In the hamlet of Parike, in the heart of the Flemish country, you'll find the brainchild of Jamie Anderson and Bernard Moerman: the Flandrien Hotel. A home base for all cyclists. 'A home away from home'. In the spring 2022 we were guests of this boutique cycling hotel in Belgium and then we actually knew: this is a place that breathes cycling. A place we love to visit and would send anyone to in a heartbeat. The Flandrien Hotel is a cycling destination that we uber-recommend. Is the Flandrien Hotel 'approved'? It just might be. Read our findings below.
All in theme
Why on earth are several cyclocross teams, the NextGen women's team but also other (soon to be) pros staying in Parike? It is so small on the map that you drive right through it. St Lambert's church is a landmark, but along the main road you drive right past it. The reason is simple: Bernard and Jamie have thought about everything and everything about this hotel is in one theme: cycling.
A beautiful anecdote which both Jamie and Bernard fondly perform is the following: when they went to view the property, a former farmhouse, with the estate agent, they saw the cobbles by the gate. 'Oh the cobbles' exclaimed Jamie enthusiastically. To which the estate agent quickly responded: 'yes but we can have that asphalted'. Needless to say, the cobbles are still there.
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Clubhouse, museum, training centre, hotel
The effigy of Briek Schotte, a true Flandrien, the choice of Peugeot team colours, the (original?) Peugeot team car, the gallery. Everything breathes cycling. The clubhouse is where you meet for your ride or training and where you come back afterwards for the stories. Over a drink, you watch the race or the beautiful bike collection carefully curated by Jamie. It is also the place where the (rich) breakfast buffet is served and where Jamie's home-cooked, sports-focused dinner is served in the evening. Rich in the right nutrients for a solid day on the bike.
At the heart of the Round
If you take the map of Belgium and lay the course of the Tour of Flanders over it, you will see that the Flandrien hotel is perfectly positioned. Less than ten kilometres from Geraardsbergen, where the wall is always calling. With a nice ride, you grab all the famous climbs from the lap. The Oude Kwaremont, Kanarieberg, Bosberg, you name it. It is all around the corner. You don't have to worry about routes. Because you can simply opt for the famous loops from the Tour of Flanders, which lead you through Oudenaarde, along the centre of the Ronde, among other places. Or you ask race expert Bernard where you can test your legs, or where you can find that one, still unknown climb. As a former team leader, he knows the (laws of the) race like the back of his hand. The Flandrien Hotel has everything for the cyclist.
Also read: Chasse Patate - Cycling Destination Approved
OK
It is not just the hotel's looks that capture the imagination. The basics are also more than up to scratch. Of course, you can securely store your bike in a real bike garage. There are slippers for inside the hotel, so you save the pedals of your shoes. Maintenance is a snap and with Jamie as an accomplished mechanic, any problem is solved in no time. During our visit, Jamie helped another cyclist on top of the Paterberg to continue his E3 Cyclo. That also translates to the rooms, which are more than fine. To the possibilities in the clubhouse to bring along one last inner tube or provide you with sports nutrition.
Cycling Destination Approved
What we did not know at the time was that we would develop our own quality label. A label that we lovingly assign to places we want to return to immediately. Truly a 'home away from home' when it comes to a hotel. That is why we are delighted to be able to award this label to a place like the Flandrien Hotel. Rightly and with verve, the Flandrien Hotel is Cycling Destination Approved. Would you like to stay here too? Then take a look at the hotel site
Cycling Destination Approved is the label we award to locations we recommend to cyclists. Read this article to know what criteria are involved. The most important criterion of all: the label is NOT for sale.
