Just returned from a 5 day stay. All my interaction with staff positive. No exec lounge so given free breakfast. Also was given Hilton Honors drinks vouchers to use in hotel bar as no exec lounge. I thought this was a nice touch. Was told to return to front desk when vouchers ran out to get some more. All in all a very enjoyable stay.

Glad to hear about the positive experience trustno1, I had planned to stay here a few weeks ago but due to a death in the family obviously had to reschedule my plans...

I have to say the hotel has been more than fair to me as I had booked a non refundable rate and could have been out nearly 800 Euro...however, I did phone the hotel to let them know I wouldn't be able to come due to the situation and they recommended I write an email to the diamond desk...which I did and they must have been in touch with the hotel as I received a nice email saying that they couldn't refund the money but they would allow me to apply the 800 Euro towards another stay with them within the next 6 months as a gesture of goodwill. ^

So, thus far I am quite pleased with the response and help from the staff here but will post more after our rescheduled stay late Dec.

Glad to hear things seem to be on the up for this hotel though, especially with the Conrad changing soon...

Review of Hilton Brussels City Centre
 

In addition to what I posted above...

A (mostly) pictorial review of Hilton Brussels City Centre hotel.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8078/8...574d0e11_c.jpg
King Bed Executive Room by BA_pics, on Flickr

A very, very, long story behind this stay but suffice it to say I needed to stay here recently and decided to take some family along with me. We booked two rooms (King Deluxe Rooms) at fully refundable rates for a few days and received the same. We were told we had been upgraded and this may be true as likely they do have several rooms that fit this category and others may have been smaller or on lower floors…in any case my e upgrade request to the junior suite or suite were not granted so I assume they had someone else willing to pay for them or wanted to provide them to someone else.

The hotel is at place Rogier which is about 10 minutes from the Grand Place and easily reached from the airport via public transport or taxi (we took the latter and this cost about 42 Euros for three of us one way).

The outside of the building is rather unremarkable for a Brussels building but the inside is done up nicely and inviting.

When you enter, you find a sitting area on the left and a 'bar' as well as mini restaurant area on the right. There is no executive lounge.

The front desk is straight ahead and was always manned with friendly staff during our stay. We were early and I used my usual line of 'I know we are too early to check in, I just thought I would ask if the room is ready by chance, and if not if we can leave our luggage here for a few hours and come back later'…which this time worked for us as the rooms were ready (11 AM) and we were soon on our way to the 9th floor.

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Entrance by BA_pics, on Flickr

The rooms we had were wooden floored and tiled in the bathroom areas which was nice and the condition of the rooms were very good. We had quite spacious rooms so maybe this was not the norm here but I found no reason to complain about the rooms if I am honest (certainly compared to previous reviews which must have had smaller rooms).

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Wardrobe by BA_pics, on Flickr

The front desk had given me 3 wireless codes per day and was willing to give as many as I needed for our group which was nice. The wireless internet worked flawlessly during our time here. We were also given advice that we should simply go to the breakfast restaurant and we would not be billed as a diamond which was true and the breakfast offering was quite good. I would not want to pay 25 Euro per person for it mind, however, as a nice benefit for a diamond, it was excellent. My only complaint would be that the scrambled eggs were very runny which would suit many UK people but I like them to be of the firmer variation! Lots of fruit, breads, rolls, cereals, juices, and a coffee machine that provided so so coffee variants such as cappuccino, etc…(along with the ability to simply get the usual Hilton coffee pots on a table if you wished). The hot breakfast included Belgium waffles, pancakes, cubed fried potatoes, sausages, small cut up streaky bacon, and beans…as well as some black pudding!

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fridge by BA_pics, on Flickr

We were also told that we could come to the front desk in the evenings and request a drinks voucher for each of us as there was no executive lounge, and the voucher could be used in the bar. The vouchers were valid only for one night each time and you could get a drink up to Euro 6.50 with each one…this proved fine for us as we only really wanted a quick drink before heading out each night and the wines we asked for all fell within this price range apparently. ^

We did get a single bottle of Evian still water in the room each day which was nice, but only one glass! We also seemed to have to ask a few times to get the second bathrobe and slippers brought up to the room but eventually we did get this as well.

