Lindner Hotel Antwerp - JDV by Hyatt — Hotel in Antwerp

This review needs to start by praising and thanking the staff, who, throughout my stay, were friendly, helpful and efficient. The staff were all kind and happy to answer questions and help with any requests with cheerfulness. I had not originally planned to stay here but, after a rather bad Sunday night in a different hotel in Antwerp, and with a week’s intensive training due to start at the conference rooms at the Lindner Hotel on Monday afternoon, I was desperate for a place to stay. Antwerp was exceptionally busy that week, due to a sporting event, but Wouter, the reservations agent, responded quickly and sympathetically to my urgent plea and secured a suite – the last remaining room – for me at the hotel. Check-in was quick and everything seemed perfect. The suite was spacious and clean, the hotel within minutes of the station – it is situated directly behind the Centraal Station Antwerpen – and the city centre, and parking in a public parking garage beneath the building. The bed too was very comfortable, the pillows too were good (this is rare in hotels, normally they feel as if they have been stuffed with a mixture of paper and cotton wool!). WiFi is free and largely reliable – though it was slow and sometimes dropped out when listening to the radio – and there was an excellent choice of TV channels. In the suite, there was also a Nespresso machine and a kettle (always useful) and sufficient cupboard and drawer space. So it’s such a shame that my stay was completely ruined by the terrible soundproofing between rooms. I find it surprising that no one, in previous reviews, mentioned this and I do not have remarkably good hearing – in fact, I am almost completely deaf in my right ear! But I could hear people talking in my neighbour’s room, every cupboard or drawer closing, every foot thud across the floor – and I don’t believe my neighbours were speaking very loud for most of the time. When one guest did have a loud phone conversation, it sounded as if she was in my room, it was that bad! I could also hear a lot of noise from the corridor if people were talking some way along the corridor. I was also disturbed by a lot of noise from the room above. The suite overlooked the railway tracks so you can, although it’s not loud, hear the trains, despite the double glazing. I, strangely, actually like that, I find the sound of trains quite comforting and relaxing but other guests might find it a nuisance. The gym is very small and I think it could be greatly improved if, for example, a rowing machine, was replaced by a second treadmill. As a runner, I would normally run outside but the area does not feel safe for a female runner to go out alone in the early hours of the morning so I had to use the treadmill. I went at soon as the fitness room opened at 6 a.m. but by 7.15, other guests start appearing and there simply are not enough treadmills. I was also disappointed by housekeeping. Perhaps it was because the hotel was fully booked or busy during my stay but my room was generally not cleaned until after 2pm or 3 pm and, each day, I noticed that it had only had a quick and superficial clean. I found the room very cold at night and the air conditioner, on a warm setting, was not only too loud to have on at night but largely ineffectual. I had rung reception to ask for another thin cover (dekbed), but I was told that there were no spare dekbeds, only woollen blankets. I found this really odd – I have never encountered a hotel which does not have spare duvets/dekbeds. I explained that I could not use woollen blankets but, it seemed, that was my only option. So, not wanting to use a blanket, my first night was not good because I didn’t sleep well due to being so cold. I bought a warm tracksuit the next day and slept in that for the next 4 days! It’s a great shame about the noise problem at this hotel because it truly ruined my stay. The staff, the hotel itself and, despite the coldness of the room, the suite were excellent but all of this was overshadowed by the terrible lack of...

I wanted to go somewhere cheap for a workcation, since I am able to work remotely. Looking for where my points could take me, I was shocked to see that this hotel is a category one Hyatt property. Visiting in February meant that it was off peak nights. For an unbelievable 3500 points per night I was able to book a nine night stay.

Check-in was very warm and friendly. I was there maybe an hour before check-in time but they had an upgraded room ready for me. The room was very big and comfortable. I really liked the mattress and slept very well every night. Given that this is a category one with Hyatt, I was not expecting much, but they had welcome gifts in the room for me, an espresso machine, an umbrella in the room for use during my stay, solid quality toiletries, and robes. The room was in great shape and spotless.

The only drawback in the room was that the towels were very thin and scratchy.

The lobby is lovely. I liked the fresh fruit that they put out every day. It made for a nice free breakfast with a cup of tea that I made in the room.

I only went to the breakfast buffet one day. It was really not worth the money. It’s the sort of standard Hyatt house, powdered eggs, and cheap hot items. But of course, with this being Europe, they also threw out some cold cuts and tasteless cheese. For nearly $30 it was sort of like throwing money down the drain. Especially given the quality of the €1.50 pastries you can buy in any grocery store in town.

The staff could not be friendlier. The housekeeping was fantastic. They were so nice and always gave me extra bottles of water and tea bags. They were always ready to offer recommendations for things to do in the city or how to get around. And the location is solid. You are all the way at the back end of the train station and walking all the way to the front where the metro is and the Starbucks is a solid 5 to 10 minute walk through the train station. But I got used to that after a day or two and appreciated being able to leave my room less than 10 minutes before a train would leave to Brussels or Ghent and catch it with plenty of time. A great base for exploring...

Greatly disappointed in the customer service, lack of flexibility in reservations, and overall guest relations.

While JDV and Lindner are a part of World of Hyatt family, they seem to be so begrudgingly. I say that as we recently booked a long stay at the property and at check-in I mentioned that we would be adjusting the dates some. It was noted by representative at the front desk and we will update them once it is identified. Later that night I asked to adjust and was told I would hear from the Reservations manager. I did the following day and the price was increased by 20% for the remaining days that we would be in residence. As the property is not worth the rate we were initially paying, it most certainly was not worth the rate plus a 20% increase, so we decided to depart the next day.

My issue is not with the increased rate, but with the tone and lack of respect communicated by the Reservations manager. Sometimes things do need to be adjusted and we do appreciate the flexibility provided by our status as Lifetime Globalists; however, the message we received was not one of concern and certainly not one of appreciation for brand loyalty. The only positive thing to note are a few shining front-line workers; the strongest person was Aleana, an intern at check-in that instantly thanked us for our loyalty, additionally the team of Igor and Restita at dinner were fantastic, all members much too good for the property.

Overall, if you want a cheap room for a night or two and don’t care about any brand alliance, Linder Antwerp is a strong option. However, if you are looking for appreciation for your hard earned euros, and expect any acknowledgement of your loyalty, this is not the place for you in Antwerp. For that I would recommend the nh collection, a mere two minute walk away on the opposite side of the station. We were there one night, no status, and treated with impeccable service and appreciation, just because we were guests...