GenevaFlyer

Hi,

I did a random search for June 16th, and it shows up for EUR 274 per night.

Cheers,

Ivo

abhilife2001

It shows in the search when the "Use rewards point" option is unchecked.. when its checked it does not show , though in that list there will be other hotels which are shown even though reward nights may not be available..
Anyway, not a big thing..

Duke787

Looking to make a 3 night booking for one of the Brussels properties this upcoming March. I can't find many recent reviews of the Ren and Courtyard in this thread so hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I know rates can change and may fall for the FS Marriott but right now the options I'm deciding between are:

Ren for 363 Euro (refundable)
Courtyard for 279 Euro (refundable)

Is the Ren worth $90 (over 3 nights) over the Courtyard (FS Marriott is 494 Euros and I don't think the extra money seems worth it over the Courtyard and Renaissance). Both my gf and I are Plat if that factors in at all.

Neither of us have been to Brussels so the main concerns are being well-located to be able to get to the various sights, restaurants / bars, and chocolate shops by either walking or public transportation.

GenevaFlyer

Hi Duke,

If the difference is EUR 30 per night, you will save it over the cost of breakfast alone. In addition, the Renaissance has their concierge lounge, with an evening offering, so you can save some more.

If the Marriott is out of the picture, the Renaissance is definitely in a better location to see the sights. You will be walking distance from a metro station, and a 10-15 minute walk to downtown.

At the Courtyard, you will spend a lot of time coming and going to downtown.

In short, go for the Renaissance, no question asked.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

yfsh

I would like to report on my trip to Brussel during September which included both Brussels Marriott Hotel and the Renaissance Brussels Hotel.
I started with Renaissance: I got good weekend corporate rate deal (below 90EUR flexible cancelation). I booked deluxe room and was upgraded to club room which is 2 level up. I did mobile check-in and I am MR gold. The room is spacious and well decorated and overlooking the street. It is a quiet neighborhood so had no issue with the room location. The hotel location is off track and well suited for European parliament visitors thus low occupancy during the weekend. Among the hotel guest are crew of emirates and another European carrier.
Also I was offered breakfast in the main restaurant though when I show up, I was given a ticket to write name, room number and choice of continental breakfast or full American breakfast. I did the full breakfast and did not show up on my bill. (Mobile check-out)
The hotel parking is shared with the neighbor Marriott Executive Apartment and it cost me 10EUR for one night. Please activate the parking ticket from the reception if you are planning to go out of the parking during the day so that you are not charged the hourly rate every time.

The next day I moved to Brussels Marriott for one night. Before I do the mobile check-in one day earlier I noticed the room was changed from Deluxe to Junior Suite (3 level upgrade), was glad to see. When I arrived it turned-out to be even better, a corner suite overlooking Brussels Stock Exchange. I could not be happier. Keep in mind this is European suite, defiantly below 40 sqm. I did not experience any noise.
In addition, as MR gold we were offered a breakfast in the executive lounge or the main restaurant, we opted for restaurant because of the variety. Similar to Renaissance, I was given like a ticket with option to be ticked of continental breakfast or full American breakfast. I did the full breakfast (lovely one) and did not show up on my bill. (Mobile check-out).
The executive lounge is well staffed and it is in the ground floor next to the hotel entrance and overlooking the stock exchange building. During the evening, varieties of light meals were offered but we opted for diners in the city center.
As for the location, it is right in the city center where pedestrian area is. The only other option I had in mind is Hilton grand palace (HH gold), which was of similar price but I went with Marriott to complete the platinum challenge.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the trip report on the two properties. Much appreciated!

Cheers.

kcaluwae

I'm just back from a one-night stay in the Renaissance Brussel. This stay was a surprise for my wife for our fifth anniversary. I mentioned this at check-in, not in the hope to get something extra, rather because we touched the subject as to what was the reason for the stay in hotel. I was quite overwhelmed as they threw in an upgrade to the executive suite and also upgraded the arrangement I had booked. (it originally included parking+breakfast+cocktail and the cocktail was now upgraded to 3-course dinner).

They also offered everybody who arrived a glass of wine in the lobby (apparently there was some kind of happy hour going on).

The dinner was really good. Service in the restaurant was impeccable as well.
I've read reviews that mention staff of the restaurant can be rude but I never encountered anybody unfriendly from the staff.

So to wrap up, the complete stay gave me a wow-feeling.

Only minor hick-up was check-out were I made a minor mistake about the price and they missed that parking was included in the arrangement which leaded to a rather small discussion. I booked the arrangement on Marriott.om, it seems not many people book these kind of arrangements as each time I do it it leads to confusion. Anyway, they offered the parking as well and I feel a bit ashamed now to have asked this after they treated me so well with the upgrade and the 3-course dinner.

If anybody knows an e-mail of the hotel I'm gonna send them a small mail to compliment them.^

Strangely enough the receptionist mentioned that my booking showed as coming from kayak.com. I'm curious to see if my points will show up...

