We had a beautiful oversized room at Hotel des Bains near Waimes and it was stunning. Everything was done to the highest quality. No details were missed. The staff was very friendly and spoke English. Very clean rooms and bathrooms. The food was delicious. Only wished we could have stayed longer.

We had booked 2 nights in a what we thought to be a normal double in a 4 star hotel. Upon arrival we were directed to a room with an interior not touched since the 70s. It was small, dirty and had definately seen it's best days.

We returned downstairs to see if we could have another room but was told that we could have one tomorrow if we paid a surcharge. We were told by the owner that the room was perfectly fine, to which we answered very politely that it was nowhere near 4 star standard.

At this point the owner raised the voice and said that the hotel had all the trimmings of a 4 star (incl. an elevator!) and that if we were cheap enough to book a 'classic' room we shouldn't expect too much. Furthermore we should understand that we had made a grave mistake in using an internet booking site when making the reservation since that left less margin for the hotel. He adviced us that he only agreed to cooperate with the booking site in question since all the "cheap dutch people" who always wants the smallest room finds the hotel this way (yes, he actually said this!!).

We were also told that we should understand that as small business owners they didn't have the resources to renovate all rooms at once (but apparantely still charge high prices for the crappy old rooms).

At this point we knew we could not get anywhere by trying to reason and let the obvious points,

1. Even if you buy the smallest room at a 4 star the room should still be of decent quality (unless clearly indicated),
2. It's not my role as a paying guest to know that the hotel can't afford to match it's advertised standard,
3. etc...,

rest and quickly next morning found a cheaper, better and more friendly place down the road.

We stayed at Hotel Des Bains for two nights, incl. dinner, and were disappointed overall. The room (a 'junior suite', room nr. 23) was in need of renovation and small for a suite. The bathroom was tiny and awkwardly divided into two separate spaces, which looked like converted closets. (The bathtub was in one 'closet' and the toilet & wash basin in the other. You had to step right into the bedroom from the bathtub; there was no place to just dry off. I've stayed in lots of -fancy and budget- hotels and this is the most impractical bathroom I've ever come across.) The water in the shower was tepid. Another problem was that the phone was broken - we were able to get through to the reception but we could not receive incoming calls. Management hadn't bothered to warn us about the phone, so I spent 45 minutes waiting for a call that was never put through. I found out about the problem with the phone when I happened to run into the co-owner downstairs. The person who called me had left a message with staff, but they had been 'too busy' to come up to the room to notify me. It struck me as unprofessional that they hadn't told us about the broken phone when we checked in, and that they hadn't bothered to promptly give us our friend's message. As for the dinner; the food was good the first night, and excellent the second. The only problem was that they didn't heat the dinner space adequately. I was left with the impression that they may be having money problems; they certainly seemed to be good at penny-pinching.
All in all, the service and the accommodations weren't worth the four stars or the steep price. The region (Hautes Fagnes) is beautiful, but there must be far better (quality & price) hotels in the area, and I really wouldn't recommend Hotel Des Bains to anyone.

The hotel is situated in a very nice area, on the lake of Robertville, the wellness center is new and super nice, the food in the restaurant is delicious, however it is a bit pricey. The only thing that I didnt like a lot was that the room didnt look enough renovated for a 4 star hotel /especially the bathroom/. It is true that the hotel is on the main road so avoid the rooms which face it because it can be noisy.
It is a family hotel and the owners are very kind and helpful. The Chateau de Reinhardstein is near by, if you go down the path near the castle you will find some beautiful views and a waterfall.