My favourite travelling companion and I travelled to Aalst for the annual Metal Female Voices Festival which is just up the road in Wieze. As English people, we found Aalst to be quite a culture shock, and I'm not just talking about the language! There were many bicycles, cars and front doors, but they weren't locked. The locals were incredibly... more

On a long trip across Europe on Christmas Day, we needed a place to stop for the night. We frequently stay with Ibis hotels and generally have had good impressions: clean, friendly staff... Aalst Ibis hotel was conveniently located along our route, just off the E40. We arrived mid-evening and were greeted by an extremely surly receptionist, who seemed to... more

Excellent staff, nice and clean room. Very neat and tidy. A bit far from Brussels. 20 minutes from Brussels Zuid (Midi) to Aalst. Taxi from Aalst station to the hotel is 10 Euros. Aalst is a very good quiet residential area. Getting to Brussels centre is a bit too long. more

Basically if you have stayed in one Ibis you have stayed in all of them, they are pretty much identical in decor and furnishings etc. I got to this one at 7pm on Sunday the 1st, very tired and very hungary, guess what the restaurant was shut. Did they offer to help with snacks etc as they always advertise, no,... more