First, let me start by saying that our host, Son, was very communicative and took time to answer our questions and work with us to arrange our arrival time with her work schedule. She even did our laundry and included a few beers for us when it ready for pick up. She was a great host. Thank you!
Overall our stay in Antwerp was enjoyable and we look forward to exploring the city again in the future. Here are a few things to keep in mind that you may not pick up from the description and other reviews to take into consideration as you choose your Antwerp base of operations.
-Space: The apartment is quite sizable with an entire floor dedicated to the living room, dining room, and kitchen. The bedrooms are all a nice size as well. You could easily have 6 adults and not feel cramped.
-Layout/Rooms: A little more on the layout for reference. First and foremost, there’s a lot of stairs, so be prepared. Once you climb the 1st set of stairs, you’ll find a double bedroom with a shower and sink that also is the access to the terrace. Something to keep in mind if you want to access the terrace and a travel companion is sleeping or showering.
A 1/2 flight up and you’ll find a water closet on the landing with the door to the main living area next to it.
Up another flight of stairs you’ll find the primary bedroom, a single bedroom, a double bedroom, a shower room, and a water closet.
-Privacy: Son lives in the first floor apartment which shares a front door to the street. Once inside the street side door, the AirBnb unit’s staircase is open from the ground floor to the top floor and accessible to anyone who enters the shared entrance. Each room in the unit has its own door to the stairway, but they do not lock. Although we didn’t see Son the entire stay and she respected our privacy, if you have security stress around privacy when you travel, this may trigger it, so just be aware.
-Location: Plan ahead for arrival and departure. When we arrived, our taxi took about 15min to get from central station to the apartment. Apparently the local streets are all one way and a maze that doesn’t allow a direct route from point A to B.   If you are looking to walk once you are there, it’s a 10+minute walk to the central station on cobble stone streets, keep this in mind if you’re pulling luggage. It’s another 10-20min on foot depending on where in the old city you want to go (cathedral, etc.)   If walking isn’t your thing, be prepared to call and wait up to 30 min for a taxi or to take the metro from Elizabeth station to Groanplaats station to explore downtown. (15min) If you want to get to the water front (e.g. Red Star Museum) it’s the metro connecting to a streetcar. (30min). 3 day passes are available at the station.
-Neighborhood: This is a highly residential neighborhood with a fair amount of first floor retail, food, and bar activity. Be prepared for the background sounds of mom & pop shops, music, children, bar patrons, etc. until the early morning. Something to be aware of if you’re not used to sleeping with background noise.
-Amenities: The listing indicates a washer/dryer. The building does have this, however it’s in Son’s apartment and not the AirBnb. She was lovely enough to do our laundry (and include a few beers when she was done) after being in Europe for many days prior to arrival. Thank you Son!
There is a full service grocery store 2 blocks away with everything you could need for your stay.