Warredal — Hotel in Maaseik

We stayed at a comfort classic cabin with a hot tub for 3 nights. I felt the experience was generally enjoyable but there were some annoyances.

The good:

The cabin itself is nice. Everything was functional. They put the one we were staying in a way that the bedroom gets the morning sun for example.

Wood stove is cool as well. It has a glass window to watch the fire. It heats the cabin well. There is an oil lamp and some candles as well.

If it's raining, you can sleep with the relaxing sound of raindrops hitting to the roof.

At nights, there are few artificial lights around, so you can get a real feel of almost true darkness at the comfort of your cabin. This is not possible to experience while living in the city.

It was very quiet, which is what we wanted.

The bad:

We ordered some soup to pick up in the first morning when we arrived. What we expected (and what the reception told us during the check in) was to pick it up at a food delivery point from 08:30 on. In the morning, we went to the closest food point to pick it up, but it wasn't there. We went to the only other food point and it wasn't there as well. Then we walked to the reception to ask about it. There, we learned that they actually don't deliver soup to food delivery points anymore for "environmental reasons", but we should bring a pot and pick it up from the reception (almost 10 mins walk from our cabin). So we had to go back, get a pot, walk in the rain and cold, get some soup and walk back in the rain and cold again to heat it at the cabin. It was a waste of our morning and I would never order it if I knew things would turn this way. They should just deliver it to the food points or even better to the cabins themselves. Thanks to other reviews, we were aware of breakfast and bbq package being sub-par and overpriced. Now you are aware of the soup experience as well. Be warned!

10:30 check out time is too early. I haven't realized how annoying that would be until I experienced it. You're constantly in a rush in the morning and keep in mind you need to clean the cabin and walk with your stuff all the way to the reception as well. The closer parking area (P4) at the day of the checkout they suggest requires you to climb a hill and some cars won't be able to do that, so don't rely on it.

You have to actually leave behind extra wood for the next occupant of the cabin. They don't give you a rope to hold the wood in the wood cart they provide so you can't carry that much wood in one go. I wasn't aware beforehand that they would expect you to leave behind extra wood as well and I didn't like it. This should be something they cover for you. Cleaning the cabin & grill should be enough.

Some cabins with hot tubs have curtains around the hot tub for better privacy. I'm guessing ones closer to roads that people walk more frequently. Ours did not have curtains around the hot tub. I would've preferred curtains so that the treetop people next to us do not get a full view of our genitals when we are entering/exiting the hot tub (and maybe they would prefer us to have curtains too!).

The tips:

Get a cabin with the refrigerator, plan what you will eat each day and bring food with you accordingly. You will thank me later.

If the grill does not light itself up with its internal lighter, you can light it up with a match. You can bring the match close to the gas holes. Don't worry, it won't blow up.

Get a map and get a cabin that is on the outer portion of the park. In general, cabins are too close to each other I think. But the outer ones are placed in such a way that the large windows are typically not looking at other cabins.

You can replace your oil lamp at the reception entrance if it runs out of fuel. You don't need to go to a receptionist etc.. You can do it 24/7, so don't wait for reception to be open.

Make sure to fill the hot tub stove with the wood (it has 2x the capacity of indoor one) to quickly heat up the hot tub. It took us ~1,5 hours to get it ready (and 2 hours for it to become too hot because we...

Our family of 5, including our dog, booked a Cozy Cabin for 2 nights.

We loved the cabin and cozy wood burner. However at €380 for 2 nights we were expecting a luxury cabin experience; what we got was closer to a school camping trip. Including an overpriced vending machine where you can buy the things you would expect to be provided such as soap and sugar.

positives - the location is in an idyllic little woodland, with beautiful facilities and the cabins are stunning. We very much enjoyed the hot-tub even though it took 4 hours of work to heat it was worth it on a cold evening. The staff was lovely, and even picked us up from town when the bus was delayed and it was getting late.

However, we felt that there needed to be a disclaimer on arrival; despite the luxury style cabins and price, there is a lot expected of you. They advertise a relaxed, back to basics getaway, but do not meet this claim.. When we were booking, all the daily extra charges for things like a baby high chair, safety grate for the fire etc should have been a red flag.

