Has anyone stayed in this hotel?
Can you recommend it?
We are CAMRA members so can get a discount but it seems really cheap so I%26#39;m wondering if it%26#39;s too good to be true???
Any information would be welcome.
Thanks
Piglet
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Go. Go. Go. Book as fast as you can. My father and I stayed there recently and its a lovely place. Guy and Beatrix, the couple who run it, are really friendly and helpful. The rooms are clean and comfortable (one warning - there%26#39;s no lift so you may want a room on the first floor if you%26#39;re a bit out of shape!). The breakfast is a buffet-style affair - cereals, cold meats, several different kinds of breads, loads of jams, Nutella etc as well as tea, coffee and juice. The restaurant is excellent and good value - I recommend the Kabeljauw an der Schreve (cod in a beer/cream sauce) and the beef is supposed to be excellent. The hotel bar is a lovely old-fashioned wooden affair with many beer/brewery signs on the walls and a couple of Chouffe gnomes overseeing everything and there%26#39;s a list of 100 beers or so.
One other warning - both bar and restaurant are shut on a Sunday night.
Re parking - its best to park on the Grote Markt (but beware Fridays as its market day that day) and walk from there - its about a 3 minute walk. Poperinge%26#39;s one-way system takes a bit of getting used to as well.
Not many restaurants/bars are open on Sunday or Monday - I recommend the Amfora hotel%26#39;s restaurant on the Grote Markt (a tad pricey but excellent grub - but do take a Dutch phrasebook as they don%26#39;t have an English menu) which has another lovely bar. The Cafe de la Paix on Grote Markt is good value, with a good selection of beers, although service can be a bit slow. The Poussecafe is just further up Ieperstraat on the other side of the hotel and is good for lunch/afternoon tea (plus they sell the Westvleteren beers). The Pallietekerke, further down Ieperstraat towards the station, is another good beer bar.
If you want any recommendations about beery activities in the area then I will be happy to point you in the right direction (or alternatively you could get hold of Simon van Tromp%26#39;s Beer Traveller in West Flanders - often available on bookstalls at CAMRA beer festivals or e-mail info@beertraveller.com.
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Thanks for the swift reply.
We have sent an email requesting a reservation and waiting to hear back.
Any other comments welcome.
Piglet:-)
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Okaaaayyy, places round Poperinge worth visiting;
Firstly of course there%26#39;s Ypres just down the road with its Cloth Hall, Menin Gate etc - a really lovely old Flemish town. Its park is very nice too. Bar recommendations: Ter Posterie on Rijselstraat, south of the Grote Markt - 250 beers, also T%26#39;Kleine Rijsel, which is the bar to the Ramparts Museum down the bottom of Rijselstraat by the town walls. (If you%26#39;re there for the Last Post at 8 in the evening, be warned that it gets very crowded and there%26#39;s loads of disrespectful assholes with video cameras and mobile phones going off). And if you%26#39;re into that kind of thing there%26#39;s Sanctuary Wood and all the various WW1 cemeteries.
As beer buffs I assume you already know about the Abdij St-Sixtus with its three wonderful beers - ask for a map from the tourist office as its a b*stard to find - the drive-in shop is open Monday-Thursday and Saturday 10-12 and 2-5. Get there early as there will be big queues and they may not have what you want. Alternatively you can visit Cafe in der Vrede across the road where you can (almost always) buy the beers in six-packs or taste them in the vast cafe. You can also buy St-Sixtus pate, cheese and beer glasses as souvenirs.
Another must for beer fans is Noel Cuvelier%26#39;s beer shop off the A38 between Poperinge and the motorway from Dunkerque - look for a nondescript sign saying %26quot;beer shop%26quot; on the right as you%26#39;re coming from Poperinge, before you get to the border. Its an incredible place and sells God knows how many beers (and beer gift packs and glasses), along with cheese, chocolates and general groceries. They don%26#39;t take cards but they will take sterling or Euros.
Watou is a largish village about 20 mins drive from Poperinge and which houses the fabulous t%26#39;Hommelhof on Watouplein (http://www.hommelhof.be), an excellent restaurant specialising in beer cuisine. Wonderful food (I recommend the scampi salad with raspberry beer dressing) and the chef himself, Stefan Couttaneye, will often come out to serve it to you. There%26#39;s also the Korenbloem round the corner in Klein Markt, and the Van Eecke brewery (home of Hommelbier and the Het Kapitel range).
