Hey-Aparthotel

The room was spacious, clean and well equipped, but there was a small internal room accessed through the bathroom, with a loosely locked door. That felt unsettling and unsafe at night. The building has no elevator, and the neighborhood felt unsafe and dirty, with garbage on the streets and people loitering and drinking outside. The listed check-in was 15:00 and checkout 10:00, but after booking I was told I could only check in after 16:00 because of cleaning. That made for a very short stay despite paying for a full night. Although I had paid through Hotels.com, I also had to provide an €80 credit-card pre-authorization to get the access codes. Twelve days after checkout, it still hadn’t been released, and my bank confirmed this wasn’t a banking issue. The host communicated only through WhatsApp and was slow to respond. My question about parking fees wasn’t answered until after checkout.

The room was clean, furnished adequately and looked like the website photos. Sadly, that was overshadowed by the location and the hotel’s response after we left. As soon as we arrived, several men near the entrance and along the street watched us closely while we got out of the taxi and entered the building. We felt uneasy right away. During our short stay, we saw what appeared to be drug dealing in broad daylight, and the surroundings felt threatening and insecure. We checked out shortly after arriving because of safety concerns. I contacted the hotel afterwards to explain and ask for a refund for the unused nights. They offered to return only a small part of the total, and only if I agreed not to post a review. I found that response shocking. Guests shouldn’t be pressured or financially influenced to stay quiet. Reviews help other travelers make informed choices about safety, and trying to suppress honest feedback is morally wrong and, in my view, against consumer protection laws. It’s unfortunate because the room itself was fine, but the unsafe location and the hotel’s unprofessional response overshadowed it completely. No one should have to choose between personal safety and losing their money, or be asked to stay silent for a partial refund.

The hosts were responsive, and the room itself was really nice, clean and well designed. But the location was horrible. We were four girls and felt so, so unsafe walking around.

Communication with the host was good, and they sent the information we needed on time. The apartment was nice, but the surrounding area made us feel unsafe, so we’d still give it one star. For us, safety comes before the other aspects of a hotel or apartment. On 20 Mar 2025, around 4pm, we walked from Brussels Midi toward the apartment. Google Maps estimated about 20 minutes. Within ten minutes, a man began following us and harassing my wife. We ignored him and kept walking, and luckily he eventually stopped. On Rue Ropsy Chaudron, about 200m from the apartment, another younger man started following us, repeatedly glancing back at us. His friend joined him and began harassing me, at one point sticking his leg out to block my way. While I was distracted, he tried to snatch my watch but failed. We hurried on, and just before turning onto Rue Heyvaert road, the same man harassed me again and tried to grab my watch a second time, without success. The two kept taunting us and ran to the nearby coffeshop. We were afraid for our safety, so we pushed on and got into the apartment quickly. We booked another hotel, called an Uber and left in under 40 minutes. The vicinity had a ghetto vibe to us. My wife and I have traveled extensively for more than 15 years and often stay off the beaten track. We’ve never felt this unsafe in those situations before.