Britselei 37 - Antwerp, Belgium     

I stayed at Britselei 37 for nine nights while on a business trip to Belgium. The summary of this review is that even though this is not a "brand name" hotel, it's superb in every regard and you should go right now and make your booking. I had a few basic questions about the hotel and Antwerp, so I e-mailed the owner and had a detailed response within the day. As my flight was scheduled to arrive outside of the normal check-in window, arrangements were easily made via e-mail. They even offered to arrange for a taxi for me if needed. When I arrived, I was personally greeted with a smile, and given a map of Antwerp with the hotel's location circled, and recommended walking paths to reach popular destinations (e.g., cathedral area and train station). After check-in, I was escorted up to the spacious Rubens suite, which may be the one pictured on this website. The room was thoughtfully decorated, and featured a king bed, leather sofa, and kitchenette with a stocked refrigerator. It was also impeccably cleaned, something that I have not often encountered with any hotel-like property containing a kitchen. The tall ceilings and flat-screen TV with a variety of English, French, and Dutch language channels completed the layout. It was also remarkably quiet, since even though the bed was near the door that shared a common hallway with a couple other rooms, I never even heard the guests next door even when we both were entering our rooms at the same time on a couple occasions. I found B37 to be very convenient to the main tourist areas of the city (10 minute walk to central station or cathedral area). The location seemed very safe and I was never concerned about walking in the area of the hotel either during the day or at night (within reason of course). Even my Belgian counterpart, who had originally recommended that I stay at the Hilton, was impressed by the room, location, and kindness of the owner. This is definitely within the top one or two hotels I have ever stayed in, and it puts more expensive "5 star" hotels to shame. In fact, my only hesitancy in writing such a positive review is that some day I may need to go back to Antwerp and this hotel might be full...

This gorgeous hotel was recommended to me by a colleague, who promised I would absolutely love both Antwerp and Britselei 37. She was absolutely on the nose, on both counts. I booked a short weekend break as a surprise for my Italian boyfriend’s birthday and he was utterly delighted with the whole experience, as was I. On arriving at Britselei 37 we were greeted by the owners of the apartments, who took care of us from the moment we stepped through the door. We instantly bombarded them both with questions about the city and what we should do and they kindly helped us to start planning our weekend, by making fantastic restaurant recommendations (they also made reservations for us and booked taxi’s whenever we needed) and drew us walks around the city, which would enable us to see as much as possible in the 2 short days we had in Antwerp. Then onto the rooms… My boyfriend and I stayed in the beautiful ‘Crystal Room’ which was one of the loveliest hotel / apartment rooms I have stayed in to date. (After having a tour of all of the rooms in the hotel) I feel they would easily rival those of Babbington House or Cowley Manor in the UK. The rooms were modern, but very welcoming and designed beautifully. The fridges we well stocked with basics to keep us fuelled for a day walking round the city, and fresh croissants were delivered to our room every morning. The beds were so big and soft I think I had two of the best night sleep, I have had this year! We liked this establishment so much that not only will we be returning before the end of the year (hopefully), but I’m going to book my parents in as Britselei 37 is the perfect weekend break for ‘grown ups’ of any age.