Van der Valk Hotel Antwerpen

Great location. Very well furnished, very clean and comfortable. Easy access to the city , tram stop at end of road.

Nothing

Rooms spacious,excellent breakfast Right on the edge of the city and close to motorway networks

Little out of the city unless you use Bolt or Uber taxis it can cost -to centre around 20 euro each way

Location

Dusty everywhere

This is a tough one to write as had it not been for the rubbish aircon destroying any chance of a good sleep (see negative comments below...) I would rate this hotel as exceptional. The staff (apart from rather surly bartender I encountered on Wednesday afternoon...) are fantastic - professional, pleasant and polite. The breakfast is great, good selection and well-prepared. Dinner was also very good, very tasty and well-prepared with obvious care. The gym is perfectly adequate and is well-maintained (although why only 1 x 6kg barbell and no 7kg barbells from the 1- 10 kg selection? if they've been stolen /lost, could they not be replaced?) The pool and sauna are clean and pleasant (although no drinking water, see below!)

Room temperature The room was really warm to the point of being uncomfortable at night. The thermostat panel states it goes down to 18 degrees but the air certainly didn't feel chilled. The people on the table next to me at breakfast (three different rooms between them) all complained about the aircon too, so it wasn't just my room. I suspect the hotel has a centrally-controlled aircon system / room temperature with just the fan being room-adjustable to save costs. This is an increasing trend in mid-level hotels and will backfire - I probably wouldn't stay at this hotel again because of it, which is a shame. Pillows The pillows are lumpy as well, not catastrophically so, but enough to be noticeable. Not as much of a sleep-killer as the stultifying room temperature though. No water in spa / sauna Please put a water fountain / water bottles where the sauna is! As a guest, once you realise there isn't any water there, your only option for a drink is to get dressed and go back upstairs to the water fountain in the gym (although see below...) or the bar area. Warm water in water fountain in the gym The water fountain in the gym is initially cold then after maybe three seconds of flow, weirdly, the water goes warm...drinking warm water during / after a workout isn't ideal...