The Hostelz.com Review
CHAB - Centre Vincent van Gogh Youth Hotel is a great hostel with every imaginable amenity and a good social atmosphere, but it is located on the outskirts of the city in a slightly seedier neighborhood.
The Location
The neighborhood is slightly seedy, but has a heavy Turkish population, which means cheap Halal food is in the area. The hostel is on the outskirts of the city, about a twenty-minute walk or ten-minute metro ride into the city center. The hostel is not far from the Botanique metro stop and the area has a nice park and botanical garden that seems to have live music quite often based on fliers hanging in the area. There is a night store for late-night alcohol purchases and a grocery store nearby.
Rooms and Bathrooms
There are lots of rooms in several buildings in this hostel complex, but large groups (some with children) seem to gather here. While we were able to book a room early Friday and renew early Saturday, the hostel seemed to fill up by the end of the morning on Saturday. The dorms are clean and comfortable with seemingly new mattresses. They are spacious, but the larger ten-bed dorm we stayed in was not well ventilated as there is no window, only the main door leading to the outdoor common area. The smaller four-bed dorm we stayed in, however, has a window. Bathrooms are clean with plenty of showers and warm water. There are separate facilities for men and women.
Common Spaces
The lobby has a lounge/bar with music, cheap drinks, and a great social feel during the evening to midnight (though it was open later when we stayed). There was live music the first Friday night we stayed. The lounge also has two computers (one was down when we stayed) with internet access and Wi-Fi for a per-hour charge. Attached is a grassy courtyard with more common space and a sunroom with a pool table. The bartender and other staff members are extremely friendly and definitely enhanced the experience.
The dining room is huge like a cafeteria with free breakfast from 7 to 9 in the morning. There also seems to be some kind of dinner, maybe only for the larger groups staying at the hostel. Additionally, there is a large, clean public kitchen with a fridge, microwave, and stove, as well as pots and utensils to use.
You can do your laundry -- the price they charge includes the soap -- however, there is only one of each unit, so we had to wait to use the dryer at night. There is no fee for lockers. They are in a locked room and you can use your own padlock or rent one with a deposit. Though they look somewhat busted (some are broken or spray-painted), they are in a secure room controlled by key access or front desk access and feel safe regardless.
Summary
Overall, this is a great, friendly hostel in a bad location. However, the amenities and the atmosphere make this hostel worthy of four out of five stars.
The Location
The neighborhood is slightly seedy, but has a heavy Turkish population, which means cheap Halal food is in the area. The hostel is on the outskirts of the city, about a twenty-minute walk or ten-minute metro ride into the city center. The hostel is not far from the Botanique metro stop and the area has a nice park and botanical garden that seems to have live music quite often based on fliers hanging in the area. There is a night store for late-night alcohol purchases and a grocery store nearby.
Rooms and Bathrooms
There are lots of rooms in several buildings in this hostel complex, but large groups (some with children) seem to gather here. While we were able to book a room early Friday and renew early Saturday, the hostel seemed to fill up by the end of the morning on Saturday. The dorms are clean and comfortable with seemingly new mattresses. They are spacious, but the larger ten-bed dorm we stayed in was not well ventilated as there is no window, only the main door leading to the outdoor common area. The smaller four-bed dorm we stayed in, however, has a window. Bathrooms are clean with plenty of showers and warm water. There are separate facilities for men and women.
Common Spaces
The lobby has a lounge/bar with music, cheap drinks, and a great social feel during the evening to midnight (though it was open later when we stayed). There was live music the first Friday night we stayed. The lounge also has two computers (one was down when we stayed) with internet access and Wi-Fi for a per-hour charge. Attached is a grassy courtyard with more common space and a sunroom with a pool table. The bartender and other staff members are extremely friendly and definitely enhanced the experience.
The dining room is huge like a cafeteria with free breakfast from 7 to 9 in the morning. There also seems to be some kind of dinner, maybe only for the larger groups staying at the hostel. Additionally, there is a large, clean public kitchen with a fridge, microwave, and stove, as well as pots and utensils to use.
