Hotel De Franse Kroon

The huge continental breakfast and friendly people helped, and it's only a short walk to the square. But the heat made the place miserable on a hot weekend. There was a fan and windows in my room, though a friend had no window at all and was in a right state by morning. With cooler weather, it would have been perfectly acceptable. One more thing, when you come back at night using the code, the door takes a really good push to open.

The room was tiny, but clean and practical throughout, including the bathroom and bed sheets. We stayed at Hotel De Franse Kroon with our 10-month-old, and the staff on site really came through for us. Before arriving, we couldn't get an answer from the owner for days about a baby bed, by phone or email. Once there, the receptionist and floor manager sorted one out right away and made sure we had what we needed. The floor manager also did his best to make us feel at home, speaking multiple languages, and arranged a quiet corner in the breakfast room for our caddy the next morning. Breakfast was generous and delicious. If we're back in Diest, we'd keep this hotel's great value for money in mind.

We had a good stay. The rooms were clean, everyone working there was friendly and helpful, and being close to the centre was handy.

The room had the basics, which was a plus: shampoo and conditioner, plus a kettle with tea and coffee. Still, this is a very basic hotel. The bathroom ceiling in my room was coming apart, with a bucket catching a leak, and I could hear dripping elsewhere overnight. A colleague also said her toilet kept running and wouldn't flush properly. We turned up around 8:15pm for check-in, which was supposed to be open until 9, but the desk was unattended. The front door was unlocked and our keys were left in an envelope on the desk. Breakfast was pretty sparse: bread, ham and cheese, one yogurt and apple each, and orange juice, tea or coffee. We arrived at 8pm and left at 7:30am, so I can't say much about the area, though I believe it's fairly central. It wasn't awful, and I've stayed in worse places, but I'd probably choose somewhere else next time.