coffee, vanilla and shaved mimolette cheese. New stand-outs include the toro no toro, in which locally caught kingfish is enhanced with Flemish Holstein beef to imitate the fat of tuna belly and topped with Royal Belgian Caviar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hotel Flora Spending the night at Hotel Flora feels like a secret. Buzz the green door on Korte…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6],"tags":[14412,19,7,2082,69],"class_list":["post-24574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-antwerp","tag-alternative-summer-europe","tag-antwerp","tag-belgium","tag-destinations","tag-europe"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116831300257334884","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}