You can do your laundry -- the price they charge includes the soap -- however, there is only one of each unit, so we had to wait to use the dryer at night. There is no fee for lockers. They are in a locked room and you can use your own padlock or rent one with a deposit. Though they look somewhat busted (some are broken or spray-painted), they are in a secure room controlled by key access or front desk access and feel safe regardless.
Summary
Overall, this is a great, friendly hostel in a bad location. However, the amenities and the atmosphere make this hostel worthy of four out of five stars.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
July 2011
Their Description
CHAB - Centre Vincent van Gogh Youth Hotel Details
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Hostelz.com Guest Reviews
Disgusting! I was very disappointed. The lobby and the entrance area were ok, but the rooms were terrible and the beds were like stones and because there was no fall-protection in the upper bed of the bunk bed I was afraid that I might fall out of the bed so I took my mattress and put it on the floor. The hostel is in the ghetto. The rooms were very dirty and the towels to borrow looked like they were 20 years old. The shower was filthy and the walls in it mouldered. The water in the shower was burning hot. Sometimes the water of the tap in our room, got dirty brown. The selection at the breakfast was not great, be we expected nothing anymore. The dinner was all the more horrible. We were able to fish a hair out of the soup. We got a nasty appetite when we thought of the kitchen. It was not worth the money!! Terrible two nights‼! — Anonymous , Austria (2011-07-03) DO NOT STAY HERE Stayed in the 8-person dorm that opened out to the patio area. Very noisy if trying to sleep before midnight. The second floor shower had water that was hotter than hell, no temperature adjustment in any of the showers, either. A couple of us had our toiletries stolen out of our bags during the day and my flip-flops were also taken. Another guy in the room had his cell phone and camera stolen. The staff didn't seem to care or help in any way (and acted like this sort of thing never happens).
My bed linens were taken away by the cleaning staff before my last night. Breakfast staff are pretty rude and treat everyone like children. I wouldn't stay here again. — Anonymous , Canada (2010-07-09) Ok You would think that in a city where the official language is Dutch, the girl at the reception would speak Dutch, typical for the attitude of the French speaking Belgiums. I don't mind speaking English, but I think they should hire better qualified staff. The hostel has a good bar, the noise is at a ok level. It's about fifteen to twenty minutes' walk from the real centre. It's ok, but nothing fancy. — Tim , Netherlands (2008-10-13) Good They wake you up at 10 to clean. Internet is not free. Lockers are on the first floor and smell funny. You need your own lock. People are friendly. Clean. — Ellie , USA (2008-08-25) Nice surprise I stumbled onto this hostel in Brussels and it wound up being one of my favorites. Even though I checked in without reservations, I got an entire four-person dorm room to myself in a building sort of across and down the street from the main building. It was very modern and the bathrooms amongst the cleanest I've ever seen. Room overlooked a courtyard and heard kids playing soccer in the distance. Sink in the room. Very nice and relaxing place. — Eric , U.S. (2008-01-27) Chab was a pretty decent Hostel, if you don't mind some bug bites and stuff. I left there with some bites on my shoulders, and my neck (possibly from the pillows). the prices are pretty nice, but I guess you get what you pay for. My wife also got peeped on while she was in the shower, the inept staff didn't know how to use their own surveillance cameras to determine if the guy was a person staying at the Hostel, or just some brussels guy stopping by to see a show.
