Hotel Goezeput - Bruges, Belgium 

After many hours searching online for a suitable hotel to compliment our stay in Bruges I came across the fabulous Goezput website. Beautiful pictures of 'tasteful arty' rooms, wonderful reviews on their website. Sadly the reality was for me one of great contrast. After a harrowing journey, most of which spent lost along the cobbled streets due to roadworks close to the hotel, which we had not been notified of, we reached the place at 2pm to an uncleaned room! On reaching our room we were saddened by its unclean, cramped feel and the makeshift boxlike bathroom structure incongruously built next to the bed! The 'bathroom' or box was poorly ventilated, mouldy, smelly, and afforded very little privacy to its occupant! We were greeted by a used elastoplast on the floor! There were no tea or coffee making facilities in the room, surely a basic requirement for even low budget accommodation in this day and age! The room had no internal locking system and we were rudely walked in on by noisy cleaners whilst trying to rest. I would certainly not call this a family friendly establishment as we were kept awake by rowdy people in the hotel bar until a very late hour. The final affront being that our much needed lie in was completely destroyed by noisy builders in the adjacent property. I was utterly disappointed by the poor standard of the hotel, I have stayed in more luxurious hostels and it grieves me to say that a travel lodge would have been preferable. We tried to give feedback to the hotel but they would not publish this honest review on their website!!

Bruges is a wonderful city in which to spend a few days, the locals are friendly, the food is great and don't forget the beers!! The city is a fine example of medieval architecture and Hotel Goezeput is a very old converted monastery/convent. The room we had was on the top floor up a winding staircase, and naturally because it is an old building there isn’t a lift and no air conditioning. We stayed there during very warm weather for May and having a south facing room on the top floor it was very warm in the room. The curtains remained closed as much as possible during the day and open during the night to let what little breeze there was in and sleeping on top of the sheets incurred several large mozzie bites!! However, that (and the too soft bed) are the only downsides to this hotel and frankly for the location and price (?40 ppn) it was worth it. The location is in a residential part of the old town about 10 minutes walk from the train station. It is then only about 5 minutes from the Markt and the Burg and the very pleasant Dijver street beside a canal. There are plenty of restaurants and bars in the area and no end to the sights and places to visit. The staff in the hotel are very friendly, the breakfast, although it doesn’t have a good selection (bread, ham, cheese, fruit and preserves) there’s plenty there and a small terrace, which in the heat was very welcome in the mornings. The rooms are all ensuite although ours was cosy to say the least! However, it was clean. I’d recommend this hotel for its price, convenience and friendliness, but if the weather is warm and you get a room at the top of the house you might find it a little uncomfortable. (I’m guessing it could also be a little cold in the winter, although there was a substantial radiator in the room.)