No imposing entrance or red carpet awaits you here. No clue on the outside that behind the centuries-old frontage on Oude Houtlei is an ancient cloister: PoortAckere. An oasis of peace, hidden away from the bustle of the city. Once inside you find yourself in a former nunnery whose history goes back to 1278. The building that turned its back on the world for so many centuries now reveals its secrets to a few favoured guests. The atmosphere is serene and restful, as befits an age-old neogothic building. And yet PoortAckere retains its unique character, as a medieval cloister with its own history.
It is its domesticity that gives the building its charm.
A feeling of peace, freedom and unconcern comes over you in the more austere neogothic part of the cloister, the guesthouse. Perhaps you will sleep in the St Cecilia room or the monastery cell where sister Philomena stayed for so many years.