SkiAdcock

Glad you had such a great time. You can probably call Marriott Rewards & get the name of the GM for the property. Marriott email nomenclature is first name dot last name @ marriott dot com.

Cheers.

RaflW

I stayed at the Renaissance Brussels about 10 days ago. Good stay, requested high floor and received a room on the top floor. Included breakfast was as expected. As Marriott Silver I requested late checkout and the desk clerk, who was on duty a lot, and very nice and very professional, regretted that she could only arrange 2pm. I was perfectly happy with that!

No fault of the hotel, however, arriving there from BRU was a disaster. If one is coming to Brussels, I discovered too late that it is a good idea to find out ahead of time if there is a EU Summit of any sort. Bus service was cut several stops early on the Airport 'Express' leaving us bewildered about 1.5kms from the hotel, after a gridlocked drive in that took over an hour, plus waiting 30 mins for the every-10-minute bus to arrive. It was a long slog on cobblestones dragging my 38lb. rolling bag thru the temporary no-surface-transit zone.

There was zero info about the situation at the airport. Had I been given any warning, I would have taken the train. I would not have minded the Diabolo supplement in the least to save time and effort.

So beware that the city transit authority won't inform you and won't explain anything when you are tossed to a curb well away from where you expected to go.

Edit: my stay credit hasn't posted 10 days after checkout. Just requested that be sorted online.

xtremeski2001

I have an upcoming stay at the Marriott Brussels Grand Place for 3 weeks. Any suggestions on room location for quiet? I've been in touch with the hotel and it sounds like they'll be putting me in a larger room facing the courtyard.

Looks like the hotel also has a lounge and/or free breakfast.

I am Marriott Plat.

FlyinHawaiian

Finished up a stay at the Brussels Marriott Hotel Grand Place this past weekend.

We arrived on the Eurostar from London around 4 pm on a Friday evening. Since we were in the middle of our two-week European vacation, we had large bags with us, plus it was raining. So, we first tried to use Uber X (no drivers available) and then took a taxi from the stand outside of the Midi station. The traffic to the hotel was horrible and our driver gave us a white-knuckle (driving on the tram tracks and through a pedestrian plaza at one point) ride that ended up being 30 minutes and 20 euros.

I did the mobile check-in and was quickly given my keys to our Deluxe King room on the second floor. I was disappointed by the lack of any upgrade and low floor placement but accepted the room as I was told it had a courtyard view and based on comments in this thread, I knew it would be quiet. This turned out to be a good thing as the Christmas market outside was in full swing and there was a Christmas Parade that passed in front of the hotel one evening. We didn't hear much noise at all, except the church bells on Sunday morning, which I enjoyed very much.

I didn't find the room particularly small; we found it comfortable enough for us for our short stay.

I will note that due to the current security situation, all entry into the hotel is limited to a single door next to the main entrance with a walk-through metal detector. You'll need to use your room key to enter the hotel. While we were there our small bags were searched before we checked in, but once we had a room key, they passed us through. They are definitely set up for TSA-like security if they need to.

We made use of the lounge throughout our stay and had breakfast in the restaurant every morning. I believe the lounge wasn't serving breakfast on the Sunday morning we were there.

After our taxi experience, we resolved to use mass transit more. On our way back from our day trip to Bruges, we rode an extra stop up to the Central station and walked back to the hotel (about 10 min) and took the 3/4 tram from the Bourse station directly outside of the hotel back to Midi for our Thalys train to Paris. I will note that the kiosks for the tram only took Euro coins and Chip+PIN credit cards.

I'll also note that we found a self-serve laundromat about five minutes from the hotel and made use of it to wash about a week's worth of clothes for about 15 euro.

Overall, I found the location to be good for sight-seeing; especially the Christmas Market, Grand Place, Manneken Pis, etc. However, I think we might try and stay somewhere else if we ever visit Brussels.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the update! Much appreciated. You just missed some FTers who were in town & who also did a day trip. I think they headed to AMS when you headed to Brussels.

Cheers.

Delectatio

Can anyone inform me about the current lounge situation in both the Renaissance and Marriott during weekends? Open or closed and is the main breakfast buffet still included when booking club rooms?
Thanks in advance

xtremeski2001

Got back two weeks ago from a stay at Marriott Brussels Grand Place. When I was there the lounge was closed for breakfast due to "low occupancy". I was, as plat, given free breakfast in the restaurant. Not sure about club rooms.

Lounge was open at night and on weekends. Can get in anytime for water/coffee/etc.

Enjoyed my stay, great little hotel, nothing special, but centrally located.

KRS

Planning a weekend trip to Brussels and might have a rental car this time around. Does anyone have any recommendations for parking near the Marriott Grand Place or Renaissance?

Hotel parking (respectively) is EUR27.50/day and EUR29/day, EUR15/day on the weekends at the Renaissance.

Leaning towards the Renaissance, not least since I know driving to and from the Marriott can be difficult based on earlier Uber experiences.