Sleaping at Hotel Julien Antwerpen in of the coolest cities nearby (next to Utrecht and Amsterdam) isn’t something we thought of before. Which is strange, because we had a blast. 

But, having said we love Antwerp. We don’t visit it enough. And that feels a bit weird. What’s even more weird is the fact that we’ve never slept there. It usually is a one day trip. But not this time. This time we got invited by Hotel Julien. They offered us a one night stay to check out the property and it didn’t take long to accept their offer.

Hotel Julien is located in the heart of the city. Ideal for a city or businesstrip. The famous Tripadvisor indicates that Hotel Julien is the best hotel in Antwerp. They’ve been on top of that list for over 6 months. We were giving the opportunity to see what the fuzz is all about. With our own eyes.

When you walk in the Korte Nieuwstraat, you wouldn’t expect entering this extremely cool boutique hotel. Once you enter the hotel you walk right into the reception. The hotel is small and accessible, which we liked.

Director Marc Albert received us and gave us a tour through the hotel. According to him the hotel has been open for over 9 months now (since the conversion). The doubled their rooms in numbers (22) without spoiling the atmosphere.

During the tour we see many things we like. But, the hotel isn’t that different from others. We ask Marc Albert what makes Hotel Julien different from others. Why is this hotel on top of the Tripadvisor list? What’s the secret? “Service”, Marc Albert says. “Everything is about service. People need to feel they’re at home. The need to feel as if everything is possible and are allowed to do or ask anything. That’s the secret of getting people back to your hotel”.

That doesn’t really sound like such a big of a secret. Our second question is how do you maintain a high service level? “We already have an established name. That helps. People love to come work for us. My responsibility is the team. I must ensure that the service level remains high. I pick the team carefully. Hire them young so I can teach them a thing or two. They must be eager. Otherwise things will not work out.”

Right. So the staff is excellent. That is something we can confirm. Why? Because we havn’t seen any of them. And we are told that is a good thing. But what more has the hotel to offer? Not that much actually. Which isn’t a bad thing if you ask us. Hotel Julien doesn’t pretend to be more then they are. They don’t have the ambition to become a leading 5 star hotel. There’s simply no room for such an hotel. There’s room for breakfast, but not for dinner. There’s room for a spa, but not for a swimming pool.

The room we got was fine. The design was nice and the bed nearly perfect. The rainshower with Malin and Goetz shampoo worked very well for us. We didn’t had a bath, but that wasn’t a problem. There are rooms with bathtubs Albert told us.

All in all we had a blast at Hotel Julien. We understand why it’s number 1 on Tripadvisor. We know for a fact that there are not many hotels like this in Antwerp. Hotel Julien creates a perfect vibe for those who have a little bit more to spend and want to have a good night sleep in the middle of Antwerp.

Price: around € 200,- a night
Meer informatie: Website Hotel Julien
Tripadvisor link
Google maps link