Hotel Dukes' Palace

The building was the residence of the Dukes of Burgundy in the 15th century, and the sense of ducal grandeur has survived the conversion to a hotel with remarkable integrity: the medieval chapel, the cobbled courtyard, and the original stonework all remain exactly where the dukes left them. Bruges itself is a medieval time capsule wrapped in canals, and the Dukes' Palace fits the city the way a crown fits a king, precisely, and as though it could never have been otherwise. 93 rooms arranged around courtyards that still feel more private residence than hotel, which, for several centuries, is precisely what they were.