The good news: The location is very convenient and Leuven is a great town. The bad news: It stinks. Quite literally. The room had a mystery stench. I'd read reviews about this and it apparently comes from the shower drain? It's very difficult to tell, the room is the size of a cruise ship standard cabin. I suppose if you need to wake up early and happen to forget your alarm clock, you will be ok because you can hear every other cell phone on the floor. And every cough, sneeze, step... you get the idea. You can hear everything. The walls are paper. If you're there on business and need to iron some clothes, the iron/ironing board is located in the hallway. Not to retrieve to your room... no no.. not enough space in your room for that nonsense! Fire it up by the elevator door and get to work. This can be sort of convenient should your room (like mine) be located by the elevator. Don't worry, the elevator door isn't any more noisy than every other room door. I'd suggest ironing late at night when others are asleep, as one might imagine others will have similar needs come morning. Let's talk breakfast.. the spread isn't bad. My only complaints about this are: 1. prepare to cram in with literally every other hotel guest in the smallest dining area possible. Seating is at a premium so get there early. 2. Don't go thirsty. I know we Americans are used to everything huge with free refills.. but the juice/water cups are the size of dixie cups. I literally stood at the bar and made people wait so I could pour myself several "glasses" of water. Bottom line - I'd check out the Novotel. It's not as close by, and it probably smells like the brewery (across the street) - but I guarantee you will want the smell of hops over the smell of butt that I dealt with every night. And you'll probably sleep better anyway.

The hotel is located very near the city center and historical attractions. It it is very inexpensive (which really helps those paying in dollars!). Great value for the budget traveler but probably not ideal for business travelers or those with small children. This is mostly as the rooms are quite small and the walls are very thin (as mentioned by another reviewer). I would stay here again in a pinch but not out of choice. But don't let that scare you as it may just be what you want if budget is a key consideration.

Stayed here for two nights in late Feb 08 for ?98 per night plus ?10 for breakfast. The location of the hotel is great, in the centre of Leuven, within easy walking distance of the Grote Market, lots of restaurants, markets etc. The IBIS staff were all very helpful, courteous and genuine. The room was clean and functional, with the minimum of extras. It was very small, with two single small beds pushed together. The bathroom was also clean, but even smaller, tucked in the corner of the room, just enough room for a toilet and shower. The breakfast buffet served 6-10.00 was fine for ?10. Do note they provide you with the tokens when you check-in and charge you the extra ?10 regardless of whether you attend breakfast or not. The walls are thin and I could hear those in the rooms around me coming and going (and I am partially deaf). During my stay there was also renovation / building work going on. This started at 7.30 a.m. with all the banging and drilling required to wake you suddenly and prevent you from getting any more sleep.

Stayed here overnight enroute back to UK. We chose to stay at the Ibis as we are familiar with the chain and quite happy with its cheap and cheerful approach. The hotel is well located in the centre of Leuven and has a small secure underground car park for guests. This hotel has gone through a refurbishment and it really shows! The room we had was on the top floor, in the attic. It was a larger than usual Ibis room and had a proper shower room with a window! (Usually Ibis shower rooms are a plastic cubicle in the corner of the room with no window). The buffet breakfast was excellent quality and well maintained. The staff were very polite, genuine and welcoming, speaking excellent English. This Ibis experience stands head and shoulders above the rest by a long way. A very pleasant stay indeed. This hotel is small by Ibis standards, but what it lacks in size it certainly more than makes up for it in terms of quality of service and standard of rooms. Well done Ibis Leuven!