Five Best: Hotels on canals

Hotel de Orangerie, Belgium

A beautifully restored 15th-century convent, this ivy-clad boutique hotel is perched on the banks of the Den Dijver in the centre of Bruges. It's an ideal base for exploring. The 20 rooms are furnished with dark-wood furniture and objets d'art. Champagne breakfasts or afternoon tea can be taken on the pretty terrace. Wander across the bridge to the pool at sister hotel De Tuilereen, or take a boat tour from the landing.

Hotel de Orangerie, Karthuizerinnenstraat 10, Bruges, Belgium (00 32 50 341649; www.hotelorangerie.com). Doubles start at €195 (£140). Champagne breakfasts cost €19 (£14).

Malmaison, Birmingham UK

This is the largest hotel in the city chic Malmaison chain, with 189 rooms. Heralded as part of Birmingham's renaissance when it opened in 2002, the property is housed (along with the BBC) in The Mailbox, a converted 1960s Royal Mail sorting office. It also shares the building with modern apartments, restaurants and smart shops such as Harvey Nichols on a stretch of the city's 100 miles of canals. As well as a brasserie and funky bar, the hotel also possesses a candle-lit spa, which made the finals of the 2004 European Hotel Design Awards.

Malmaison Birmingham, 1 Wharfside Street, The Mailbox, Birmingham (0121 246 5000; www.malmaison.com). Doubles start at £140 per night, excluding breakfast.

Ca' Nigra Lagoon, Resort Italy

The elegant Ca' Nigra is a former private residence, built in the 16th century and in prime position on Venice's Grand Canal. Its 22 different rooms are classic Venetian, but with 21st-century swish. Mother-of-pearl floors, antique velvet armchairs, brocade, and plenty of marble and glasswork, light and space, set the tone. But best is the sweeping view across Venice and the lagoon. Guests can pull into the covered dock or take early morning breakfast in the waterside rose garden as Venice gets to work.

Ca' Nigra Lagoon Resort, Santa Croce 927, Venice, Italy (00 39 041 275 0047; www.hotelcanigra.com). Doubles from €170 (£121) with breakfast.

Hotel Misc, The Netherlands

This fashionable little guesthouse (formerly known as Zosa) is tucked down a narrow canal street near Amsterdam's historic Nieuwmarkt Square. Funky in an Ikea way, it has six quirkily themed rooms. Choose between Retro with kaleidoscopic walls and lacquered chairs, or Rembrandt, with a nod to Amsterdam's most-revered artist. The rooms at the front have views over the Kloveniersburgwal canal, and the owners offer tours on two little boats dating back to the 1920s, which can take you where the bigger vessels can't. Other highlights: massages, a free botanical gardens pass and lazy breakfasts until midday.

Hotel Misc, Kloveniersburgwal 20, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (00 31 20 330 62 41; www.hotelmisc.com). Garden doubles start at €135 (£96) and canal rooms at €155 (£110), including breakfast.

Kempinski Hotel Boao, China

The Hotel Boao, with 115 villas, is set in tropical Hainan province, an island in the South China Sea. Designed as a waterside village (the whole area is criss-crossed with canals, rivers and streams), it has recently expanded to include a conference centre. The cuboid villas have a futuristic look, and those facing the water come with a mini dock and wooden boat to reach the floating market, main pier or beaches; the primary means of transport here is water. It's part of the bigger Boao Water City project, which is to include 25 hotels and five golf courses.

Kempinski Hotel Boao, 18 Zhennanqun Road, Boao Town, Qionghai City, Hainan Island, People's Republic of China (00 86 898 6277 5555; www.boaocanalvillage.com). Villas start at RMB2,480 (£166), including breakfast.