Smartflats Design - Antwerp Central

The rooms are spacious, with a large balcony, and the location is good, but I’d avoid this place. It was extremely dirty, the stairwell stank of urine and who knows what, and the lift didn’t work, so we climbed six filthy flights. The property door was unlocked, people were sleeping in the stairwell at night, and we felt very unsafe. There was no running water. I’m surprised they’re allowed to keep running this business in a developed country. It should have been shut down over health and safety.

We were really upset and couldn’t leave because of the reservation terms. The apartment was dirty when we arrived, and even the tea and sugar packets on the table were empty. There was no hot water, the heating wasn’t working and its unit had a problem, and the refrigerator didn’t work and felt warm inside. The bathroom light was out too. The grounds were dirty, and the garbage was in its designated area.

The building felt unsafe and badly neglected. Its front door was broken and replaced with a dodgy door and plywood frame that stayed open, with a constant alarm. The lift wouldn’t go to the ground floor and was sometimes unusable for hours, including when it was filled with large, smelly bins. Hallways were wet, blocked by bedding cages and food waste, and smelled of fast food, sewage, and homeless people. The stairwells had no lights, and homeless people slept in the lift lobby at night. Inside the apartment, there was a hole in the front door stuffed with a plastic bag. The windows were broken or wouldn’t lock, leaving the place insecure and hot. The bedroom had floor-to-ceiling glass and no opening windows, so it was especially hot. Mosquitoes and bugs were everywhere. I had to go to the pharmacy twice for all the bites, and hoped they were visible bugs rather than bed bugs. The property representatives did nothing about these long-standing issues, which are also mentioned in reviews elsewhere. I contacted them about the worst problems, the lift and the people sleeping there.

The heating failed on our second day, and we were left cold and miserable. The apartment was filthy too, like it hadn’t been cleaned in ages. Then on the third day, our valuables worth thousands were stolen from inside. There were no signs of a break-in, so it seemed like it could have been an inside job. The SmartFlats landlords never answered our calls or emails, even after we filed a police report. Dirty, cold, unsafe, and met with complete indifference. I strongly advise against booking.