Castle of Ordingen — Hotel in Sint-Truiden

I recently stayed at this 5-star hotel in Belgium and overall had a lovely experience. Having stayed in 5-star hotels around the world, I always appreciate the attention to detail and the extra touches that set these places apart — and while this hotel had many of those elements, a few aspects could be refined to truly match a 5-star standard.

From the moment we arrived, the staff was exceptionally friendly and helpful, and the setting of the hotel is stunning — both inside and out. The restaurant was a real highlight, offering an excellent dining experience with beautifully prepared dishes.

However, there were a few things that felt slightly below what one would expect from a 5-star property. Upon arrival, there was no one available to assist with our luggage, which felt like a missed opportunity for a smoother welcome.

We had booked the restaurant for 8 PM and arrived around 4 PM hoping to enjoy the spa beforehand, but unfortunately, no time slots were available except for the next morning, which conflicted with breakfast. When we inquired at reception, no alternative was suggested (such as a later breakfast or other arrangement), which would have been a nice touch.

We also requested a late checkout to better align with our spa booking, but this wasn’t possible either — which we understand, as it’s based on availability, but a bit more flexibility or effort to accommodate would have elevated the experience.

The suite was spotless, stylish, and thoughtfully prepared, which we truly appreciated. A small note: the bathtub was quite slippery, so do be cautious. One minor inconvenience was that the spa changing area had no benches, and guests in bathrobes have to walk through the breakfast area to access the spa — something that didn’t bother us much, but may not suit everyone.

Despite these small points, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and would definitely recommend this hotel. The few negatives are just areas where the hotel can fine-tune the guest experience to truly meet the 5-star...

The property and rooms were stunning. We came with high expectations knowing this is a five star hotel and part of Relais&Chateau. Unfortunately the service didn’t meet these expectations at all. They were friendly but seemed to be not trained on a five star level. The whole check in experience was quite disappointing if you are used to high end hotels. We had dinner at the Michelin Star restaurant which was very good but same here - service didn’t quite meet our expectations. The pillows where hard and too big for our liking so we ask for the soft pillow they said can be requested. An unfriendly employee brought those without any pillow case… (and still wasn’t really soft like fluffy). We booked this place as we wanted to stay at a hotel with a spa. Just when we were accompanied to the spa and entered those the told us the steam room doesn’t work. So there was one sauna and an infra red share to be used. The girl also walked us through the bistro, the second restaurant at the property, to the sauna, while it was already packed with people eating dinner. In order to walk back without walking through the restaurant she told us we will have to walk along the main outside walkway. The hotel bar is great, the interior is a mix of funky colorful furniture in a historic fireplace room. Very cool! Overall the place has a lot potential but can be improved here and there. Basically some small details that make a place like this...

Overall our stay was amazing. The room was clean, beautiful and comfortable. The outside was nice to walk around and it was pretty close to some stuff to do in the nearby town. The main restaurant was unfortunately closed during the days we were there so we used the Bistro instead which is their second restaurant.

The breakfast was amazing and I highly recommend it. However, the dinner for the one night we were that at the Bistro was terrible which is why I marked 1 star off the service. My husband ordered tap water and a bottle (which a charge) came out instead after a dirty look from the waiter, my husband also ordered a beer, but never received that beer. The steak was overdone for medium rare. Others got bread at the table, but we never got any. I truly believe the missing bread and beer was due to the ask about tap water at the beginning and it's unfortunate we were treated this way when tap water at restaurant's is common where we were from, the waiter could have just said they don't offer that instead of the passive...