Then you%26#39;ve got all the various beer cafes in the Heuvelland area south of Poperinge - not visited personally but they sound great as described by the van Tromp guide and Tim Webb%26#39;s Belgian beer book - unfortunately most of them are only open weekends.
Enough of Belgium - you would be just over the border from French Flanders and they can match anything in Belgium. You can visit the shop of the St-Sylvestre brewery at St-Sylvestre-Cappel on the D916 between Hazebrouck and Cassel - the brewery is down a small road opposite the church. (I recommend the Trois Monts and the Gavroche) You could go to the tasting cafe of the Brasserie Esquelbecq a bit further north. And above all, above all you MUST visit Cassel, a beautiful Flemish village perched atop its hill nearby with lovely views all around, and which has the best French beer cafe in the world in T%26#39;Kasteelhof, which is to be found just below Cassel%26#39;s moulin (windmill). All its products are local and the beer list is to die for (and there%26#39;s even some lovely flavoured lemonades for the designated driver) and the food is great too (go for the Houtland planche - a selection of local charcuterie and cheeses). Wooden tables, an old wooden bar, loads of knick-knacks everywhere and old Flemish games like jue de grenouille and Billard St-Nicolas. There%26#39;s also a small shop where you can buy the beers, pates, cheeses etc. Sadly its only open from Thursdays-Sundays (all week bar Monday in July and August). There%26#39;s also a wonderful shop called Racine (on the corner where you turn off the main road into Cassel up to the moulin) which sells excellent local souvenirs and has a fabulous cave de bieres in its basement. Plus there%26#39;s lots of other decent cafes etc round the Grand Place (not to mention an excellent chocolate shop).
One other bar you must try and visit - Het Blauwershof at Godeswaersvelde, just over the border in France - lovely old-fashioned traditional estaminet with a good selection of beers and traditional Flemish games.
Sorry for rambling on for so long - I hope I%26#39;ve given you enough ideas for your holiday. Do try and get hold of the aforementioned van Tromp book and also Tim Webb%26#39;s Belgian beer guide and the Good Beer Guide to Northern France. It%26#39;s an absolutely lovely, peaceful part of the world and I wish I was going back there soon (but I%26#39;m going to Ghent in 3 weeks so I can%26#39;t complain!)
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Hello Piglet
I hope you had a good trip. ReuzeEmma was spot on with her recommendations. Cassel is a fantastic place. T%26#39;Kasteelhof is as described, and Cassel has a number of other brilliant Flemish Estaminets, including Kerelshof on the square, which serves Poperings Hommelbier on draught. The pubs are wonderful, and very friendly.
I%26#39;ve stayed at the Hotel Foch on the square several times. You can get a double room with dinner bed and breakfast for 94E.
hotel-foch2@wanadoo.fr.
I%26#39;ve also stayed at Talbot House in Poperinge. Single rooms and doubles are clean and cheap. Talbot House was the famous Toc H, rest and recreational facility for soldiers in WW1. Very atmospheric. office@talbothouse.be.
I%26#39;m off to Poperinge and Cassel with my Dad next weekend. We%26#39;re also staying 2 nights in Antwerp. Well worth a stay. The seaman%26#39;s Mission %26quot;Internationaal Zeemanshuis%26quot; is the place to stay in Antwerp. Cheap and clean, with free parking. It%26#39;s a nondescript block of flats, but OK inside, better than a lot of Travelodges at half the price. You shouldn%26#39;t miss the Bar Kulminator in Antwerp.
reservatie@zeemanshuis.be.
All the best,
Ian
Wolverhampton.
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Wanted to say thanks for the Palace recommendation. Our stay in Poperinge was awesome. Beatrix was more than helpful with everything. We actually overslept and missed breakfast after a late night sampling beers, and she called our room and said she wait for us to come down. How many places would do something like that. Not too many.
Noel Cuveliers was another awesome recommendation. I got many cool points with the fellas when they say this place.
Again, thanks for everything.
Al
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For those who know this hotel I just thought you might like to know that Bea and Guy are retiring at the end of the week and have sold the business to a younger couple!
Apparently they will continue the current beer theme and festival held each October. Let%26#39;s just hope it doesn%26#39;t change too much!!!!
Piglet
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