Crowne Plaza Antwerp by IHG — Hotel in Antwerp

I recently stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Antwerp, booking two rooms for two nights, and unfortunately, my experience did not meet the high standards I have come to expect from IHG properties. While the location and facilities have potential, several issues during my stay left me frustrated and disappointed.

Noise Disruption: My stay was significantly impacted by excessive noise throughout the hotel. There were tournaments taking place, and the hotel seemed to be filled with children who were creating noise at all hours. Particularly disruptive were the noises from a couple in the room above mine, who began moving furniture from 6:30 AM until 7:30 AM. Additionally, kids were playing football in the lobby without any intervention from hotel staff. This level of disturbance affected the overall comfort of my stay.

Lack of Communication: One of the most surprising aspects was the lack of communication regarding the ongoing events. I was not informed about the tournaments or the activities taking place during my stay. In my experience with other hotels, particularly within the IHG group, it is standard practice to notify guests about such events in advance. This lack of awareness added to my frustration.

Compensation Issue: When I raised these concerns with the receptionist, the proposed solution was 5000 points as compensation. However, when I questioned whether this amount was appropriate for the two rooms booked for two nights, I was told that an additional 3000 points would be added. Unfortunately, this additional compensation was never processed, leaving me feeling that my concerns were not taken seriously.

Lack of Basic Amenities: Another surprising oversight was the absence of complimentary bottled water in the rooms. Instead, guests are expected to fill a glass bottle from a faucet located in the hallway. This arrangement raises significant hygiene concerns, especially because everyone is using the same faucet.

Loud and Disruptive Room Doors: The doors to all hotel rooms are extremely loud and close with a violent slam, causing disruptions not only in my own room but throughout the hallways. This makes for a very unsettling environment, especially at night when other guests are coming and going.

Overall, I expect a higher level of service and communication from IHG hotels. Given the noise disruptions, lack of information about the events, inadequate compensation process, basic amenity issues, and the disruptive door sounds, my stay at Crowne Plaza Antwerp did not reflect the quality I have come to associate with the brand. I hope that the hotel management will take these issues seriously and work to improve the guest experience...

As a platinum member booking only through IHG, I am used to smooth check-in processes when staying at IHG properties. This was not the case here and no platinum amenity was offered either (had to enquire about it during check-out). It was 22:00 ok, but should not hotels of this category have trained staff 24/7 ? Booked a queen bed room, ended up with 2 doubles. Asked to change. Got a new room, with only one double bed (same as the previous room, but just one bed, very soft and uncomfortable, we knew we would not sleep well on that thing, my futon is more comfy). Got a third room from the bored receptionist : 2nd floor, facing the avenue / highway with 2 ladies smoking in the hallway. I stay enough in hotels to always check first the bathroom/towel condition and the bed sheets. Found a bug in the sheets, and half of the towels not really in pristine condition if you know what I mean. Knew at this point that the receptionist would not do much about it. At midnight managed to fall asleep, despite the highway noise, until we got awake at 2 am by some people in the hallway. Those were the neighbours who decided to have some "adult fun" for an hour an half. At 6 am got wakened by the sun going through the curtains (the curtains are too short, completely useless). The breakfast was ok, but some fruits in the salad were rotten. The check-out receptionist and the breakfast lady were however very nice. The lady at checkout was very apologetic about our stay and informed us a manager would contact us. Did not happen 8 days after this stay, but I just noticed that a mere 2000 points were dumped on my account. No email, no nothing... I stayed in this property several times 6-8 years ago and it was different as far as I recall. I have been staying at hotels since 2008 between 50 to 200 nights yearly on average, and mostly with chains and clearly, this stay was in the worst...

I have stayed at this hotel many times previously and always found it quite pleasant.

During the pandemic however, there are zero standards and not even an attempt at providing customer service.

I booked a room rate which included a 'hot breakfast'. I accept that it may not be possible to provide this at the moment, but I do not accept that the best a hotel can manage is a box containing a couple of two day old (at least) croissants, some three day old bread rolls and a couple of slices of ham (I asked for something vegetarian). For all the hotel knew, I could have been of the Jewish or Islamic faith.

Breakfast must be eaten in one's room. I understand that this may well be a requirement at the moment. I called down to reception to ask that my breakfast box be delivered to my room but was told that this was not possible.

Given that the hotel is charging a normal rate for my room and for a "hot breakfast", I did not think that this was a big ask.

Essentially this hotel has abandoned any attempt at providing good service and blames all its shortcomings on the pandemic.

If this is the best that this hotel can do during COVID, it would be reputationally less damaging for them if they were just to close.

The Holiday Inn at St Laurent du Var by contrast (another IHG hotel), also requires you to eat your breakfast in your room, but they bring you something fresh and appetizing - to your room and continue to offer something approaching a normal level of customer service despite COVID.

Those of us still needing to use hotels during the pandemic will remember things like this, long after the world...