****** The Girls in The Windows ***** (Eden Hotel Ghent)

Member Name: malibu_jenny

Product:	Eden Hotel Ghent
Date:	08/09/08 (96 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Location, Breakfast & Friendly Staff

Disadvantages: Itchy Blankets and Thin Walls - Nothing That Bad!

GETTING THERE:

After a non-stop 7 hour coach journey, The Boyfriend and I lurched unsteadily along the front of Gent-St-Pieters station in the dark with our wheeled luggage. It wasn't a cold night, but after the stale air of the coach we were disorientated, hungry and thirsty.

The sensible voice in my head said that it was late and dark, we were in a strange city with heavy luggage; we should get Tram 21 or 22 to our hotel as instructed. There were a few obstacles (the cash point in the station was empty, we had no Euros, we didn't know if the trams would be running at such a late hour) and as is usual with The Boyfriend and I, insanity prevailed and we wandered straight out into the dark without even a map or a street name.

After a 40 minute hike, navigating by the occasional information map and our knowledge that the hotel was somewhere in the red light district, over cobbles, through mud (I slipped) and across tram lines and road works - we saw the hotel's neon sign like a welcoming beacon. Unusually for a hotel, it looked exactly as it had done in the photos on the website, both inside and out. The gleaming red and gold lobby, the steep stairs up to the reception and a good-sized lounge with soft sofas and a large TV screen.

We were greeted warmly at the desk and given the heavy brass key and instructions for breakfast. Still struggling with the fact that every restaurant we passed had been shut, we enquired about the possibility of getting dinner locally. The man at reception thoughtfully shook his head and we decided to drop the bags and have a look ourselves. The lift, although small, fitted the two of us and the bag and whizzed to the third floor. It's worth noting if you stay here that the numbers on the inside of the lift doors do not correspond to the floor numbers. Floor 3 is marked with a 5 and so on.

THE ROOM:

Our room was directly outside the lift door and once we'd turned the key in the lock, overwhelmingly huge. It was more like a studio apartment than a room. I was irritated to note that although we'd booked a double, this room had three spaced out single beds, but it was only moments of effort to reshuffle the furniture and push two of them together. This made the room look even bigger. Having a nosy nature, I checked out the other rooms on the floor when the maid left the doors open in the morning and I can safely say that our room was the biggest.

A doorway in the corner led to a good size bathroom with a fantastic power shower, toilet and basin. Both the room and the bathroom were spotlessly clean. The furniture seemed reasonable quality, I didn't love the plastic stool which held the towels or the lack of bedside tables, but the mismatched chairs under the enormous window were comfortable and the thick curtains kept the light out. The décor, despite the odds and ends nature, somehow pulled together to create a comfortable space.

The Boyfriend, as always, checked the telly out first. Plenty of channels, good signal, he was more than happy. BBC 1 and 2 for the news and English cable channels with Belgian subtitles meant he wouldn't be running out of things to watch. Around the corner from the hotel was Pizza City. Although they were closed, they were coerced by our demanding hunger to switch the Pizza oven back on and knock up two pizzas, which we ate in the room while watching Grease.

THE BREAKFAST:

Having gone to bed late after a tiring day, we were hoping for a lie in. Unfortunately for us, the loud German man in the room next door needed to make long phone calls from 6:30 am. We were jolted awake, suddenly uncomfortably aware of the itchy blankets on top of us and the gap in the beds. Fortunately for him, he got in the lift to go to breakfast just as The Boyfriend swung open the door to smack him one. Still, who can be in a bad mood on the first morning of a holiday? I jumped into the lovely steaming shower and made a quick job of washing my hair in the soft water. Anyone who has ever read one of hotel reviews will know what I'm going to say next... The Boyfriend (despite the late pizza) loves hotel breakfasts and was hopping with excitement at the thought of getting down there.

The breakfast room, with its wooden décor and deep carpet, was a good size compared to some hotels and the breakfast compared even more favourably. There was a range of cooked meats for The Boyfriend, warm crusty rolls, cheese, hard boiled eggs, honey, butter cake, yoghurts, cereal and bananas. I also ate my first authentically Belgian Bun, dribbled with icing. (I've seen a few complaints on Trip Advisor about the lack of fruit at breakfast in the Eden and there wasn't much selection, but the bananas were fine by me.) The tea, coffee and orange juice were excellent.

LOCATION:

After breakfast, we headed out to see what there was to see. The Eden is a stones throw from the historical cobbled centre of Ghent and it was no problem popping back to the hotel for coats and then for dry clothes after we took a 40 minute ride on an open boat in a rainstorm. There are plenty of restaurants close to the hotel, although the café on the corner nearest the Biblioteek seemed to be full of unsavoury customers who glared menacingly at us as we walked past. In order to avoid this, we walked round the back way....

Directly behind the hotel is the heart of Ghent's red light district. I can never resist shopping on holiday and glancing at a dress, on what my subconscious mind believed was a mannequin in a shop window, I jumped. The girls jiggle in front of the windows all day and night, and most gave me a conspiratorial smile or returned a friendly wave as we walked past. There's even a covered shopping centre with girls of all nationalities putting on their make up and brushing their hair ready for the evening's business. Unlike my hometown, the bars and brothels don't turn out a stream of screaming, shouting, puking drunks. We could see a whole lot of action from the window of our room, but at no point were we disturbed by it. I wish I could say the same about the French couple who were staying in the next room when we returned that night.

STAFF:

We were pleased to find that our two singles had thoughtfully been made up with sheets as a double on the second night. It must be said that the staff made every effort to make us feel welcome and they were always on hand when we needed more coffee at breakfast or help finding the local sights. This is a family run hotel and the personal, friendly service is very good for somewhere at the cheaper end of the budget. We said we hoped to return to Ghent and stay again and genuinely meant it.

BOOKING & COST

We booked through http://www.hotels.be, paying 66Euro a night during the August Bank Holiday. Very good value for Belgium!

Summary: Dedicated with many thanks to Tange for her excellent original review and her recommendation,