A small group of us went to Gent for a weekend and decided to stay on the Boatel - taking up all the rooms. We therefore had the hotel to ourselves which was much nicer than staying in a bigger chain hotel.
The rooms are comfortable and clean and it is very quiet on the canal despite it being a short walk from the old town centre.
The owner Sven was very helpful and friendly and provided an excellent breakfast with local breads and pastries.
It was a unique experience and would highly recommend it as an alternative to a hotel.

Had a wonderful time in Ghent, and staying on the Boatel was magical. It is a converted boat (spacious ex-industrial) moored on one of the canals, and has about 6 bedrooms. Especially enjoyed the deck as we had great weather and it was wonderful sitting, chatting and drinking wine as the sun went down. Breakfast was good, and the owner/manager, Sven, was very friendly and helpful. Only a ten minute stroll into the old centre. So pleased that we stayed here, and wholeheartedly recommend it.

We had a great stay at the boatel. The hotel romms were very nice, with a really confortable bed. There is something spectacular about sleeping so close to the water!!!
It´s very close to the center of town, and is a nice walk to it. The captain was really nice to us, and he makes a good good breakfast for you everymorning!

The Boatel is a 2 star hotel just off from the main square (5 min walk).

From a 2 star hotel we would expect it to be clean, secure and reasonably priced.

We found it all of these things. In addition it is central, quiet, the owner / manager was extremely helpful and completely unobtrusive and the breakfast was really good. It was also "quirky" and different to the normal bog standard 2 star you might find.

We would not hesitate to stay again it. I