Well, this hostel is really far from the city centre. Even if you have a car you might not reach the place. We arrived in december, the last day before closing. We did easily the check-in and we slept quite good, despite noisy neighbours from China. A friend of mine (Enrico Tonazzo, a great rewiever on these pages- look for his reviews of Cologne, Ghent and Bruxelles...very funny and useful) took a shower in the middle of the night, and the water was cold! Luckily my friend is really brave.The day after we only ate basic things: some bread, no milk, some juice and some patè. Everything cold. And the temperature outside was around +5 degrees.Despite these things the hostel is sorrounded by trees and a little river. It's very romantic but not in winter. Good for summer and people who don't care for such long distances from city centre.
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(Review ID: 1752)
Trappist Truck, December 11, 2003
Reviewer:
Tom
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Impossible is the right word to define the way to get the hostel.... it's not difficulty to reach in, but Antwerpen road system is completely out of order.. if you miss a street, if you don't see a corner, if you pass the wrong bridge (and it's easy if you are drunk) you may risk to find yourself in the middle of nowhere! The main problem of the hostel is an enormous truck illegaly parked in front of its entry, so that is difficult to reach in and to see the hostel from the street. The position is good, along a little river and surrounded by trees, but unfortunately I stayed there in december so that the temperature was a little cold to stay in the open air! The rooms are quite good and clean, the shower is out of the rooms, but it has a particular pushing system that is difficult to control: you need to push the button several times for a complete shower, and it's difficult most of all if you take a shower along the night after a beer-trip around Antwerpen or in the morning just awaken.Very negative the breakfast... just two pieces of bread - not more if you want to let it also to your friends -, a few marmalade and a cold patè, cold milk just to pour into tee or coffee. Too poor, too poor! ADVICE for the nightlife in Antwerpen: go to Mirc Buse's wich is a pub behind the Cathedral in front of a good friterie... good beer, cheap prices and Mirc is amazing with is dresses and his hairstyle!
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(Review ID: 1753)
Out of Control Dutch Sport Teams, September 1, 2003
Reviewer:
B. Makk
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It is with mixed feelings that I write this review. The location is definitely out out of the city center in Hoboken but the tram is quick and runs frequently. We did find the walk back to the hostel, at night, to be scary with poor lighting and few people around. The room was acceptable and clean but many things in the room were damaged. Our door did not hang properly and we had to lift it up so that it would close. The ladder to one of the bunks had been torn out of the ceiling and was not usable. The hostel had a washer and dryer which was quite inexpensive. My two boys loved the ping pong table and there was a nice library with books in many languages. The bathrooms were clean but the showers only ran for about 10 seconds with each push of the button. The biggest problem we had was that the hostel was overtaken by three sports teams from Holland. These teenagers, both boys and girls, were big, loud, and generally obnoxious. They started yelling and running up and down the halls at midnight. At 3:00 am a large group of them arrived back at the hostel drunk. People kept trying to get into our room which was a little alarming. Boys were running in and out of girls' rooms. We had boys climbing in and out of the second storey window next to our room. We asked the kids nicely to quiet down but they did not give a hoot. We never saw a hostel employee come to tell them to quiet down and the adults that were chaperoning these kids were just as wild as the kids. None of the other guests had any sleep as it was almost 5:00 am before the hostel was finally quiet. When we arrived to breakfast, all the athletes were already in the dining room and had consumed almost every edible thing there was. The hostel staff was obviously disgusted with these groups but they did nothing about it. When I spoke to one of the employees she told me that these groups were always problematic but that the hostel would not be able to survive without them. I can not understand why this particular hostel was unable to enforce the curfew. Antwerp on a whole was a great city and the people were enormously helpful. Total strangers stepped in to help us without even being asked. We enjoyed the Grand Place and Peter Paul Rubens house. The food was very good and we had the best meal of our trip in a Greek restaurant sitting out in the garden. In closing I think this hostel has many good points but I would not stay here again unless I could check to make sure that they were not expecting these types of groups. It definitley ruined our stay in this wonderful city.
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(Review ID: 1754)
Find the Hostel Game, August 12, 2003
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Anonymous
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Without a doubt, the worst positioned hostel in the universe. Trying to find this place in the dark is near impossible. The whole area, plus the hostel itself is not well lit. The night I tried to find it, a truck had illegally parked in front of the tiny sign to this hostel.Inside, the hostel is OK, but the tram system has not got the stops marked on it, and you just have to guess you are at the right spot, then, as above, try and find the hostel.
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(Review ID: 1755)
in the middle of nowhere, May 5, 2003
Reviewer:
Sam
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this place is really REALLY far from the city centre. it's a good thing that antwerp public transport runs on the honour system, otherwise we would have wasted tons of money just taking the tram back and forth to this place. also, because the hostel is practically in the wilderness (surrounded by a dark park) i didn't feel safe walking there from the tram stop at night. additionally, the place was crawling with elementary school children on a class trip, and the people working the desk were usually either not around, or unfriendly. also, the buildings really ugly, as are the rooms. it's like a really crappy summer camp.
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(Review ID: 1756)
Possibly the best hostel I have been to!, April 24, 2003
Reviewer:
Jason
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This place is the best! It is located on basically its own island in this park. There are no other buildings around and you have to cross a bridge to get to it. It's like it has its own moat. Clean, super cheap because you get an all you can eat breakfast, and the people were the nicest we've met in belgium. There are lots of traveling advice books, a little library, a cheap bar, ping pong, and an internet compuet (8 euro cents a minute). I was impressed mainly by the price, location and cleanliness of the hostel. Showers have doors and are spacious. The only drawback maybe is a midnight curfew, but its not like antwerp is too hoppin of a city. Definitely reccomended. For 13 euro you get:sheetsall you can eat breakfast (big plus, it was good too)clean roomsnice peopleOverall one of the best hostels i have been to. Too bad its not in the best city i have been to. Cheers!
