Ooostel2be Brussel

Caroline, the owner, is a huge liar. I booked a month but had to shorten the stay because of an emergency. The other guests were drug users, and the people in the room next to mine smoked cannabis. I told the staff, but they did nothing. Caroline gave me a bad name on Airbnb, saying I hadn't told her anything, even though I have all the messages. This is a crappy place with creepy people. Never again, and I strongly advise people not to book there. This was in May 2023. After I complained, I got a reply about a change of ownership, with them pretending they didn't know each other, though they're partners and it's the same ownership. They said they refunded five days, but only two days were returned. They also said they couldn't find me in their system, and said Carolina was the previous owner. Thank you.

We got a bit lost on arrival because getting into the hotel takes several codes: one for the main entrance, another after taking the lift to the third floor, then one more for the lobby and your room. If your phone battery is low, write the codes down, since there may be nobody around to help at odd hours. The room itself was decent, with a comfortable bed, a clean bathroom, and good water pressure. The bin is in the toilet, not the room. The hotel is beside a busy street with a lot of “social activities.” It's less than 100 metres from the Flix bus stop. The nearby street didn't feel very safe at night, but we had no trouble, and there were police around.

The keypads often stopped working, and I was locked out in the middle of the night. The replacement codes also failed most of the time. There were frequent power cuts, and the shared rubbish bins weren't emptied often enough, leaving a terrible smell. Red light businesses are in the same building, and the surrounding streets felt dangerous and were littered. They also kept part of the deposit with what seemed like shady reasoning, then stopped replying. A bad experience. Find somewhere else.

We never felt unsafe or uncomfortable around the red light district, even when we got back after 1 a.m. The hostel is close to North train station and about 10 minutes from other bus stops and markets. The city centre is around a 25-minute walk if you like walking. Our room was clean when we arrived and nicely decorated, though I think room cleaning is optional because of the low cost and Covid policies. The staff were all friendly and polite. We loved the place and would come back. We visited from 5 to 8 October 2022.