We reserved a room on the Walwyck Hotel website and got a confirmation for that address but when we arrived there on May 5, 2016, a sign on the door stated that there had been a fire and they could not accommodate us. Our reservation was for that address, Leeuwstraat 8, but we could see that there was no roof on the hotel so we assumed that their computer had been destroyed and they were unable to notify us.
May 5, the Procession of the Holy Blood, in Bruges, had brought 40,000 visitors so we knew it would be hard to find a hotel with space. We crossed the large square filled with bleachers twice, our bags bumping up and down on the cobblestones, trying to find a travel information office but one was closed for the ceremony and the other was on the road where the procession was taking place. Finally, we went into a hotel and inquired about spaces. They told us that the hotel fire had taken place 15 months previously, some 13 months before we made our reservation.
They called the number and found that our reservation had been for the Walwyck Suites, at a different address than shown on our reservation. It was a downscale place with several problems in its infrastructure, a pallid breakfast and unsympathetic host.
On Trip Advisor, I found a report from a couple who were sleeping in the Walwyck Hotel the night it burned. Apparently there was no smoke alarm or fire alarm and when they awakened it was impossible to exit so they broke open a window and climbed out on the roof, suffering glass cuts and smoke inhalation. The hotel never gave them any recompense for their night of horror nor paid their hospital expenses.
On Booking.com, I found a report of someone who made a reservation at the Walwyck but arrived there to no avail and never got an answer to their phone call.
The Rick Steves book about Bruges was published in 2013 but I bought it not long before our 2016 trip so I was mislead by the listing of the Walwyck. They tell me that they have already sent a new book about Bruges to the publisher and claim that it has been updated. Be wary. .