Main Street Hotel

It’s a weird place, the Main Street Hotel, and given how well they’ve orchestrated all the weirdness, we’ll count that as a good thing. Each of the six rooms is a bit like a toy-chest, stocked with the sorts of curios that will make you want to do a lot of poking around, opening up all the drawers to see what’s inside, turning things over in your hands. And there’s a lot of faux fur; let’s get that out of the way. But if you can get past that initial feeling of what-the-fuzz-is-going-on, the anything-but-mainstream Main Street hotel is in fact a very fun place to stay.

Fun, it turns out, is something Ypres is rather good at — no small thing for a town with a sobering place in WWI history. The last Belgian territory to stay under Allied control, it was virtually leveled in battle. In the intervening years it’s been rebuilt in its former medieval style, and today most visitors come to learn about the town’s history, visiting historic sites and the many memorials. We’ll let you draw your own conclusions about human resiliency; suffice to say, a visit is a moving experience.

Life, as they say, goes on, and life in this charming Belgian town, history aside, is quite pleasant. At the Main Street Hotel, the day begins with a breakfast that puts to shame the usual uninspired spread. (Inspiration is not something this hotel lacks.) It’s got all the usual cereals and pastries and juices, plus dishes like “eggy crumpets with chili peppers” for those tired of the hotel-breakfast standards. There’s a quirky little bar that looks a bit like the West Flanders version of a drawing room designed by Jack White, a pleasant terrace-garden, and an eminently walkable town just beyond.


How to get there:
Main Street Hotel is located 1.7 km from Ieper's train Station.