Ostend Hotel, Ostende > Reviews > Hotel Ostend, Ostend, Belgium

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Good
Quality of Rooms	Average
Standard of Service	Good
Cleanliness	Good
Quality of Facilities	Good

Advantages:	Very centrally placed
Disadvantages:	Noisy side street !  !  !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I've just returned from a 7 day holiday with WA Shearings (see my other reviews for opinions on Shearings) staying at the Hotel Ostend. We stayed for 6 nights on a half board basis (July 30th- Aug 5th).

The hotel has a website: http://www.hotelostend.be/
For anyone travelling independently, you can check and book reservations online. The website also has a photo- guided tour of the hotel.

The hotel is quite centrally placed. It's pretty much over the road from the beach (about 50m away.....but down a side street so you can't see the sea!) near to the marina. I'd say it was a medium sized hotel offering 122 en-suite rooms (some family rooms too) with a fairly large restaurant, a small bar (called the Safari bar and decorated in rather fetching tiger and zebra print!) It also has a children's room next to the bar which has a bouncy castle, trampoline and computers for the kids. There are also a sauna, solarium and gym located in the basement all of which are offered at an extra charge (approx 4 euros for 15-45 mins depending on which service you use) You can also hire bikes for 4 euros per half day, but there looked to be only large ones available. The hotel has 2 lifts which could be handy as the steps are concrete and are those slat variety ones that you can see through. Some elderly people and young children might not like them.

We stayed in a double en-suite room (although they are really listed as twins as they are two beds pushed together). The bed was very comfortable but the pillows were odd, a bit too large and square!
The room was small and basic but you had everything you could need. There was a small TV with a radio attached underneath, a desk and large mirror (with a plug socket right next to it which was perfect for doing hair and make up!) and a direct dial telephone. The bathroom comprised of a toilet, sink and shower (no bath) and a hairdryer is attached to the wall. A word of warning, you can hear pretty much every word of conversation from next doors bathroom so don't have any private conversations or call your neighbours!

The Safari bar is quite small, although adequate for the amount of guests I suppose. The bar is decorated with animal prints on both the walls and seat coverings. At the left hand side of the bar there is a large bowl of olives (in oil) and a large bowl of bombay mix. You can help yourselves to these as they are FREE! Put them in the little glass bowls provided and take them back to your table.
Thursday night is entertainment night which comprises of the usual bog standard organist playing the usual bog standard middle of the road songs. There's also a dance floor that's not much difference in size to a postage stamp, but let's face it, this is not San Antonio or Faliraki! They don't sell the lovely Leffe beer here but they do sell Tongerlo which is nice. Bar prices are quite reasonable, slightly cheaper than the UK. I got bacardi and cokes and they are HUGE! They are not far off a triple or even quadruple the UK measures!!! The beer is also strong, although Tongerlo is not as strong as Leffe, although it's still around 5%.

The restaurant serves a good selection of food. There are no bacon and eggs in the morning, but you do get a selection of bread, croissants, cheese and hams, hard bolied eggs, cereals, fruit (the tinned fruit salad kind) and yoghurt. The breakfast is a help yourself buffet.
In the evening there is one variety of soup which you help yourself too, and there will be a choice of two main courses (usually a pork or fish dish) which the staff will serve you along with vegetables and potatoes. You can help yourself to the salads of which there is a good variety. Dessert consists of ice cream or a cake (usually the same one night after night) which again, you can help yourself too. There is also the option to purchase drinks next to the desserts, although sometimes there are no staff on there.

We didn't use the leisure facilites such as the gym or sauna so I can't comment on these. You need to pay for these at reception and they will then give you a key card for those rooms.
You can also buy tickets for some local attractions or the buses/trams at reception, but you can do this anyway once you get to the tram/train station or to the attraction of your choice! The train station is only about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. Just turn right when you come out of the hotel doors and walk along the prom towards the marina.

The hotel itself is located on a side street just at the back of the main promenade. Luckily, the windows are double glazed and when we stayed there, the weather was quite mixed, warm but not hot. I'm really glad it wasn't hot because the noise coming from the street below was unbelievable. Our room was on the first floor and right above the main door having said that. Ostend's bin men/delivery drivers do all their work at night and they are not quiet about it either! We made the mistake of leaving our bedroom window open on the first night and I had got up in the night to close it because I couldn't sleep for the noise. I didn't close it properly though due to being half asleep, but luckily my husband shut it properly the next night. Had it have been hot, I shudder to think how much sleep I'd have got!

SUMMARY:
The hotel is well placed for all local attractions and amenities. Staff are friendly and speak excellent English. Rooms are small and basic, but adequate. Food is nice and there is enough to satisfy the largest appetite. I'd have liked a balcony, although to be honest being on a side street there would have been no view!
I'd give it a score of 3 out of 5.