La Pomme D'or

I keep coming back to this hotel in Oudenaarde. The owner couple give the friendliest service, and both the breakfast and the premises are excellent.

The room situation was a mess because the hosting institution had made an error with my reservation. I was told I’d need to move rooms for the final night. After breakfast the next day, I left the hotel and came back two hours later to find I’d been assigned a new room and the staff had moved my belongings. I can’t believe a stranger handled my personal things. There wasn’t even an apology. I also found the service rude. In the afternoon, when I asked for tea as a guest, the waiter refused and said, “if you order drinks only, you cannot stay in the restaurant”. I’ll never book a room here again.

The breakfast was pretty average, and they’d run out of cereal after serving one coffee. There was no coffee or tea setup in the room, nowhere to hang a towel in the bathroom, and the TV didn’t work. Reception seemed to have nobody there unless they were ready to take your money.

They describe the place as “pet friendly,” so I booked, but when I called about my dog, they told me not to bring him because he isn’t “a small dog.” They only accept dogs under 5kg. I don’t see the difference. In my experience, small dogs are much noisier and less well behaved. I had to cancel, and now I’m stuck looking for somewhere else.