Review: the NH Collection Antwerp Centre hotel

This is our review of the NH Collection Antwerp Centre hotel.

After a short 45-minute flight from London City on Luxair’s new direct service we had time to explore the city before staying the night in the new-ish NH Collection Antwerp Centre.

Rob and I debated before I went whether it was worth reviewing the hotel (the stay was paid for by Visit Antwerp). I was impressed, however, and the NH is well worth considering if you are visiting Antwerp. You can even earn Avios in Iberia Plus from NH stays.

The hotel website is here.

We don’t often cover NH Collection but they have recently joined the GHA Discovery programme, the loyalty programme also used by Kempinski, Pan Pacific, Corinthia, Capella, The Doyle Collection and Anantara. Here’s how you can get GHA Platinum for £18 – the cost of a digital subscription to Business Traveller magazine, which throws in status as a gift.

If you’re wondering about the difference between an NH Collection hotel and a ‘normal’ NH, it appears to be a way of highlighting the best city centre properties.

In this case, the NH Collection Antwerp Centre is just a few years old and still feels very new.

Where is NH Collection Antwerp Centre?

No points for guessing! The NH Collection hotel is comfortably in the centre of Antwerp, albeit not in the old town. It is sandwiched between the Antwerp Centraal train station and the diamond district.

However, Antwerp is a very small city and it is a short (and pleasant walk) from the hotel to old town, where the majority of shops and tourist attractions are.

Access is very convenient, either from the train station or the airport which is just 10 minutes away by taxi.

Inside NH Collection Antwerp Centre

The entrance is surprisingly discreet – I’m not sure how many people would recognise the NH Collection logo in front of the main entrance:

There are 186 rooms – it is bigger than it appears from the road.

Inside you’ll find a dual-height lobby with some trendy modern seating, a table with grapefruit water and gummies. The reception desks are to the left:

The hotel was quiet when we arrived, with just a single receptionist, but we were checked in fairly quickly.

Rooms at NH Collection Antwerp Centre

I was given a room on the third floor, but there are eight floors in total, in a sort of L shape surrounding a lush green subtropical garden courtyard. I imagine the upper floors have good views of the station and Antwerp Zoo. Here was the view from my room:

The rooms still feel brand new. You can’t fault the style, which is a mixture of wood veneer, warm lighting and a splash of red. It is simple but classy, and should age well.

Immediately as you enter on the right you have a sort of wardrobe-luggage rack-mini bar area. This is somewhat unusual in that a lot of it is ‘floating’ above the ground, letting you store suitcases etc underneath. I found this a clever use of space.

The room featured a complimentary Nespresso coffee machine and two bottles of water. The mini bar was also stocked (and chargeable).

Opposite this area is the bathroom:

Annoyingly, the door opened inwards and effectively blocks the loo, so you need to step towards the shower and close the door to get to it.

The shower also had one of those super efficient eco-friendly shower heads. Normally I don’t mind these, but this one was extreme and I struggled to get truly wet!

Those were my only two complaints about the room. The rest of it works well, with a large King Bed:

There’s a decent-sized desk, plus a red armchair too:

Connectivity was good, with sockets everywhere you’d want them.

Breakfast at NH Collection Antwerp Centre

Breakfast is served in a large, light dual-height dining room on the first floor:

and

The hotel manager told us they serve 200 items at breakfast, and I’m inclined to believe him. Don’t expect the same sort of spread as you’d find in a Dubai hotel, though: this is a strictly continental affair, and cooked items are limited to some lukewarm scrambled eggs, mushrooms etc.

I’m not complaining, however, as the rest of it was good, although an a la carte menu wouldn’t go amiss. There was even a waffle machine:

There was a range of cereals, granola, cheeses, cold cuts of meat (though no smoked salmon), yoghurt, fruit and more.

and

It was all presented very attractively in the middle of the room, so I can’t fault them there.

Conclusion

My stay was brief, but long enough to realise that the NH Collection Antwerp Centre is a classy hotel. Its design means it works well as both a leisure and a business hotel, although my gut feeling is it attracts more business types.

Despite having opened in 2019 it still feels brand new and the location is very convenient.

Rates start at €137 per night.You can find out more, and book on the hotel website here.

PS. You can earn Avios when staying at NH Hotels via Iberia Plus – click to learn how.

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Hotel offers update – April 2024:

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

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• Hilton Honors is offering a 100% bonus when you buy points by 14th May 2024. Click here.