The Fashionable Frequent Flyers

During my Euro trip this summer, I visited Belgium for the first time, and during that trip, I had the pleasure of visiting the quaint and charming city of Bruges. Bruges had been on my bucket list for a very long time — I was always intrigued by the gothic architecture and old buildings. I also loved the notion of a charming town that was entirely walkable. I’m so glad I made the trip because Bruges was truly remarkable.

Part of what made this solo trip special was my stay at the Notary Hotel. As a luxury traveler, a decent chunk of my time is spent vetting hotels that’ll compliment luxury vacation. For my Bruges trip, I decided to go with the Notary Hotel, a specialized boutique hotel, featuring a unique and eclectic variation of suites. The common areas were charming, with old European-influenced decor. The gardens were absolutely gorgeous and the hotel featured a natural pool, where you can swim with the fish. Of course, I had to partake — check that out here! I’d give the hotel at 4.5/5 star rating on aesthetics.

I selected the Morian suite for my stay, which seemed to have a few influences from the Middle East and Morocco. The room adopted a bold red color as the core color of the decor, and that carried throughout the suite. The suite was very spacious — it had a huge King sized bed and living room area. One thing I absolutely loved was all the plant life in the suite — that was very unusual for a luxury property. The bathroom was very large, with a stone walk-in shower and brownish-red free standing tub in a separate part of the bathroom. As is common in European hotels, pretty much everything is controlled by the iPad in the suite, so I advise you become very familiar with it, especially as it pertains to in-room service. This was probably one of the nicest rooms I’ve stayed in — I’d give it a solid 5*.

Let’s talk about the service! This was without question one of my favorite things about this boutique hotel. The service was stellar and personalized. Because the hotel houses a limited number of guests, each guest gets specific and focused treatment. In fact, that stellar service isn’t limited to just what happens within the hotel’s walls. The staff at The Notary were able to organize for me a private canal tour and negotiate a reasonable price for such an amazing excursion. At every turn, my needs were met.

So you must be wondering what I struggled with then, if anything. Truthfully, as quaint and charming as everything was, I did wish there were a few more amenities, especially with respect to fitness — like a gym. I also wish the hotel had meal offerings other than breakfast, but having said that, I was forced to explore the Bruges food scene some so it wasn’t terrible. Lastly, I thought that the price point was perhaps a tad more than it should’ve been given the limited amenities. But other than that, I thought the hotel was great. The final hotel rating is revealed below:

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