Hotel Julien — Hotel in Antwerp

The best thing about Hotel Julien was check out. We arrived at the hotel in the evening for a 2 nights stay, only to discover that it was under renovations. The hotel’s main building was a construction site: tools, equipment and dust everywhere with none of the public parts functioning, no lifts, reception or furniture. Only the stairs leading to the rooms were accessible. The next day was even worse, builders everywhere and levels of noise that made it impossible to stay in. |The massive refurbishment wasn’t disclosed on the hotel’s website nor on booking.com. Not even a hint. Moreover, both Emma, the new manager and Marnik, the leaving manager, who was rude and arrogant, made it clear that this was a conscious decision. Emma shared that management considered all options, including closing the place for the renovations, but then decided to stay open and charge the full rate. Because, why not? To them, an encrypted message to guests - sent the day before works started, not even straight after booking - was good enough. |We only saw this message, which required actively logging in, when it was mentioned upon arrival. It misleadingly downplayed the scale of the works, saying ‘there might be a disturbance’. In reality it was unbearable. ||Obviously had the refurbishment been disclosed on the hotel’s website, as it should have been, we wouldn’t have booked it. Management knows this and so deliberately withheld this vital info. |As a frequent traveler for over 20 years, who never wrote a bad hotel review, I was in disbelief at the shameless, greedy customer service I experienced at Hotel Julien. Absolutely disgraceful from a hospitality business. ||Attached are a few photos of the works, and on a positive note, a screenshot of a hotel in Paris I came across when it was about to undergo renovation. It shows how it should be done: full disclosure, honesty, adjusted rates. This is how you treat...

Experiences may vary at this modern boutique hotel. The interior is gorgeous, with lots of elegant and modern furniture, and the layout is wonderfully quaint. But if your room looks on to the street, be prepared for some restless nights.

It’s difficult to make the room dark, between the quarter-inch gap under the door, curtains that don’t cover the whole window, and, at least in my room, a bathroom door that won’t close, letting in lots of light off the street. There also isn’t much insulation between the room and the street, which mean even conversations come through, every car is loud, and when the tram rolls by it rubbles the room. The interior of the hotel seems like it doesn’t experience all the same noise, so interior rooms are probably quite nice if you can get one of them.

Lastly, the security doesn’t seem great. They use physical keys vice key-cards, and when you leave your key at the front desk to go out, you’ll notice the key box doesn’t lock, and many times when I was coming or going, the front desk was completely unattended, meaning anyone could just come in the door and grab some keys.

It’s a low-cost/high-quality option, but you probably want to look...

We stayed at the hotel for a weekend in one of the Julien Experience Rooms. We like a minimalist yet good design style, so this hotel was what we prefer. The living room, the bar and a small courtyard are very nice and a place to relax. The hotel is quite small and cozy, and it is tucked away in a side street, so it feels a bit like home. The photos on the website are true to what you can expect. The service was great. We arrived early and were able to have a chacuterie at one o'clock. We were given a list of well selected places to visit. The restaurant recommendation was booked for us. We stayed late the last day and our luggage was taken care of. The breakfast was not huge, but very good, and things are prepared to order if you want. Overall, we liked the professional yet personal and friendly style in a small hotel. Our hotel room overlooked one of the small courtyards, so it was not very bright. This is good for the summer, but when it is not hot, I might look for a room with windows to the street, as the street is rather quiet. We would...