New Damshire ***

We had a very nice family room on the 4th floor. Although it was a bit impractical to get up there -the lift only goes to the 3rd floor and the stairs to the 4th floor are a bit steep and narrow- we found the room very comfortable. The hotel is very well situated between the groot begijnhoof and the city centre. Breakfast was honest to goodness and the staff was very friendly. I'd call it very good value for money for a family with two young kids.

My room was up on the 4th floor with windows to the sky and a view towards the neighbouring church and house roofs. Very nice and peacefull room. Very kind staff. Good breakfast. Reasonablypriced taxis. Very nice old village. Extremely nice people.

Hotel New Damshire is located near Leuven's Old Market (Oude Markt), but is far enough away that you won't have to worry about loud, late-night revelers. The location is really great as a base-camp for seeing Leuven, though you'd be better served staying somewhere nearer the train station (on the east end of town) if you're using Leuven as a base-camp for seeing the rest of Belgium. The staff, though, really set New Damshire apart from other, comparably priced hotels in Leuven. They go out of their way to help you find your way in the city, and their recommendations are the perfect mix of affordable, traveler friendly, and unique. In addition, you're treated to a traditional Belgian breakfast of tea, coffee, rolls, croissants, jams, etc. each morning. There's also a bar on the ground level.

I don't have anything against basic, comfortable, clean hotels but this one wasn't really comfortable. The room was rather small with an extremely basic closet (not a single drawer in the whole room). The mattresses sagged and were very uncomfortable and the pillows seemed to be made out of god knows what, very lumpy and weird shaped. The room gave a general impression of cheapness. The bathroom had only two lights and one of them had burnt, so there was only one tiny light to illuminate the bathroom. There was no hot water in the shower in the morning (maybe because my room was at the end of the hallway) I had to wait until night to get hot water in the shower. There was black mold on the ceiling of the bathroom. The room was very cold in the morning and the lighting was awful. The elevator did not reach all the floors. Breakfast buffet was good but coffee was absolutely horrible and there wasn't enough staff for breakfast (or the one person working at the breakfast buffet was very inefficient) so dirty dishes and cups piled up on many empty tables. Staff were OK, not very friendly but not rude either. Overall I thought that it was too expensive for what was provided.

Stayed in this hotel night before and after an interview. Hotel is very clean and staff very helpful and location is excellent if a tourist. There is no room service or food available at the hotel in the evening although there is a small bar, however it is very close to the main square which has loads of cafes etc. The bad side to the hotel is that I managed to only get minimal sleep on the night before the interview as the noise from outside the hotel was terrible until 4AM (I stayed in a room at the front of the hotel). The cause being drunk students shouting and singing. Building workers near the hotel then started banging about at 6:30AM. The next night I asked to be moved to a room at the back of the hotel and the staff were very accommodating. Had a much better night sleep. I therefore recommend that if you stay here request a room at the back of the hotel.