1. Idiosyncratic luxury
Boulevard Leopold is a B&B in a truly grand style: the main apartment comes with a sitting room larger than most London flats and a spare bedroom for extra guests. This 19th-century mansion in Antwerp's traditional Jewish quarter has been renovated with a light but idiosyncratic touch - owners Vincent and Bert wanted it to feel like the home of a beloved grandparent. Above the original inlayed flooring, the vintage sideboards groan with religious statuary, art books and minor taxidermy. While some of the style has been influenced by Vincent's work with renowned fashion designers such as Ann Demeulemeester, the kitchen is Bart's domain - a chef by training, he bakes the bread fresh every day for breakfast.
• Double rooms from €100 a night.
2. Sophisticated shoppers
The owners of Boulevard Leopold have just opened a pair of apartments right in the heart of the St Andries shopping district in the city centre. Equipped with kitchen and lounging space and accessed by separate front doors within a stairwell, the flats are perfect for longer stays or intimate shopping trips. Again the style here is a mix of vintage and contemporary, but this time with a lighter, more monochromatic atmosphere, reminiscent of the décor favoured by Antwerp favourite, Maison Martin Margiela. On nearby Nationalestraat you'll find some of Belgium's finest boutiques, including Dries van Noten, one of the "Antwerp Six" collective who put Antwerp on the fashion map in the 80s.
• Enquiries via the Boulevard Leopold website. Doubles from €120-€150 a night.
3. Discreet business
Antwerp doesn't really have a brilliant five-star hotel: perhaps it simply attracts travellers who don't much care for gyms and hotel restaurants. Instead the city's strength is its small independent establishments, many of which look after frazzled frequent travellers. With an orientally-inspired balance of interior and exterior spaces, and discreet use of natural materials, Hotel Julien is a favoured bolthole for fashion industry types such as Dirk Bikkembergs, who stays here when visiting his Antwerp headquarters. Accessed from a small backstreet, the atmosphere is quiet, low key and unfussy, and the location is dead central.
• Doubles from €165 to €270, weekend "fashion special" from €244 for two nights.
4. Old money, modern glamour
On one of the most beautifully proportioned streets in Antwerp, a couple of doors up from the Rockox House Museum, the 11-room De Witte Lelie is set inside three 17th-century houses grouped around a paved courtyard. This spacious hotel recently changed hands, and after 15 years of classic white interiors is now receiving a striking overhaul, with distinctly contemporary furniture that contrasts with its architectural style. Duplex rooms come with a central spiral staircase leading up to platforms under the eaves.
• Doubles from €245 a night
5. Shop and run
Strung out on three floors next door to the MoMu fashion museum, Room National was originally created by designer sisters Violetta and Vera Pepa, who until recently had a shop downstairs. The Pepas have departed, but the rooms remain; one 1960s-inspired double room (€95 a night) at the back and two studio apartments (€135 a night) at the front. The top floor studio gets the best light through its high windows, and has a Japanese-style wooden bathtub. The suites also come with a kitchenette for longer stays.
6. Shop and linger
Directly opposite Room National, M0851 is a classic designer B&B attached to the accessories shop on the ground floor. The shop is a Canadian leather-goods company that favours clean, neutral lines, natural dyes and materials that patinate with age. If the thought of that tickles, it's likely that the rooms will too - all are simply furnished and decked out with good linens and thoughtful detailing. There's a DVD and book library for guests, and breakfast is served around the corner in Het Dagelijks Brood, the Flemish incarnation of the Belgian chain Le Pain Quotidien.
• Doubles from €140 a night, inclusive.
7. Good mixers
The owners of the Cocktails at Nine bar have expanded into the 18th-century building above to create Linnen, three guest suites almost touching distance from the roof of the vast Cathedral of Our Lady. The warm-toned rooms are decked out with contemporary lounge-style furniture and smart modern bathrooms, but the architecture retains its period detailing. Perfect for cocktail-sipping mini-breakers.
• Doubles from €130 a night, breakfast not included.
8. Old-fashioned service
A 29-room privately run hotel near the waterfront in the old city centre, Hotel t'Sandt has an airy interior and good-sized rooms done up with neutral good taste. A comfortable hotel in traditional style, what sets it apart for most travellers is the friendly, helpful attitude of those who work here. It's a relaxing base from which to explore Antwerp's Cathedral quarter and the Sunday antiques market on the neighbouring Sint Jansvliet. For those doing business in the city, the hotel has five reception rooms accommodating 12 to 120 people.
• Doubles from €170 a night, special packages available for weekend stays.
9. Modest budgets
Save the price of a new designer outfit, (or at least your museum tickets) staying in the International Youth Hotel. The cheapest deal - €15 a night - is for those under the age of 26 sleeping in an eight-bed dorm with their own sleeping bags. Otherwise rooms are offered with two, three, and four beds. One child under the age of seven can stay for free in their parents' room. Included in the price of a room are WiFi, hot showers and a buffet breakfast.
• Doubles from €49 a night.
10. Industrial chic
Hotel Banks is only a few months old and has had definite teething troubles - no TVs, a non-functioning café, no check-in after 8pm - so be sure to enquire whether these have been resolved before booking. Basic rooms are relatively small and somewhat stark (as opposed to Starck) in style, although once one ascends to the height of a suite, the size and view are impressive. Banks has two things going for it: its location, which is peerlessly central, and its size, making it one of the few decent, central hotels able to accommodate large groups. If you were, say, a dozen young fashion stylists on a research trip, it's probably where you'd want to stay. They also claim to have adjoining rooms suitable for families, which is worth knowing in a city short on family accommodation.
• Doubles from €125 a night
• Hettie Judah is editor at large at The Word Magazine, Belgium
