Lodging location in Ghent

What do you mean by “Flanders”? Flanders is the name of the entire Dutch/Flemish speaking part of Belgium, so basically half of the country. Ghent and Bruges are cities within Flanders. What exact part of Flanders do you wish to visit?

HI
Flanders field, Ypres in Flanders. So looking for a tour that goes to Ypres from Ghent if possible. Sorry to upset everyone

In Ghent we stayed near Gravensteen castle. It is a good location to see what the city has to offer. We took the Quasimodo Flanders Field tour, but it leaves from Brugges.

You didn’t upset me at all, it just wasn’t clear what you wanted to visit. I now understand that by “Flanders” you actually meant the “In Flanders Fields museum”. This museum is located in the city of Ypres, Dutch/Flemish spelling is Ieper, with a capital i as a first letter.
There are direct trains from Ghent/Gent to Ypres/Ieper.
For train schedules and tickets, see the website of the Belgian national railway company https://www.belgiantrain.be/en
For information about the museum see their website https://www.inflandersfields.be/

The historic center of Ghent is smaller than the historic center of Bruges or Antwerp. Because you mention daily rail trips (mostly available five or six times an hour, unreserved, during the business day) I would consider the railroad station location (which is not in the historic center) as well as restaurants in my hotel decision. I have only had casual lunch in Ghent, so I can't make dinner suggestions. Have you looked at Google Maps?

I personally prefer to stay in Antwerp, but you've made your sleeping decision, which is fine. In my opinion, a full day is enough to "see Ghent." Don't fail to reserve in advance for the Mystic Lamb altarpiece.

You may wish to use the (pretty good) Search function top center to read about travelers whose main interest is war history in Belgium. It's a different project than the prosperous, art-rich and architecture-rich area centered on Ghent and Bruges.

How many nights will you be in Ghent?

While not near the train station I have stayed at Hotel Harmony (both in 2022 for 2 nights and in 2019 for 4 nights, 2 of which were on a Rick Steves tour) and really liked the location. There are dozens of restaurants within a few blocks. I also spent 6 nights on a Road Scholar tour at Ghent River Hotel just about 2 blocks away on the other side of the Leie River. Both had excellent breakfasts. The Harmony breakfast room overlooks the river while the Ghent River Hotel is on the top floor with a nice view of Ghent. Harmony is more boutique and smaller, Ghent River is more what I think of as a "business-class" hotel. Both were very clean and comfortable with very nice staff.

The Harmony is a few steps closer to the tram line that would take you to the train station.

I've done a search on the Fairfiled Inn in Ghent but am not finding it (but could definitely be a user error on my part, lol!!). There is a really nice Marriott facing the main small harbor area that is in a great location.

If you do find a tour of Flanders Fields the American Cemetery there is really poignant. I was looking for tours a few years ago and saw good reviews of Quasimodo Tours but they are from Bruges not Ghent.

HI
Thank you for the suggestions. The Marriott is a Residence inn not a Fairfield inn. It appears closer to the train station

OK, I see where that is. It's about an hour's walk to the old central core of town. I walked from the Harmony out to the Art museum complex which took about 30 minutes and that felt like a long way, lol.

I just looked around on googlemaps street view and while it looks adequate if I were staying in Ghent, I'd want to stay in an area with more local charm which to me would be the central core. The charm of Ghent is the old buildings and canals/rivers.

If you have to stay there because of budget concerns then fine, but to me it would be like visiting an American town with a cute/interesting central core but staying out on the Interstate. I guess I just assumed you'd be using the train but if you have a car this is probably a good location as it's got a parking lot whereas parking might be difficult in the central part of Ghent.

We stayed at the Hotel Carlton it is very close to the Gent-Sint-Pieters train station. We found it very handy to travel to other city's. It is a bit far from the city center but the tram is very close by, and easy to navigate, it only takes a few minutes to ride to the city center.. Pretty much loved everything about the hotel, staff, and owners. I would stay here any time we visit Ghent.

PS. One of the best meals we had on our 4 week trip last year was at the Café Parti which is on the square just outside of the train station.

HI CJ
Thanks for the information.
The breakfast at the hotel, American type of pastries and coffee?

I love Gent - great choice. We've always chosen an airbnb - so consider that especially to stay in the city center. There's a Marriott in the city center - my friends stayed there. The walk from Dampoort into the main part of the city isn't bad - you're gonna walk alot anyway. If you're looking to splurge we've had awesome meals at Door73 and Karel de Stoute. Fun evening and pizza at Dok Brewing. The audio tour of the castle is one of the best I've ever heard.

Take the easy 90 minute train to Ieper - that's why tours don't leave from Gent as its a bit of a haul and the train is super easy. We also enjoyed Ieper, a WW1 tour (although it was rather intense and a long day) and the bar ol right at the Meinin Gate before catching the last train back to Gent. Do not miss the Last Post ceremony.

Xplore Flanders Fields - Battlefield Tours was the tour

The breakfast at the hotel, American type of pastries and coffee?

The breakfast was great. We were very happy with it. Eggs cooked to order, along with just about anything else you could want. I don't even remember all of it. Bacon. pancakes, fresh orange juice. Then also the more European cold cuts, cheese, all kinds of breads, dried and fresh fruit. I tell you I could rave about this place for days.