Location: De Pretstraat 11, Antwerp
We were desperate. On short notice, we wanted to stay in Brussels, but couldn't find a room (and, in fact, met people in Bruges who were commuting to a conference in Brussels because of the room situation). And the only room we could find in Antwerp was at the City Gardens, which is not a hotel, but apartments in a renovated warehouse. We took a chance (do a Google search to find a service that books them) and got a cheap rate.

From the train station, it was about a mile walk (although there are trams that go fairly close.) We were a bit wary at first, since the neighborhood is definitely non-touristy and working class. (It was until night when we were able to look into some of the apartments and found there was a lot of gentrification/renovation going on). Although the neighborhood might feel iffy to a single woman, we saw lots of woman walking in pairs, and a few walking alone.)

We arrived around noon, and found to our... more