ibis Gent Centrum St. Baafs Kathedraal

Location was excellent as it was easy to walk to all the sites. Room was partly facing the cathedral so it was a good quiet night's sleep. No kettle & coffee mugs in the room we booked. However, we were offerred these items for use during our stay. The hotel has daily complimentary water. The hotel has cold water infused with lemon at the reception for guests to drink after a hot day. Upon exiting St Pieters train station, you need to get onto tram no.1 at platform 2 with end point Moscou & alight at Vogelmarkt. After that, it is a bit of a cobblestone walk to the hotel. There were 4 supermarkets (Okay, 2 AH & Proxy) all within an easy walk.

There was no fridge in the room that we booked. Toiletries were basic for body wash & hair shampoo. No hair conditioner.

Amazing location, clean and comfortable room. Fab air conditioning. Restaurant/bar staff super!

The lady on reception was clearly stressed. We arrived a little early (45 mins before our check in time) and I made myself known to reception and got a good telling off for having used booking.com instead of directly. She told me they have to pay commission and I should cancel my booking and rebook directly with them, then she would allow me to check in early. I told her that it didn’t matter, we were happy to wait. There was a queue behind me and I didn’t want to hold people up (all said calmly with a smile) but she just got more stressed and raised her voice ‘I am trying to explain to you..,’ as if I was a naughty child. I told her I would be sat by the restaurant and would return at 3pm. In the meantime, my partner was unloading our bike. We’d just traveled 150 miles in full motorcycle gear in 38 degrees. We bought cold drinks from the bar (wonderful bar staff, excellent sense of humour!) but after ten minutes he was no longer happy to wait and approached reception himself and said he wanted to be checked in. Which she did with no complaint! However she did tell him if we didn’t pay to put the bike in their garage, we would get a fine. We know this isn’t true and are well aware of bike parking rules in Ghent. I can only think that management put so much pressure on staff to upsell that they forget customer service. The poor girl was at breaking point. It wouldn’t stop me staying again or using booking.com, but it would be nice if the reception had been more welcoming.

Location, friendly staff

Parking was a bit hard. I wanted to reserve parking but was told it was first come first serve, yet when I got then, there was a reservation list!

The location was fantastic, close to all main attractions . All staff were excellent including reception , bar / breakfast , and housekeeping. There was a relaxed atmosphere in the bar and breakfast room .

No kettle in the room.