Our story
Hotel Beila opened in the spring of 2019. It is a trendy and modern design hotel in the center of Bilzen. But the building itself has existed for several generations. All this time it has been owned by the Guffens family, the ancestors of the current hotel operators Bram, Elise, Ann and Karlo.
1st and 2nd generation: baker's family
Manager Bram's great-great-grandparents ran a bakery and pastry shop in the building. They passed on the business and the craftsmanship to the next generation.
After the second generation of Guffens, the baking tradition in the family ceased to exist. They passed on the gene for entrepreneurship to their daughter, Gilberte Guffens.
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3rd generation: perfumery in Bilzen
As a child, Gilberte had helped in her parents' bakery. She changed her career and ran a perfumery. Not coincidentally close to where the hotel now stands. Did you know that our cocktail bar is named after this perfumery? Her husband, Willem Philips, was a teacher in Bilzen. And this generation also passed on their genes to the next.
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4th generation: architectural firm of the hotel
Just like her father, Ann Philips - Bram's mother - was involved in education. She taught in Martenslinde, a sub-municipality of Bilzen. Now she helps out in the hotel. Her husband, Karlo Bogaerts, came up with the idea to establish the hotel. His architectural firm, meanwhile taken over by his son Bregt, he drew up the plans for the renovation of the building.
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5th generation: hotel operator
Bram and his brother Bregt inherited the sense of entrepreneurship from their father and ancestors.
Bram, together with his wife Elise, is happy to support the hotel project that their father started. He doesn't just bake. However, during dinner he will welcome you warmly and serve you the tastiest cocktails!
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With the construction of the hotel, the historic building will be given a new purpose, but the link with the past will be preserved. As a true 'Bilzenaar', the family decided to name the hotel after the oldest known name in the city: Beila.
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The rest is history. Or not?
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Our story has only just begun. And we would be happy to write it together with you. So be sure to drop by for a delicious dinner our trendy restaurant or a delicious cocktail in De Parfumerie and we would love to tell our story.