Smartflats - Central Antwerp

On arrival we didn’t not have our access code as the travel agent hadn’t passed it on - however we rang and a lovely lady worked it out and emailed it through to me. There was a truly vile smell in the lift and then we accessed the apartment. It was spacious, but basic - as you can see in the pics the double bed was on a base with no coverings. The apartment was just barely clean enough. The bathrooms seemed clean but it was generally dusty. The dishwasher is broken and when opened fell Heavily hurting my hand. There is significant building work next door that was noisy almost all the time (concrete saws and jackhammers) whilst this is not in the control of the venue, just be aware. Looks like at least 6 mths more work.

Smartflats offered a great price and excellent location - then again there's no such thing as a free lunch! The flat itself was spacious and comfortable for the most part. It was a little too hot with no airconditioning and the single pedestal fan was inadequate. The central location was a big plus, there was no shortage of places to eat and drink, and the railway station was a couple of minutes away. The central shopping area was also very close. This is where the good stuff ends and the problems begin... Aside from the heat, which prevented a decent night's sleep, the flats are located outside the Anwerp Towers which are in the process of being demolished. Work starts at 6:30 am with Jack-hammers and drills! The windows are only single glazed and the ear plugs provided (a bit worrying that the owners know they're necessary) don't work. Our flat also had a large mirror leaning against the wall, rather than mounted on it. There was no lampshade on the light in the main living area, the bulb in the kitchen area did not work, the dishwasher had no 'front' to it, so was unusable - it also had screws sticking out of it so would represent a significant hazard to small children. The lights in the bathroom were hanging loose from the ceiling and there was nothing to hold the shower head on the wall. Finally there was a curtain missing from one window so there could be no privacy. On the plus side - the communications from the owners was good with entry codes e-mailed in good time. There was a spacious fridge, free tea and coffee with UHT cartons of cream, a DVD player and some English films. I appreciate my comments seem fairly damning, but for the price it wasn't all bad and I'd think about staying here again if I was back in Antwerp.