Breakfast was good. Make sure you are there before 8:50 because they start cleaning up around that time. They pull all of the milk, sugar, coffee first. Then, if you ask for something they yell at you and say it is your fault because you were late. then if you say something to the effect of "this is a bunch of bull crap (using other words)" they will threaten to slap your face. Pretty comical if you ask me. anyhow, not an enjoyable time. We did, however, meet some other great hostelers. oh yeah, some of the rooms smell like foot funghi cheese. — Joe (2006-10-30) CHAB is a pretty good hostel, the location is great, and the staff are very friendly. The bar is a lot of fun and they have a really nice patio area to sit and hang out. My only issue with this place is the lockout, it's pretty inconvenient, especially if you forget something in the room cause they kick you out and your key doesn't even work anymore! But the beds are nice and clean so if you're an early riser than the lockout really shouldn't be an issue! — Jen Z (2006-09-15) I stayed in the hostel for one night in a room with six beds. Everything was really clean and well kept but the room was quite small. The breakfast was nice and the people, too. It is also quite close to all the main sights. Overall I would recommend the hostel to everyone. — Franzi (2006-05-14) This hostel is great if you like to party and meet people, I was by myself and always found someone to hang out with, it'd also be a great place to come in a couple or a group as the bar is really great. A couple of weird/negative things happened to me during my stay, however I had such a good time at this hostel I didn't let them bother me. My second night I came into my room at about 5 a.m. after a big night on the town and found two girls sleeping on my floor which I accidentally stepped on in my drunked haze, actually it didn't really bother me because I was drunk and just wanted to go to sleep and they were gone by the time i woke up. The night after that, I was woken up by two guys undressing in my room which really freaked me out as I was told I was staying in a all female dorm so naturally I yelled at them to get out. But as it turned out the hostel had booked them into the room, yet told me it was all girls, so just make absolutely sure if you want to stay in an all female dorm that it is definitely all female. Besides this I actually really enjoyed this hostel, everything is clean, despite the 10 a.m. kick out I was able to sleep until midday one morning and the breakfast is decent enough. The people who work there are friendly enough until you have a problem but this is the case with most hostels. I would definitely recomend this place to others, I'd say my experiences were perhaps one offs. If it is possible stay in the part of the hostel across the street, the showers are hotter, the ones in the main building are virtually cold and are unable to be turned up. — Kate (2006-03-15) it was an okay hostel. i mean it's clean and it's pretty close to the downtown (I walked the whole time except for when i had to gare midi). it has a nice bar with a really cool collection of music. breakfast is good, too. the bad thing is that the place just doesn't have any atmosphere to it. it's a good place to stay at with your friends but i wouldn't spend too much time either in brussels or in the hostel — denisfile (2006-02-16) I really enjoyed this hostel. The bar is cheap, there is a helpful bunch at the reception, the atmosphere is good and there are plenty of people milling about to make lots of temporary travel friends. The kitchen is large and clean, and the common area really supports a social atmosphere. The breakfast was not at all bad (cereal, as much toast as you like, orange juice, coffee or tea), and the rooms were kept clean. This was a great hostel and Brussels is a very nice city if you just explore some of the less touristy areas. Plus the smell of waffles and chocolate fills the city and who can complain about that? Both the hostel and the city were very relaxed. — Catherine (2005-08-29) One minute from the nearest Metro station, maybe 10-15 minutes walk from the tourist centre. I stayed in a cllean, spacious, pleasant room with more than acceptable shower en suite. I don't recall anything about the breakfast, which means it was the usual hostel breakfast, nothing either bad or good to make it stick out in my memory. — Jessy (2005-04-21) I liked this hostel. It was not the best place I have ever stayed, but it was decent. I liked the courtyard and the common area... it's great for meeting people. The showers are annoyingly far away and the floor in the room is really squeaky. It woke me up a few times when people came in during the night. But it is only 13 euro, and includes breakfast. The staff was pleasant, and it was a chill place to stay. I didn't think it was too far away from the center of the city. You can definitely get there easily by metro, though my friend and I chose to walk. — Joy (2005-04-17) This is probably my favorite hostel I stayed in through all of Western Europe. Brussels is great if you manage to look in the right places. Staff aren't exceptionally friendly, but they're nice and have good taste in music and good recommendations of where to go at night. — Ellen (2005-04-13) This place was both good and bad. The showers had only warm water; I couldn't get to the hot water. And it takes a while to reach the showers. There were bedbugs, which is a nightmare. I was still scratching myself two days later. But, this is a cheap hostel, credit cards are accepted, and it serves a filling breakfast. Ah! Is the age limit being enforced? There were high school groups — God, they get drunk very easily. However, I give this place three stars out of five just because it's a cheap hostel and it has a filling breakfast. :) — Turkish (2005-03-07)