I don't have anything against basic, comfortable, clean hotels but this one wasn't really comfortable. The room was rather small with an extremely basic closet (not a single drawer in the whole room). The mattresses sagged and were very uncomfortable and the pillows seemed to be made out of god knows what, very lumpy and weird shaped. The room gave a general impression of cheapness.

The bathroom had only two lights and one of them had burnt, so there was only one tiny light to illuminate the bathroom. There was no hot water in the shower in the morning (maybe because my room was at the end of the hallway) I had to wait until night to get hot water in the shower. There was black mold on the ceiling of the bathroom.

The room was very cold in the morning and the lighting was awful.

The elevator did not reach all the floors.

Breakfast buffet was good but coffee was absolutely horrible and there wasn't enough staff for breakfast (or the one person working at the breakfast buffet was very inefficient) so dirty dishes and cups piled up on many empty tables.

Staff were OK, not very friendly but not rude either.

Overall I thought that it was too expensive for what was provided.

My wife and I stayed at this hotel for four nights instead of camping for the Rock Werchter music festival. We also had a friend stay with us so had a triple room with two beds pushed together for us.

The hotel is about a 15-20 minute walk from the train station which is where the festival buses left from. The walk was straight through the centre of Leuven and the hotel would be ideally placed if you wanted to spend a couple of extra days exploring - we only managed to wander around for one of the mornings.

The staff at the hotel were extremely polite and friendly. They were happy to make conversation and ask how we were enjoying the festival. They also helped out with directions for things like shops that would be open on Sunday.

The room was clean, tidy and spacious enough that the three of us easily fit in without a problem. We had the corner room on the top floor which was in the loft space with a slanted roof and the dimensions meant that there wasn't quite enough room for a shower which meant a bit of extra coordination to wash with the bath+hose but no major difficulty. It also included air-conditioning which was perfect for a couple of the days with temperatures above 35 celsius.

The continental breakfast included with the room was up to standard and the hotel included a bar (not that we used it during our stay).

Overall, I'd happily recommend this hotel to anyone looking to stay at Leuven or attending Rock Werchter.

Stayed in this hotel night before and after an interview. Hotel is very clean and staff very helpful and location is excellent if a tourist. There is no room service or food available at the hotel in the evening although there is a small bar, however it is very close to the main square which has loads of cafes etc. The bad side to the hotel is that I managed to only get minimal sleep on the night before the interview as the noise from outside the hotel was terrible until 4AM (I stayed in a room at the front of the hotel). The cause being drunk students shouting and singing. Building workers near the hotel then started banging about at 6:30AM. The next night I asked to be moved to a room at the back of the hotel and the staff were very accommodating. Had a much better night sleep. I therefore recommend that if you stay here request a room at the back of the hotel.

... but Leuven is not a good place to look for a hotel. It seems this charming university town doesn't have many possibilities for accommodation, and so, prices for *** match what would go for ***** in other places. The New Damshire is, I think, the best hotel in the mid-range, so if one wants to pay around € 100 a night (rather than € 150), which most visitors to Leuven dom, because they tend to be on the academic side, then it is a good choice. (If € 150 is okay, then Het Klooster is the best, following by the hotel in the Groot Begijnhoof, the UNESCO world hertitage site.)

It is a small hotel over a corner pub, with modernized rooms. Still, rooms to the front will be loud, also during the night, in spite of the good windows. The mattresses were lacking in quality and comfort, the curtains don't keep the street light out, the heat is electric and therefore loud during the night (automatic switch on/off), the hangers in the closet are instable and fall down, there is no hairdryer in the room (as it says on the website, but you can get one at the reception), the shower is not easy to handle, and so on.

But there is friendly staff, the location is convenient for tourism and academics, there is a garage across the street where one can park the car (rare in downtown Leuven), the breakfast is limited but certainly adequate, there is one free internet terminal in the bar, it is not a standardized chain hotel, and so on.

In short, for the € 100 price range, this is as good as it gets in Leuven, and if one does not expect more than a low-end *** pub hotel, it is actually fine.