The biggest issue we had was that a lot was expected of the guests upon check out at 10:30. We were to take out the rubbish to a recycling center 10 minutes away, drop off the food baskets at another location, do another trip to refill the wood with a wheelbarrow at the wood collection , strip the beds, clean the barbecue, do the dishes etc. We are always happy to do a few chores, but there was a long list of things to do at several locations and on top of bringing your bags down a big hill to reception with a 4 year old and 6 month old in tow it took over and hour. Not to mention the ice cold water to wash up and a tiny brush to clean the bbq.

The cabin was not properly cleaned. We were left with a coffee maker full of old grounds and glasses with orange pulp. Not surprising if they are asking guests to clean. Although a game and some Knick knacks were gifted, the cabin lacked basic things like sugar, oil. Not even a bar of soap was left on the bathroom. For this price we also expected comfortable pillows and hot water. There was no warm water in the sink; in January, when you have a family of 4 and lots of bottles and dishes to clean it’s not hygienic. we had to boil kettles which was annoying The food was overpriced and disappointing. We payed €25 per person for a deluxe breakfast and were shocked by the tiny portions and supermarket quality pastries. 4 tiny pots of creamer and tiny rations of of sugar. Tiny juice from concentrate, one egg each. For this price we expected actual milk with our coffee! The bbq was €27 per person and was also mostly salads and sauces, lacking seasonings and unbalanced. We were with our 4 year old and 6 month old who wake early, but breakfast was not available until 8:30 which we weren’t told and the reception didn’t open early enough for us to take the kids to the cafe there instead. The whole experience felt impersonal. From the short reception hours,huge vending machines to the staff driving by in little jeeps and throwing bedding on the terrace, there wasn’t much care taken. At checkout, we communicated our grievances, and although they were apologetic they said it was policy and they didn’t usually get complaints. But now reading reviews it’s apparent many people have commented on the overpriced experience and disappointing breakfast.

Overall, we loved the cabin but having stayed at many similar places we felt let down, and that the price did not match the experience. It’s as if they have taken the individual responsibility expected at a camp site but with a premium price and no cleaning included. Sadly we were also unable to to any of the activities they offer because 8 participants were needed. Cool concept, beautiful cabins and location but really needs refining...

We booked the classic cabin (2 couples, 1 baby, 1 dog). We spent Christmas there.

Nice for couples but in the cabins that fit more people there is zero privacy, not even a curtain closing off the beds. I guess the cabin is stylish and cosy but, as for the natural landscape we expected, all cabins are actually extremely close to each other. This ends up making the place feel too manmade. We were lucky to stay at cabin 21 where the orientation was towards the woods, but almost all other cabins were facing the path so we could see the people inside them when walking by!

There is no warm water anywhere but the shower. Washing dishes is a challenge: ice cold water and a tiny sink that leaked on the floor. You end up washing the dishes in the metal bucket. PLEASE SHARPEN THE KNIFES YOU PROVIDE. We couldn't chop a single thing! You expect to cook in your cabin, as there is nothing around, and I guess that's the whole point of vacationing there, but then for the price you pay the things provided are really not worth it. For example I dont really understand the concept of not having a proper fridge but having an ice box and then ice bottles that we can carry to make the thing cold. It's all to cut costs and sell it as "diy"! There wasn't even any hand soap in the cabin! The towels, even in the spa we booked, were all full of stains. The stove wouldn't work half the time.

The other couple had already arrived a bit earlier and, as was expected, left their car at the parking lot and were driven to the cabin with their luggage with Warredal's van. When we arrived we were told that the van only does one trip per cabin but they will do us a favour of driving us there (in the rain with a million things with us). The checkout was a nightmare as they don't drive you back, you have to carry your things to your car in the mud. Wonderful experience. All this is so you don't disturb the other residents and the natural habitat with your car while the Warredal cars go all around all day (as it is logical of course, so it really makes no sense why they wouldn't allow one trip just to get your things.)

Overall, I can see the charm of this place but really there are much better cabins in other places in Belgium where the owners have actually thought out the residents' needs and they provide a way more beautiful landscape and overall experience. Sorry, I will not...