Gay Antwerp Antwerp City Guide

Curation by Yasmina Rodríguez, words by Casey Siemasko

Antwerp is the rare city that does everything brilliantly — and knows better than to brag about it. Here, six centuries of artistic mastery sit alongside the world's most avant-garde fashion scene, Michelin-starred kitchens rub shoulders with canalside beer terraces, and a vibrant, open-spirited LGBTQ+ community makes every visitor feel immediately at home. Diamonds may be Antwerp's most celebrated export, but its true currency is unapologetic style. Whether you're browsing the flagship of a legendary fashion designer, gazing over the Scheldt with a cocktail in hand, or losing yourself in a 15th-century monastery transformed into a five-star hotel, this endlessly inventive Flemish city rewards the discerning traveller at every turn. Home to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the legendary Antwerp Six, the city has been setting the global agenda in fashion, design, and culture for decades — and shows absolutely no sign of stopping. Mr Hudson's guide to the very best of it starts right here.

The best hotels in Antwerp

Antwerp’s accommodation scene is a love letter to repurposed grandeur. Botanic Sanctuary Antwerp — the city’s first five-star superior hotel — weaves together five historic buildings, some dating to the 15th century, into one seamlessly opulent retreat. The 108 individually designed rooms and suites are complemented by a world-class spa with an 18-metre pool, and two outstanding restaurants on-site: one-starred Fine Fleur and the celebrated two-starred Hertog Jan, where Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens build high-concept menus around produce from their own gardens. Stately yet soulful, this is old-money luxury for the modern connoisseur.

For more intimate splendour, Hotel Julien — spread across two 16th-century townhouses in the heart of the Old Town — is Antwerp’s finest creative bolthole. Its 21 rooms blend reclaimed timbers, Carrara marble bathrooms, and gallery-sourced artworks, while the subterranean spa offers a hammam and sauna bookable for private use. The rooftop terrace, framing cathedral spires above sundowner cocktails, is almost offensively romantic. Equal parts art installation and hotel, De Witte Lelie — a Small Luxury Hotel of the World — unites three 17th-century gabled townhouses behind a gloriously eclectic interior: Warhol-inspired wallpaper, Bisazza mosaic bathrooms, jewel-toned fabrics, and one of the city’s most beautiful courtyard gardens. Completing this remarkable quartet, Sapphire House Antwerp occupies a magnificent 16th-century palace directly adjacent to the world’s original stock exchange. As one of Europe’s few entirely plant-based luxury hotels, it pairs opulent heritage detail with genuine culinary ambition at its acclaimed restaurant, WILDn.