On arrival at the hotel, being a member of Priority Club i was told I was allocated a Superior Room. On arriving at my room, I would have hated being allocated a Standard Room, as my "Superior Room" felt like a hostel room! It was functional, but it felt bare and devoid of character. The room actually felt cold so I tried to turn the heating up, this did not seem to work. So I called reception so told me they would move me. So, I packed my bags and waited. 15 minutes later I had a knock on my door from a member of staff who informed me teh hotel heating was off and it was pointless, therefore, changing room! He eventually offered me an extra blanket (just like you would in a youth hostel!). There was no optio of having brekfast in your room, so down I went. The staff were abrupt and rude. I was glad to leave. Crowne Plazas - one can usually trust the name and have a great hotel. In the case of Antwerp , DON'T, its just no like the others, no warmth, no character, no smiles.

First impressions are of a high rise concrete ediface next to the ring road are not the most welcoming! No amount of foliage and flags can bring this round, so something inside needs to be good; it's not, sadly. The reception is to the right, round a corner past some large posts and the bar and restaurant are to the left of the main entrance. When you walk in, you see a wall and some large posts. The reception staff have always been friendly on all the occassions I've stayed. The rooms. The higher up you are, the further from the traffic noise of the ring road (especially on the northerly end of the building). I have had some tired rooms a while back but everything seems refurbished now so they're fine. They will upgrade you for ?30 (if I recall correctly) so even if you're Platinum Priority Club member you'll not get an upgrade as they have their own programme. The bar. A rather unremarkable place to be. The hotel is not central, but there is a bus stop outside with buses 17 (Centraal Station) and 22 (Groenplatz) costing ?1.60 single. The ride takes 15 minutes and is worth it as Antwerp has so much to offer. I have heard the gym and pool are good, but I've yet to test them. As hotels go, it's okay, but it needs something, character perhaps.

The rooms are average in size and it all looks okay. Bathroom is a bit bigger than normal. What i didn't like is the overkill of mirrors in the room/bathroom on the closet etc etc. It's a good thing is that the windows open so you can get some fresh air, but the hotel is located next to the ring road (highway) of antwerp so you do get some traffic noise if you do. Breakfast is good and the staff is friendly and will help you out if needed. Overall my stay here was okay....... but nothing special.

Crowne Plaza should be something of which something can be expected. I paid a reduced early booking rate of 124 Euro, the normal would be around 150. Yet considering the price, the only things very acceptable were cleanliness of room and bath and extreme friendliness of staff. Breakfast would have been 24 Euro extra, so did not take it. 24 Euro for a tea and two bowls of cornflakes, what usually is my breakfast would simply stick in my throat. Key critical points are noisy from the motorway next to the hotel. Somebody really should have invested in good noise insulation when building the hotel. Second is the spa. It really is well equipped, but: -paint peeling off the steam room -steam room probably should have scented like eucalyptus, but it smelled like very rotten eucalyptus, also noted by others attempting to use it. -one of two showers broken in the sauna -dark stains in the only operational shower -a strange floatation on the cold plunge bath water surface There is apparently WLAN, but didnt use it. Paid parking is outside of the hotel, though very close next to the main road there are many other free places. It is close to nothing, except the trade fair and the motorway exit (Wilrijk, I think), literally within walking distance. You see the hotel towering next to the motorway. Wont stay again, not at that price. This is no value for that kind of money.

As a consultant I am traveling quite a lot and spend more nights in a hotel than beeing home. My current project is located in Antwerp. The first hotel I tested was the Crowne Plaza. 1.) Location: The Crowne Plaza is located a little bit outside of Antwerp, directly next to the city ring. 2.) Parking: There is a parking available, it's located next to the entrance. The parking fee was 10Euro for an overnight stay. 3.) Rate: I booked a standard room on the day of arrival for 145€ (it's cheaper booking more in advance, of course) 4.) Arrival, Staff: For BeNeLux Hotels, the Entrance Hall makes a good impression.I arrived pretty late in the hotel and still the reception staff was friendly. After all formalities had been settled, I missed a short introduction to the hotel. I was just told where the elevator was, nothing more. 5.) Room: The room keys are keycards with a magnetic stripe you need to swipe through a reader to unlock the door. It worked fine for me, but some of the people on the same floor had to try several times to open the door. The inerior of the room was clean but old fashioned. The TV had an approprieate size but my remote was already broken. Bathroom was ok, but as often in old hotels, there was no separate Shower cabin. The bath tub had a curtain around for showering. That is one thing I really don't like, as those cutrains most of the time look ugly with some nasty mildew on it. The one in my room did not make an exception... :-( The Minibar was an electronically monitored one, so don't try to play around with the stuff in it, it get's immediatelly charged to your bill. The prices have been pretty expensive, unfortunately I didn't write them down. 6.) Internet: I often use Internet to keep in touch with all my friends in the evenings. Therefore I regard a working Internet connection as a very important feature in a hotel. WiFi was not working in my room, it seemed, that I was too far away from access point. There was also a cat 5 cable available to go online. That worked well, but pretty slow. A very ridiculous fact was the price. They asked 25€ for a full day and 5€ for an hour. Nowadays I think this is not adequate anymore 7.) Food: I just stayed 2 nights in the hotel and always arrived at the hotel pretty late. Therefore I had a Club Sandwich in the Bar the first night. The Restaurant was closed already so that was the only choice. The sandwich together with a Coke Light was 14€ The waiter this night was pretty ingnorring and unfriendly. The next day I was reading through the hotel description provided in a folder in my room and found a room service menu with a nice spaghetti Bolognese for 12€ plus 6€ room service fee. As I hate to eat on the room, I decided to go downstairs to the restaurant and ask for the spaghetti. Unfortunately I got to know, that the room service menu is not available for sale anywhere else than the room. I think that is pretty strange. I ended up with a Hamburger in the bar again with a coke light for 16€ 8.) Overall: For a short stay ok, Internet is far too expensive. Staff could be much friendlier, especially in the bar. Not a hotel I would recommend to a friend... I will search further