Hotels and Restaurants
Brussels
Sleep
We stayed at the Atlas Hotel, in a family room and single. The family room was on two levels, connected by stairs. The upper level had the entrance, sofabed, sink/cooktop/fridge and TV. The lower level had two single beds, closets and the bath. There were large windows that could open, so there was plenty of light and fresh air, when needed. Otherwise, the rooms were unremarkable and a little cramped. We chose the Atlas, rather than the hotel where the other Fellows stayed, because it was close to the center of town and most of the sights we wanted to see. It was easy to walk to the subway and to the old-town areas.
Eat
Food in general was good, from the hotel breakfast to lunch on the run to an expensive dinner. We had a snack at La Maison des Crepes (Rue du Midi 13)--crepes and waffles for the kids. I was glad Barbara spoke French, though. The dinner was at Françios Restaurant (Baksteenkaai 2) around the corner from our house. It was recommended to us by the hotel as a good place for kids, although we think the question was put to the restaurant as "Is it stuffy". It wasn't stuffy, but the kids (5 of them, under age 7) were a little out of place. The seafood was good, if expensive. Big Sister ate snails as a starter. I'm not sure if an of the staff spoke English, but we had several francophiles in the group, so we had no trouble.
Brugge
Sleep
In Brugge we were booked for a family room and a single at the Hotel ter Rein. It seemed close to the center of the city and was on a canal. When we arrived we were informed that the family room had a "technical problem" and that we needed to stay at the hotel Jacobs, the ter Rein's sister hotel. The Jacobs was a 5 minute cab ride away, in a quieter section of town. At the Jacobs, we had a choice: the family room (two connected rooms, one with bathroom) in the hotel or a vacation house across the street (large kitchen and living room, 2 bedrooms and 1.5 baths.) Same price. We took the house, of course. Other than a few minor issues, like some lights that needed to be installed and the lack of closets/wardrobes/dressers in the bedrooms, it was perfect. The kids could be as loud as they wanted (or rather, as we could stand it), we had ample room for playing and for privacy and we had hotel services such as breakfast and maids. The only hitch was that the circuit breaker for the bathroom kept tripping, leaving us without bathroom lights one evening. The Jacobs was a 10 minute walk (3-year-old gait) to the city center.
Eat
We had lunch at Restaurant Sint Jorvis (Markt 29) right on the Markt. It was recommended by the Lonely Planet guide. The food was good (Mussels Jorvis was very good: shelled mussels in a creamy leek sauce) the fried potatoes were fine and there was kiddy-food, too. It was expensive for lunch, though.
We had a vegatarian dinner at Ecosfeer (?) (on Academstraat) that was really good and very reasonable. The kids did a swell job, too. Our hotel recommended the old-style Flemish restaurant right next door to our vacation house. We had an excellent dinner at Oud Handbogenhof (Baliestraat 6). The decor was simple, the service was good and the food was excellent.