Hotels near Aquacentre Les Lacs De L＇eau D＇heure, Froidchapelle

The first thing to say is - I'm not usually a Youth Hostel person so I'll give the Auberge de Jeunesse lots of credit here. Met by friendly receptionist who was helpful in telling me all the important information including the shuttle bus back to Charleroi Airport. The room I got was a ”Basic Single Room” - which was just a 2 bed dorm with Single occupancy. It did exactly what it said on the tin - it had a bed, toilet, shower, sink, plugs and table/chairs - just what was needed for an overnight stay. The bed was comfortable despite having to do the pillowcase/bed sheets/duvet cover myself, but I guess that's a hostel thing! The one downside to my stay was the amount of noise from outside my room - which I believe was next to a shared area. Constant banging, whistling and cheering until about 12.30am led to not much sleep being had until then - luckily my flight home was in the afternoon, it would be awful if you had an early connection! Breakfast was offered and was a good continental offering, some hot food would have been nice but the breakfast I had was more than acceptable. For a grand total of €37 including breakfast, this place is extremely good value for money, but expect noise before you go to sleep! I would return if I was coming back to Charleroi.

If you have visited several Novotels, you are used to certain standards, from both room, staff and bar/restaurant. In Charleroi, unfortunately, only the room was made: the mine was super-sized, clean, modern and handy furnished. The shower was the best ever, and the (separate) bath was faster than I had ever seen (and that at the highest floor!) The choice of breakfast buffet was quite limited: especially fruit and vegetables were missing. The coffee machines were outside the breakfast room (best unhappy) and one of the two was defect every four days of my stay (very unhappy). The quality of coffee was consistent with the quality of the other breakfast products: moderate to average. The staff, which is very much praised in the reviews, must have been on holidays in a collective manner. The receptionists I found were uninterested, unpleasantly turned up their standard dresses and bloated out only in the active non-health of the guests when they passed. Even eye contact was too difficult, but the city itself was much more beautiful (or less ugly) than expected: in particular the centre and station area are very beautifully decorated in an invitation style. The majority of the people have not yet developed, and I have not yet met so many underdeveloped people in any Belgian city as this. If you want to visit any city in Hengegouwa, then Mons (Bergen) is a more wise and safer choice. You can walk on the street after ”closure time” without being contacted (by bearers) or called (by hang youths). In Charleroi you will be best inside at 19.00 hour, with the door closed. ;-)

We booked this a few hours before our arrival on our way home to UK. There is a huge amount of construction work being done in the surrounding area which makes finding the hotel and the secure parking very challenging. This is not explained at booking. The car park doesn’t feel secure despite the entry system. We were greeted warmly by staff who were professional and helpful. We were in a room that felt like an oven. Upon asking for a fan we were told the air con was broken in that room. We did get a fan. We walked, quickly, to the nearest restaurant. Nothing to do with the hotel but the area does not feel safe at all. We passed a guy wearing a stab proof vest. He was not armed forces unless these guys walk with pitties in Belgium. Groups of young men gathered was quite intimidating for a women and her 14yr old son. When we were back in hotel the corridor and the room smelled of cigarette smoke. We had a disturbed sleep between the noisy fan, cigarette smoke seeping into the room and the fear of being murdered in our sleep! (I kid you not!). Never been so glad to leave a hotel or an area as soon as we could that morning! Couldn’t help wondering if hotel was used for tourism and other reasons because of the groups of people hanging about. The staff were welcoming and friendly. Despite the cigarette smoke and aged decor in the room, it was clean.