Hotel de Notelaer

On the upside there was free parking available, someone was at reception for the check in, wifi worked and the beds were made up. The building as such looks nice and the brasserie is also nicely decorated. On the downside the room was extremely small and dusty. I thought the old fashioned bathroom was kind of smelly. The hotel is located next to a level crossing and therefore quite noisy. Staff was either unable or unwilling to speak the local language. We had reserved breakfast but had to find that only a little stale bread from the supermarket and some slices of ham and cheese were available - both of low quality. We were told that we had been expected for breakfast the previous day. Fair enough we were refunded the €30 we had paid for breakfast. We did not try the restaurant.

While on a boat tour of Belgium for vacation, my mother became extremely sick and had to be taken off the boat and brought by ambulance to the nearest hospital, which was in Bornem. I had to make a last-moment reservation at a hotel within walking distance, and there aren't many hotels in Bornem, so De Notelaer was the first place I called to book a room. I explained the situation with my mother in the hospital, and upon check-in they charged me extra as a "tourist fee" and told me they required me to pay for the first night up front before they would give me a room. The room was dated, definitely more of a motel than a hotel. It was very, very hot. They do not offer A/C in the hotel, and there was only one tiny square window to the outside that provided zero airflow. It was 82 degrees F that day, and my room got up to 90F. I spent most of that day at the hospital with my mother and her care team. That evening I returned to the hotel around 6:45PM to find the dining room completely empty, and so I left again to find a restaurant nearby. When I returned about 8:30PM, the front desk asked if I would be staying the next night as well. I replied that it would depend on if my mother was released from the hospital, and so I would let them know the next morning after talking to her doctor. I slept poorly and sweated all night long in that incredibly hot room. Funny, because during my shower that morning there was zero hot water. At 10AM I stopped at the front desk and told them I would let them know shortly if I was staying a second night, and the front desk told me that now there were no vacancies; they had already booked my room and I would need to check out by noon that day. These are awful people and I would never, ever choose to return to this crappy hotel. Avoid it if you can. I wish I could have stayed at the hospital instead.

Very good dinner, menu is fusion of various cuisines, ranging from Indian to Thai and Japanese. Really friendly people, and attentive service. Nice seating indoor as well as outdoor. All in all a very nice experience, we will be back there for sure.