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Sitting area by BA_pics, on Flickr

The bed was softer than I would like but I am sure many would say it was perfect as not too firm.

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking and hope this helps those that now need to consider the hotel as the Conrad is soon to stop being a Hilton chain hotel.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8076/8...c673c6e6_c.jpg
TV desk area by BA_pics, on Flickr

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Wardrobe Inside by BA_pics, on Flickr

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Coffee Service by BA_pics, on Flickr

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Bathroom by BA_pics, on Flickr

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Separate Loo by BA_pics, on Flickr

The view from the window was not all that spectacular and we ended up staring at the Sheraton opposite…the Crowne Plaza is also right next door in case you do find yourself at odds with this Hilton…

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View from the Window by BA_pics, on Flickr

By the way….definitely do go to the NeuHaus chocolate shop in the galleries just off the Grand Place (the original location) for some sit down chocolate shock to the system! Excellent and the only time I have ever found a hot chocolate too rich without adding more cream or milk…..^

I would come back and recommend this location to others…it is not as nice or noble as the Conrad but better than many other hotels and the service seems to have improved greatly which is now excellent here (at least during out stay).

Nice review and photos, BotB. Thanks for sharing! ^

I only hope we can keep this property in the Hilton chain (or add another), after the loss of the Hilton and Conrad.

Don't forget the Scandic Grand Place :D (I really liked that hotel).

As far as I remember that was the only hotel in Europe with rooms even smaller than the (smallest) ones at the Brussels City... :D

I don't think I ever saw any of those. :D That treat for me is held by the Hilton Stockholm, although various London Hiltons have tried.

I was there every two weeks for two years and I sort of adopted a room fairly quickly. But I did love the location.

Hilton Brussels city
 

I was wondering what the easiest way to get to hilton Brussels city after getting off the Eurostar, is it taking the metro or a taxi. Thank you for your help.

Have you reviewed the multiple existing threads on this property?

I looked at them and most people come from the airport and one person said they took the metro

Hi,
You will get off at Gare de Midi in Brussels then you can either catch a train to gare de North or Catch the Metro. The Hilton is only 5-10 walk from the train station. If you have alot of luggage it might be best to catch a taxi.

See this post in the existing Hilton Brussels City thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...l#post19100297

I saw that but I was wondering what is the easiest way to get there

The closest train station is Gare du Nord and the closest Metro is Rogier.

As for the hotel itself, as a Diamond, benefits are hit and miss. But they have a good solid team and if you are happy to get what you pay for and nothing more you may appreciate the consistent standard.

It must be said though that this property is not like the former Conrad, not even remotely. Sadly, if you are looking for that kind of guest experience you may need to look at competing properties.

2 stays at the hotel 26th April & 6th May
 

Hi,

I stayed here oon 2 occassions before the start and at the end of my BRU-Hawaii flights

Stay 1
26th April
Room 826

I arrived off the train and the metro at about 1030 at night. It is a short walk from the Rogier metro station ( but up some stairs which can be awkward with luggage)
The outside of the building was covered in netting and scafolding.
I was given room 826 on the 8th ( Hilton Honors floor)
The room had bathrobes and slippers and a bottle of evian water. and was of a reasonable size
The bed was comfortable and the view was of an internal view)

Breakfast was €30 if your rate did not include breakfast and was of reasonable quality.

The TV was large and had a wide variety of channels
The gym was reasonable andf the hotel is about a 15min walk from the grand place.

Stay 2

Room 819
6th May

I arrived about 1230pm. My room was not ready so I left my bags and went to the Grand Place, Atomium and Mini Europe.
When I got back to the hotel my room was ready. It had the same amenities but the room was a lot smaller than 826 with the King Bed taking up alomsot the entire room with very little storage space for my bags. I was only there for 1 night so did not mind it too much. The window was small and overlooked the office block next door.
The bed was comfortable enough and the room was quiet.
I ordered the 500g box of Godiva chocolates ( €27) and they were available at check out.
I walked to Gare du Nord ( about 5mins) to take the train back to the airport €7.80 o/w)

Overall a reasonable hotel if you can get a good rate.

Regards

TBS