Ok so it was a bargain break the National Holiday £99 Ostend Weekend Superdeal.
The hotel was a wee bitty 'unloved' I am no great housewife but to have layers of dust on the ledges next to table in dining room wasnt good - and the rest of the place could have been improved with some Cilit Bang and elbow grease.
The room was dated - beds seemed too soft but were actually very comfy. Furniture wasnt up to much but if I had wanted to look at furniture I would have gone to Ikea. The curtains had cigarette burns and looking out of the window you could see hundreds of cig ends on the flat roof below. The radiator was on - and blimey it was HOT!
The bathroom - the soap dispensers were not up too much and hardly any came out , the wash hand basin was tatty . Good point there - always plenty of hot water and loads of clean towels.
Meals were the normal suspects for the continental breakfast - there was also the option of a cooked breakfast for 3 euros - tomato, eggs (either fried or an omelette) and ham not bad value there at all
The evening entertainment was by a chappie who played keyboard, flute and clarinet - he was not bad, took requests and carried on regardless.
The barman - very dry sense of humour. We sat in the small bar on the Saturday evening having several coffees and roared with laughter when he kept being told - red wine and small beer by someone - he served up the red wine and then used a shot glass for the small beer - all deadpan. So way to go Eric the barman
Now comes the REALLY bad part. Several on this trip took ill (poss due to air con on coach) BUT on the Sunday afternoon when people were in the foyer having coffees or as in my case in the bar having a hot water we were assailed by dozens of screaming children. Their parents were at a function being held in the dining room - where they were allowed to smoke at the tables!, The children were running riot. Several of us witnessed a young boy - about 8 - 10 years old going behind the bar and pouring himself about 2 -3 inches of beer into a glass then topping it up with pepsi. This really concerned me so I asked at reception what the legal age for drinking was in Belgium and was told it was 16. I then reported what I had seen to the receptionist who shrugged her shoulders and said that it was the owners son ! Not a very good attitude to take.
The children were jumping onto tables in the foyer when residents were TRYING to have a coffee. The stand where all the leaflets were was strewn all over the floor - a charming child came over to me and pointed to the mess and said CLEAN - I don't think so!
The owners son went behind the bar again and was this time at the optics - one of our group gently chastisted him saying that maybe he shouldnt be doing that - he sneered at the gentleman and then slammed the door at the end of the bar (where the entertainment was in the evenings ) in the said gents face.
All in all it would have been a far better experience IF these children had been supervised and we hadnt gone down with this bug. And the owner maybe needs to make sure his son acts in a manner that doesnt upset residents.
Would I stay there again? if I had a choice I would go to another hotel, but because of the deal we had to stay there.
Good points - comfy beds, excellent evening meals
Bad points - very close to red light district and general tattiness of the place.
As i said earlier in this review - if it had a good clean it would be excellent
- Royal Astor Ostende
