Review: Martin’s Klooster hotel in Leuven, Belgium

We get a newsletter from Martin’s Hotels.

And it offers an interesting deal.

Spring promotion, rooms at the usual room rate but with breakfast included.

Which is a good offer.

Breakfast here usually costs €18 per person if you make a reservation, and €22 per person if you decide on to spot to stay for breakfast.

Keeping in mind that we are in lockdown and restaurants are still closed here in Belgium the moment we get this offer, so we will probably have to eat breakfast in the room instead of in the hotel breakfast room.

We book a night at Martin’s Klooster in Leuven.

Leuven is a nice little city to visit.

And who knows by the time we get there in a couple of weeks the restaurants might be opening again under strict rules.

We have stayed at Martin’s Klooster in Leuven before.

Twice to be exact.

And we liked Martin’s Klooster a lot, or we wouldn’t be coming back a third time of course.

We book the spring promotion: a Charming Superior Room for €119, breakfast included.

When we get our booking confirmation, we contact Martin’s Klooster by email to ask if we can get the same room we stayed in twice before.

The reception staff confirms a couple of hours later that our request will be taken care of.

Video

We made a video about Martin’s Klooster.

You can watch it here:

Martin’s Klooster Leuven

Martins Hotels is a family owned hotel chain of 14 boutique hotels and 8 hotel restaurants in Belgium.

Martin’s Klooster is a four star hotel in the city centre of Leuven.

It is located in a 500 year old monastery that used to be the home of Charles V’s secretary Guy Morillon.

The hotel was also an infirmary and refuge for pilgrims.

Parking

There is a large underground parking garage underneath Martin’s Klooster.

The parking entrance is situated on the left side of the one way street before you reach the hotel entrance.

Parking costs €25 per night.

You don’t have to book a parking space in advance.

There is an elevator from the parking garage to the ground floor reception area.

Reception

Checkin was very fast, getting our room keys took only a couple of minutes.

We arrived a bit early around 1pm and were happy to hear that our room was already available.

Checkin usually starts at 3pm.

The reception staff is very kind, helpful and hospitable.

Room 227

We booked a Charming Superior Room.

As requested we got the same room as before, room number 227 on the second floor.

The room has a surface area of 26 m².

What we like about it is that it faces the quiet inside garden area and orangerie.

This room is also at the end of a hallway, away from the elevators.

Bedroom

It is elegantly decorated in warm red, white and black colors.

There is a small working and sitting area with 2 comfy soft red chairs.

The bed is very comfortable, not too soft or too hard.

The pillows and duvet were perfect and of good quality.

Both bedside tables have a nightstand lamp and an extra electric socket to charge a phone for instance.

Behind the bed is a large dressing with plenty of clothes hangers and space to store your belongings and luggage.

Bathroom

The door between the bedroom and bathroom is made of milk glass to give you total privacy.

The spacious bathroom consists of a separate toilet, walk in shower, a large sink and a bubble bath.

The all white decoration and large window make this a bright and elegant room.

The shower was perfect, spacious and with excellent water pressure.

The bath products (shower gel, shampoo, body lotion and hand soap) are fragrant and of good quality.

Also in the bathroom: a hair dryer and heated towel rack.

We didn’t use the bubble bath since we spent most of our time outside but it definitely looked very inviting and relaxing.

Something to try out next time for sure!

Other services

What we highly appreciate in a hotel room is the possibility to make coffee or tea.

Room 227 has a Nespresso machine and kettle.

Provided are 2 disposable paper coffee cups, 4 coffee capsules, 2 teabags, sugar and creamer.

Also in the room: a fridge, safe, bathrobes and slippers.

The wifi in the room is super fast.

Breakfast

Due to the corona restrictions, a full breakfast buffet was not available.

There was a possibility to choose your takeaway breakfast from a limited buffet to take back to the room which would normally cost 10 euros.

Since we booked the spring promotion breakfast was included in our room rate.

We have to admit that we were not impressed by the breakfast in another Martin’s hotel previously, the one in Louvain-La-Neuve.

And that was when the buffet was fully available, no room takeaway.

However we thought to give it a go anyway since we were not pressed for time.

The weather was brilliant that morning so the hotel breakfast staff put a bunch of tables and chairs in the spacious green garden so that guests would be able to enjoy their breakfast outside instead of in the room.

There were quite a few guests already queuing before the breakfast room.

Kudos to the staff that was very fast, welcoming, attentive and extremely well organised.

Despite the people in front of us it took us less than 10 minutes to assemble our breakfast basket from the limited buffet and find a place outside in the sun.

And we started off really well.

The coffee was delicious, and so was the orange juice and bread rolls.

We also enjoyed the crispy bacon and soft boiled eggs.

However the pastries, cheeses and cold cuts were not up to standard.

Bland and tasteless, cheap and processed quality.

A real pity.

The warm morning sun and good coffee tricked us.

Before we knew it, we were the last ones to leave.

It is 11am, time to checkout.

Restaurant

Martin’s Klooster doesn’t have a restaurant.

However there are plenty of restaurants, cafés, pubs and eateries in walking distance.

Bar

Unfortunately due to the corona crisis the cozy bar was not accessible for guests when we were there.

It was however possible to enjoy a drink on the little patio next to the bar in the afternoon.

Wifi

The complimentary internet is very fast in the room and throughout the hotel.

Location

What can we say, the hotel is perfectly located in the very heart of the historic city centre.

In a surprisingly quiet one way cobble stone street.

The shopping streets, bars and restaurants are all in walking distance.

If you come to Leuven by train, the hotel is a 20 minute walk from the hotel.

Would we go back to Martin’s Klooster?

Yes.

We paid €119 for the room, breakfast included.

And €25 for the overnight parking.

The hotel also charges €1,06 city tax per person per night.

Would we recommend Martin’s Klooster?

Yes, definitely.

Staying at Martin’s Klooster is a fantastic getaway.

However we would recommend to eat breakfast in the city.

We also recommend to subscribe to their newsletter to stay updated about new deals and interesting offers.

Pros

• parking space on the spot
• excellent location in the middle of the city
• comfortable and stylish quiet rooms
• very friendly and helpful staff

Cons

• uninspiring breakfast

Address

Martin’s Klooster Hotel
O.L.Vrouwstraat 18
3000 Leuven
Belgium

You can book here: Martin’s Klooster

We paid for our stay at Martin’s Klooster and didn’t get or ask anything in return for this review.

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