Room Service: Firean Hotel, Antwerp

There is no shortage of accommodation in Antwerp: much of it is concentrated in, or very close to, the Old Town. Although the usual chains are represented, the city is also blessed with some excellent independents. The Firean Hotel is a good example. It is a family-owned stylish hotel in a 1929 Art Deco building. The service is pleasantly old-fashioned and the public areas are cosy with fresh flowers, rich fabrics, and a tasteful mix of antiques and reproductions. The hotel's fine restaurant, the Minerva, is a few doors down the street.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Firean Hotel, Karel Oomsstraat 6, 2018 Antwerp (00 32 3 237 0260, www.hotelfirean.com). Though located in a residential area south of the city centre, there are good tram services (No 2 a few yards away, No 15 five minutes' walk, both to Centraal Station and Old Town) and buses into town (No 17 or No 27 to Centraal Station). Journeys take 10-15 minutes.

Airport transport: A taxi shouldn't cost more than €10 (£6.65) or take much more than 10 minutes.

ARE YOU LYING COMFORTABLY?

There are 15 soundproofed air-conditioned rooms, nine in the main building and six in an adjacent annexe. Each room is decorated differently and they are all very homely. Towelling robes and slippers are provided.

Freebies: Excellent breakfast: fresh fruit salad and yogurt, fruit juice, eggs, cheese and cold cuts and a heavy bread and pastry basket. Sweets (sadly not Belgian chocolates).

Keeping in touch: Phones in every room.

THE BOTTOM LINE

"Classic" rooms are €146 (£97) for a double, but it's worth an extra €10 (£6.65) to upgrade to a (larger) Executive room.

I'm not paying that: the New International Youth Hotel (00 32 3 230 0522, www.niyh.be) at Provinciestraat 256 has shared-bathroom doubles from €40 (£26.65).