A Comfortable & Friendly Hotel (Hotel Cathedrale (Tournai, Belgium))

Member Name: nixtee

Product:	Hotel Cathedrale (Tournai, Belgium)
Date:	17/09/08 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comfortable, friendly, quiet. A pretty & historic city.

Disadvantages: Don't count on the locals being able to speak English (but then why should they!)

We stayed at the Hotel Cathedrale in the Belgian town of Tournai while on Leger's "All Quiet on the Western Front" World War One Battlefields tour. The city centre streets weren't made for coaches, so we were dropped off a street away from the hotel. As we were getting our luggage off the coach, our tour guide went ahead to check us in. It didn't take long for us to walk around to the hotel, but our tour guide had swiftly checked us in and was ready to hand out our room keys.

There was a lift, but we decided to take the stairs up to our room. We had a twin room which was clean, tidy and comfortable. It included bedside lamps, a desk & chair (with kettle, mugs and tea & coffee) and a wardrobe with plenty of hanging space and luggage space. The bathroom was of an average size with a toilet, sink and bath/shower. There were also a couple of glasses and some little bottles of shower gel etc.

The breakfast offered at Hotel Cathedrale is fantastic. We walked into the restaurant to find a feast of food for us to choose from. There was everything from fresh fruit to a range of breads (which could be toasted, if you wished), a selection of meats, cereals, fruit juices, tea, coffee and lots more. You could practically fill yourself up for the day. The staff were also on hand to replenish the food & drink.

We didn't get a chance to eat an evening meal in the hotel restaurant (but if the breakfast was anything to go by, I'm guessing it would be delicious) as we'd either eaten elsewhere or it was closed (due to it being a Sunday). However, should you be staying there on a Sunday evening there are plenty of other eateries nearby. Unfortunately, we chose a chip shop where none of the staff could speak English and I know very little French... that was slightly embarrassing, but that's a whole other story!

We did, however, get to try out the hotel bar. It's not the biggest of bars, but we had plenty of drinks to choose from. I started with vodka & coke while my Dad sampled the Leffe beer (which I also tried one evening). Again, the staff were helpful and swift to serve us. Due to some major international football games being on at the time, the TV screens were put on and there was quiet a roar from the crowd when England (our side of the room - although I am Welsh, but they weren't playing) or Germany scored (the other side of the room)!

The only time I really spoke to the reception staff was when we checked out, but they were always friendly and smiling whenever we walked through the reception area. Also, there were an array of tourist leaflets to pick up and a range of postcards were available to buy.

The hotel is situated on the edge of a quiet square (although I was told there is a market once or twice a week) and so we weren't disturbed by traffic at night. The river is just a short walk down the street and looked beautiful lit up at night, there was also a couple of bars down that way. The hotel is surrounded by quaint streets, squares and shops, and the city as a whole is beautiful. Just up the street from the hotel is the building from which the hotel takes it's name - the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Tournai (which was having work done on it while we were there).

All in all, I enjoyed my stay at the Hotel Cathedrale and would certainly consider staying there again should I be in Belgium.

(We paid for our room as part of the Leger package, but I believe the room prices range between £50 - £80).

Summary: A recommended hotel!