Auberge de Jeunesse de Tournai

espace calme ,paisible et conviviable

A cost of 50 euros per day in a single room may seem OK in a country in which hotels of all levels are very, very expensive, especially since the breakfast was OK. But for the cyclist that I was (18-day trip all along the Belgian border, from the Luxembourg border to the North Sea, with 3/4 of the nights spent in a sleeping bag, without a tent - fortunately the time was appropriate - the situation experienced in this inn was unacceptable. I am content here to copy part of the letter that I sent on my return to France to the Tournai tourist office (which had recommended this to me. accommodation) and at the head office of the Belgian youth hostels in Brussels // It was in fact absolutely impossible for me to sleep during the nights spent (so = 100 euros) due to the presence of a group of around fifty young people. less young people "supervised" as part of an integration course with a civic aim (?) They continued the first night to slam the doors of their rooms and the corridors accessing them with rare violence, all the while. amusing loudly on the ground floor of the building, this obviously in flagrant violation of the instructions posted everywhere requiring quietude from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. The leaders of this group contacted during breakfast seemed to find this situation completely normal and did nothing to prevent this process from starting again the following night, with even more violence, no doubt in retaliation on the part of these young people who appeared to me to be authentic social cases. The director of the establishment, a little more correct, offered me, in response to my astonishment at having to experience such an "adventure" in one of the tourist towns of Belgium, a credit (inappropriate given my distant place of residence) , or to spend a third night in their establishment at the price of a collective room (27 euros), but without in any way committing to any possibility of finally sleeping peacefully and therefore recovering. In these conditions I judged it more prudent to resume my journey towards the north and sleep again in the forest in my very comfortable OPEX sleeping bag, knowing that there at least I would have peace, which was the case. In total 100 euros "squandered" for almost nothing (apart from 2 showers). Consequently I believe that it would be appropriate for this "hostel" to lower its prices for isolated travelers with limited finances; either warns them preventively of the risks they run in (not) sleeping there), or refuses their admission and their money (that would be more frank...) // The icing on the cake, the "managers" of the head office of the Belgian youth hostels did not even respond to my letter (the Tournai OT who received a photocopy of it and responded to me, but simply expressing their wish that everything would be resolved to my advantage). Conclusion: in Belgium it is still better to pay a lot for an authentic hotel...