In Belgium we have a women’s magazine named Flair. This magazine often offers coupons to stay at luxurious hotels at small prices. I already used this kind of coupon during the Summer for my wonderful stay in Bruges (Read about it here) at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, so I was very excited to give Brussels a try in December with my bestie! I chose the Penta Hotel in the city’s center near the Avenue Louise because I really liked the look of the hotel in the pictures in the brochure.
The Penta Hotel describes itself as a stylish hotel, which is true. When you enter the lobby you know immediately this is a modern design hotel. I absolutely loved the interior of the reception and the bar. The reception actually IS the bar and around it are many different separated areas, all designed as cozy living rooms, sometimes decorated with a pool table or big screen TV.
I thought this looked amazing so I had great expectations of our room. When I arrived in the evening, exhausted from walking through the city and exploring the many parts of the Christmas market, I couldn’t wait to wear my new PJ’s from Primark, get into bed and watch one of the many free movies Penta Hotel offers. When I stepped out of the elevator on the 7th floor I thought the hallway looked like a bassment. It was all black. I think it’s the industrial look… Anyway, entering the room I was pleased the walls were light colored and the bed was huge! I would sleep perfectly here!
Was I wrong… My enthusiasm disappeared quickly when I noticed I could hear the neighbours talk. Also, every time a door closed in the hallway, our entrance door rattled too, which made noise. I just hoped people would be silent as soon as I went to sleep and decided to change into my PJ’s and enjoy one of the many recent free movies. The TV only caused more frustration. The system blocked, movies played for 30 minutes and then it showed the message that the connection was lost. So after several attempts watching the beginnings of various movies I called it quits and decided to sleep.
In the morning I had the feeling like I hadn’t slept at all. At night people made noise and slammed doors, which made our rattling entrance door move too. Every time someone went to the bathroom you could here the sliding door (in my room but also in the neighbouring rooms, why choose sliding doors??). Also a sliding door doesn’t cover any sound from the bathroom. No explanation needed I guess? (imagine being there with your new boyfriend?!) Also the sheets were too small. Every time I turned I had to concentrate on how, so I could stay covered. The sheets were too short and my feet were cold.
The bathroom looked very nice and had a great shower. Only the tap wasn’t attached to the washstand so when taking water to brush my teeth, I had to be careful not to pull it out.
The staff told me the Penta Hotel was new since April so I thought it was weird the tap was still loose and duct tape was still to be found on the baseboards. When the room gets cleaned, shouldn’t this be something noticeable?
My last hope was the breakfast. But since I hadn’t slept that much, I thought it was too crowded and noisy in the restaurant. How big was the disappointment when I discovered there were no more croissants or fresh waffles at the buffet when I walked in. The scrambled eggs tasted weird (how can you mess up scrambled eggs???). The buffet was just too small for the amount of people that were staying at the hotel. When the croissant guy arrived in the restaurant, he quickly got followed by people longing for croissants… Everyone seemed desperate! 😀
I can’t say I enjoyed staying at this hotel. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time laughing at everything that went wrong, but I had hoped for a relaxed evening like I had at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Bruges. I guess Penta Hotels isn’t as good as Crowne Plaza and it shouldn’t be called a luxurious hotel. It’s just a design hotel that still needs a little work to be done.
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