Hello all! There seem to be (amazingly) a few Leuven experts here. We will be visiting friends there who, while they have temporarily moved there, have not had guests stay elsewhere yet, and as such don’t have recs for places to stay. We are a family of 4 staying for about 6 nites so I’m checking Airbnb’s (Tho not surprisingly there are not a lot of options there) - any hotel recs would be appreciated. We’ll be likely eating most dinners at their flat, and doing a few daytrips interspersed with enjoying Leuven and their company. TIA
Posted by
307 posts
Trip advisor has plenty of info of hotels.
Try VRBO for rentals
Posted by
TX
982 posts
Places I've stayed in Leuven:
- Lavan B&B - I've probably stayed here 10 times for work andis my go to place to stay in Leuven. The rooms and breakfast are great. The only downside it is a little outside the city (15 min walk through a park or 5 min bus into the city center). Might be good depnding on where your friends live.
- Hotel ibis Leuven Centrum - Very central, good access to the city center. Very reasonably priced.
- Martin's Klooster Hotel - The nicest and most unique of the four hotels I'm listing here.
- Budget Flats Leuven - I've stayed here once when everything else was full. Probably the cheapest hotel in town. They do have larger rooms. When I was there most of the guest there were Polish construction crews so evening in the courtyard consisted of them grilling out and drinking. Fun, but probably not family friendly.
There are tons of inexpensive hotels in the city center that are all about the same so just pick one that has a good location for your and meets your budget.
DJ
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7936 posts
We've stayed at the Klooster, which is very attractive and perhaps one of the more expensive. (I don't approve of AirBnB, so I can't give advice about those.) I would observe that Leuven's "student town" status keeps prices down and generates demand for school season housing-exactly the kind of market that is harmed by AirBnb "disruption."
The newish town Art Museum has a superb collection. Don't overlook the (out of the way) lovely Beguinage in Leuven, a microscopic version of Bruges, but without the ugly gentrification of part of Bruges'. I'm not Catholic, but I was taken by the completely abstract-art small-scale sculptural Stations of the Cross I found in the Leuven Beguinage's church some years ago. Your friends will presumably tell you if you want to take the Sunday-only tour of the interior of the Leuven town hall. They'll know "market day" of the week.
You might consider proximity to the train station, because Leuven is so suitable for daytrips all over the immediate area. Some less-common destinations (I mean besides the usual Flanders high points) include Bokrijk, Hasselt, Tienen, and Diest. Check the train route, but lovely Lier may be easy to get to from Leuven. If you're going home from BRU, check on the best transport suiting your time schedule from nearby Leuven.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thank you both for your recs and prompt replies - much appreciated!