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.

The pros: - The size of the apartment, the windows. - The proximity to the train station - Apartment heats very quickly - Kitchen hob was electric conduction and worked well. - The key collection was simple. The cons: - The lift - it is shared with Five Guys, the stench was horrendous. - The amenities for the kitchen - cheap Ikea items, mismatched wine glasses, a poor array of knives for cooking. - Furnishing that are worn out with use and dirty. - A shower that lacks a decent flow - Building site opposite with floodlights shining in day and night - Curtains that do not meet and leave substantial gaps. - Noise from sirens, window glazing and seals were poor. - The bed was ridiculously soft. - Check-in from the external entry point was fiddly, no light externally to see what numbers you're pressing in the dark. - The lift buttons are slow and entering passcodes failed a few times. Overall, I was unimpressed. The pictures are not at all representative. It could be an amazing space and for the price, I would have expected a lot better.

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.

Worst apartment and company ever. We booked with 5 friends, when we arrived the code to enter the building did not work. We could only reach them by WhatsApp, they told us the would fix everything so that we could enter the apartment. After 2 hours the said that best option was free cancellation. So we stould there with al our stuff. Late at night we had to find another hotel. But the worst part is that we did not receiver our money back till today… Never go to a smartflats apartment