Where to stay in Antwerp: hotel, Airbnb or a furnished apartment?

Hotels, Airbnb listings, aparthotels, furnished apartments: when you plan a stay in Antwerp, the options blur together. What decides it is your trip: how many nights, who comes, and whether you work here.

In this guide

• Airbnb vs serviced apartment: what each type of stay includes
• Short term lease in Belgium: when a lease beats a furnished stay

Where to stay in Antwerp for a few nights?

For a stay of two to four nights, stay close to what you came for. The historic centre around the Grote Markt and the cathedral suits a first visit, because the old town is on your doorstep. The area around Antwerpen-Centraal suits people who arrive by train or plan day trips.

A hotel is usually the easiest choice for a short city break. You get a reception, cleaning every day and often breakfast, and you only need a bed. An apartment starts to make sense when you travel as a family or a group. Separate bedrooms, a table to eat at and a kitchen matter more than a hotel lobby.

Hoost takes bookings from two nights, so a weekend works. The building is about 4.2 km from the Grote Markt in a straight line. Trams 2 and 6 run from the Diamant stop next to Antwerpen-Centraal to the Olympiade area near the building. The route is on the De Lijn timetable for line 6. Our guide to getting around Antwerp by tram explains tickets and stops, and the weekend in Antwerp guide suggests what to do.

Where to stay in Antwerp for weeks or months?

For a stay of a few weeks to a few months, a furnished apartment is usually the better fit. From about a week, daily life takes over: you cook, wash clothes, work at a desk and want more than one room. Hotel rooms get small fast, and eating out every night adds up.

You then choose between two very different things:

• A furnished stay is booked for fixed dates, with furniture, linen and utilities sorted. You arrive and live. It suits project work, a relocation, an internship or the months between selling a house and moving into the next one.
• A lease is a rental contract under Flemish law. In Flanders a short-term lease runs at most three years and the home becomes your main residence, where you register your address.

The guide on the difference between a lease and a furnished stay explains the lease rules in plain words. If you are moving here for good, the pillar on living in Antwerp covers the first weeks.

Important

You cannot register your address (domicile) during a Hoost stay. If you need to register with the city soon after you arrive, you need a lease.

Places to stay in Antwerp: which area suits you?

The best area to stay in Antwerp depends on your plans, not on one “best” neighbourhood. Antwerp is compact, and trams link most districts. Still, a sightseeing weekend and a six-week project call for different bases.

Areas of Antwerp at a glance

Visit Antwerpen describes Zurenborg as a neighbourhood of stately mansions and cosy squares. Antwerp South is where Hoost is, and it is the only area we know first-hand. The building is about 1.2 km from Antwerp Expo, about 0.5 km from the Olympic Stadium and about 1.9 km from Middelheim Park. ZAS Middelheim is about 2.1 km away.

For work on the south side of the city, Antwerp South sits next to the ring and the Kennedytunnel, about 3.2 km by road. The pillar on where to stay in Antwerp for work covers Expo, the port and the hospitals. For the neighbourhood itself, read Antwerp South and Middelheim Park.

Accommodation in Antwerp compared: hotel, Airbnb and apartment

A hotel, an Airbnb listing and a furnished apartment differ mainly in services, space and flexibility. A hotel sells a room with services. Airbnb is a platform: what you get depends on each host. A furnished apartment gives you a whole home with a kitchen, and fewer services.

Hotel, Airbnb and a Hoost apartment compared

You will often see “serviced apartment” in search results. The Cambridge Dictionary definition of serviced describes a furnished rental with extra services, such as cleaning and a reception. Hoost has no reception or daily cleaning, so we call ours furnished apartments. The guide on how serviced apartments, Airbnb and hotels differ goes through each option in detail.

One check applies to every short stay in Flanders. Vlaanderen.be states that anyone who houses people for payment must register the accommodation with Toerisme Vlaanderen. That includes occasional rentals through online platforms.

Where to stay in Antwerp South: what a Hoost stay looks like

A Hoost stay means one of four furnished apartments in one building at VIIde-Olympiadelaan 19, 2020 Antwerpen. There is one apartment per floor. The ground floor has one bedroom for up to 2 guests, with a private garden and air conditioning. The three upper floors each have two bedrooms for up to 4 guests.

How the stay runs:

• Arrival. Self check-in with a lockbox from 15:00, check-out by 11:00. If your flight lands early, our guide on getting from Brussels Airport to Antwerp covers the train and the tram.
• In every apartment. A kitchen with cooking basics, a double bed in every bedroom, bed linen, towels, a TV and heating. Each has a desk with Wi-Fi and Ethernet on a Telenet fibre connection.
• In the building. A shared washing machine and dryer. A cot and a high chair are available on request.
• Included. Electricity, heating and water. City tax is charged separately. Cleaning is charged per booking, and longer stays can add a cleaning roughly every two weeks.
• Getting around. Trams 2 and 6 stop near the building. P+R Olympiade, about 0.2 km away, has a low daily rate set by the city, and there is paid parking nearby. The building is outside the low-emission zone.
• For companies. Company invoicing, and up to 7 people with their own bedroom across the four apartments.

Guests rate the apartments 4.70 to 4.92 out of 5 across 118 Airbnb reviews. Stays longer than a few weeks often suit temporary housing in Antwerp, for relocations and assignments.

When Hoost is not the right choice

Hoost is a small, practical option, and it does not fit every trip. Choose something else if one of these applies to you:

• You want to step out into the old town. A hotel in the historic centre is a better base for a short sightseeing trip.
• You need hotel services. There is no reception, no daily cleaning and no breakfast.
• You need to register your address. That is not possible during a stay; you need a lease.
• You need parking on the property. There is none; parking is at P+R Olympiade or in paid parking nearby.
• You stay one night, or longer than 6 months in one go. The minimum is two nights, and a longer stay needs a new booking.
• You travel with a pet. Pets are not allowed.

If none of these rule us out, send your dates and we will tell you which of our apartments in Antwerp South fits your group.