Helios — Hotel in Blankenberge

What I liked...the hotel is neat and clean. It is at beach front location with paid parking available. The rooms are good size with good partition in family rooms.

What I didn't like...There is a lack of basic facilities such as lack of iron and no tea making facilities in room like a kettle. The breakfast is really basic, the sausages were not proper sausages, they were the boiled ones. There was no fried egg, you have to boil your own eggs and no beans, no tomatoes to go with your sausages.

Staff- the guy at check in was lovely. When we told him about the lack of kettle in the rooms and how we felt like having tea, he pointed us to the coffee/tea machine where we could unwind. There were also water bottles there which we could use. Later that day when we came back from dinner there was a lady on the shift. She was quite rude and interrupted us when I went to the machine to make tea. She said that the machine was only to be used for breakfast and we can't make tea. I politely referred her to what her colleague had said and she said he was not doing his job properly. I asked her to check policy with management and she replied rudely that she didn't need to check. I explained that there is a discrepancy between staff setting their own rules and if the coffee machine is in the public area it is meant for use. I then picked up a water bottle and she made us put it back and said we cannot use it. Hotel needs consistent policies. Sauna is only available from 4pm to 7pm. Considering we were a group of three families and each room was £130 these basic things should have been...

We had a great stay at C-Hotel Helios. Thank you||||Pros:||- the location is ideal - right on the sea front||- we had room 93 and the view was amazing||- the hotel was clean, and the decoration was minimalist and classy, which we like||- they accommodated our bike parking in the garage||- good selection and quality breakfast||||Cons:||- the wifi often didn't work. we were connected to the router, but there was no internet||- although the view was great, our room was very noisy. every morning from about 7 we were woken up by water running, presumably other people showering and the pipes making lots of noise.||- very wasteful - lots of single use items. cups and tiny toiletries in the bathrooms (why not switch to reusable cups and large dispensers like the shampoo in the shower); single use place mats at breakfast (why not just eat on the tables, they get wiped anyway); loads of sachets and individually wrapped portions at breakfast (why not offer it in larger containers, like the jam)||- We didn't want any room service, told the cleaners that every day, and they still kept trying to force a bag of stuff on us each morning (see photos). We try to conserve resources, so reuse our towels and don't use all the single-use items in the room - so we don't want more...

I am not sure what to say. Ours was a mixed experience. Room 42 on the 4th floor. This is a sea view superior room. ||||Goods -||||1. Perfect Location.||2. Perfect Sear View.||3. Clean rooms||4. The temperature in the room can be controlled.||5. The garage can be booked in advance for 20€ a day. Underground and peaceful. ||6. The breakfast hygiene condition is absolutely fabulous.||||Average - ||||1. Garage - The entry and exit are tight but a good driver can manage.||BMW 3er estate and saloon, Dacia Duster is possible to go in. Not sure if BMW X3-5 can enter and exit (a little tight).||2. Most hotels now would have a hand soap dispenser at the washbasin exactly similar to the one in the shower. This is missing and small soaps are provided to wash your hands which is the previous generation. Please update it.||||Bads -||||1. Noise insulation not present. You can hear noises from other rooms and the corridor.||2. Not big enough. Just average space.||3. Why did we not have a balcony when I think all the other rooms have it?||4. Poor wifi. No signals. Had to use my...