Empire Hotel

Warning, do not sttay at the Empire without first checking if the new club somewhere around the building has either closed or been muffled. We stayed for 5 nights over Christmas and 3 out of the 5 nights there was a club blasting techno music that starts at about 10:30pm and doesn't finish until about 4:30-5am. We didn't sleep the first night. The room was actually shaking during the night. We tried kleenex in our ears but was no use. When we complained the next moringing, the receptionist informed us a new club was put in 3 weeks prior to our arrival. They were honest and said they have had numerous complaints and that the owner is seeking legal action against the club. Where are Antwerp's zoning laws? Since I was on vacation and booked through hotels.com which I was not aware of cancellation policies we stuck with it for the remaining stay. However, we went to the gun shop across the street and bought a few pair of ear plugs for 40 cents each. That helped and we also made sure we were good and drunk before sleeping every night after. Other than this, the room was huge and pretty clean. Now other points I wouldn't stay again for. One the heater made enormous screetches and noises on top of the club noise. We also couldn't figure out how to adjust the heat which was not the warmest. The hot water takes 5 minutes to warm up, no joke. And finally, there was no shower curtain! This must be a european thing because we've seen it before. Although we are currently living in England away from the US, we're clearly not used to no shower curtain. Very uncomfortable way to shower trying to stand perfectly still, and you still get water splashed all over the bathroom. Don't stay here. The good points are it is not even 5 minutes to the train station, 15 minute walk to the main square (Grote Market) and I guess it was relatively cheap. Good luck and make sure you inquire about the club.