Bruges has granted the Carmelite Fathers at the Carmel Monastery a five-year temporary permit to run 20 guest rooms.
Although guests have long been welcomed at the 17th-century monastery, the city has now formally approved a change of use and issued a permit covering the next five years.
The accommodation will consist of 15 single rooms and five double rooms, all created within the monastery’s existing cells at Sarephta, allowing the Carmelites to continue a centuries-old tradition of hospitality.
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The Fathers will run the guest house themselves. Guests will be able to have breakfast in a shared room, while an existing meeting room will be made available for quiet reflection and contemplation.
The Carmelites say they want to offer visitors a place to pause, rest and reflect.
Mathijs Goderis, Bruges alderman for spatial planning, said the city also recognised the financial demands of preserving the protected monument.
He said the local authority was therefore willing to allow a limited revenue model to help support the sustainable upkeep and conservation of the heritage site.
