Brussels - Radisson Blu Royal vs Radisson Blu EU
 

Looking for an opinion on which hotel to book. I'll be doing a solo trip in October for two nights, utilizing the 2 for 1 points rate. I'll be doing touristy things, prefer a nice hotel in a safe area.

Hello, I recently stayed at Radisson Blu Royal in BRU this past June for 4 days also as part of the 2x1. The hotel is ideally located close to city centre and the main train station, just a short 10 minute walk or so, and very close (walkable) to most attraction, mannnequin pis, grand plaza, numerous restaurant and bars within the area. Our room was clean and quiet, no problems during out stay. I will certainly recommend it. The fact that is close to the main train station is a big plus ^ for us, as this allows us to go to other areas with minimum transfer.

The Blu EU is usually a place with much more value for money. If you pay with points and the rates are the same, you might opt for the Royal. Yet from my perspective staff/attitude there seems to be a little posh.

I've stayed at the Royal with points and I was impressed that I was upgraded to a Business Class/Club Type floor that had all the soft drinks and water you could drink plus 2 nights at the breakfast buffet for free. It might have been a mistake on the free buffet but I was so happy we ended up staying here. The EU is kind of far away from everything, i would definitely pick Royal

Nice stay at the Royal in March. Received a room upgrade but no breakfast as a CC Gold on a points stay. Neat little bar right around the corner. Good beer (of course) with a friendly matron-like waitress. Close to bus and metro stops.

Cheers

Stayed at the R.B. EU recently. Super-friendly staff. Received free breakfast as CC-gold and a room upgrade to suite. They do have a problem with Carlson not providing status and membership number when booking via the website, so it's good to send them an e-mail in advance.

Last week the GM of the RB Royal posted the following in response to a TripAdvisor review:

Does anyone know the extent of the renovations, or how disruptive they will be?

Staying at the Rad Blu Royal and got no breakfast and no upgrade as a gold, so that would have been nice. But the location is perfect. A few blocks from any major site, and the christmas market.
Rooms are cozy. Outlets pop out of the desk, lots of wood. The shower is just a tub with a shower... but otherwise it's great.

Such a pity that these hotels are so inconsistent about providing free breakfast (or not) to Carlson Golds, the Park Inn Midi confirmed me by email that they 'as a rule' upgrade Golds to a business room with free breakfast. Not as nice as the other Radisson hotels but I rather get my breakfast for free instead of taking the chance getting nothing at the others...

They started refurbishing the breakfast room. The replacement breakfast room is OK, yet only reachable via elevators and not via stairs (at least for guests).

Any recent reviews for the Blu Royal? (Sorry to bring back an old thread...)

I'm there right now until the 25th. No upgrade or free breakfast for a Gold member. Rooms are good, we have received free water, cookies and chocolates everyday when the make up the room. No renovations to report. Not sure what else to say, or if there is something in specific that you are looking for.

I've stayed there last weekend. The hotel needs some renovation, and fast, as it's showing it's age. Concierge - upgraded to suite on the 7th floor (which is much more worn off then the 6th floor in the past).

I've also visited the new Red (it wasn't opened yet) - we were welcome by the Red product manager who let us see the hotel and the room - generally it's a mixture of Radisson Blu (service wise - full service hotel with room service and such) and Park Inn (fresh, vibrant, modern arrangements, furniture, lot's of electronics - for example you can stream from your phone/laptop directly to the TV in your room). Breakfast would be served a'la cart, not as a buffet. The staff at the Red is very energetic, engaging, lively. I'm looking forward to my next visit to Brussels to test it out ;-)

Thanks for the updates! I wasn't really looking for anything specific. Anything would be helpful. I'm also gold so I guess I was wondering if golds were offered free breakfast or upgrades. The free water is helpful though.

Wasn't too sure where to put this review, but I was at Rad Blu Royal recently. Service at the FD was good, but the service at breakfast was borderline rude. The hours of breakfast end at 1030am on weekdays and they enforce the 1030am end time. Often we would sit down around 10 and they would start packing everything away at 1030. That's fine by me, but we were told we had to leave at 1030 and couldn't finish our meal that was already at our table. We were told to hurry up and eat as well. We didn't need more food from the actual buffet so I found that a little odd. Maybe it's a European thing?

The internet speed here is ridiculously slow. I called to complain a few times at night and we were told there is nothing they could do. I eventually changed rooms and the wifi was a little better.

The room was a good size, but the beds were too hard for me. The pillows are also really flat. The king is not a true king, but two twins put together.

The hotel is in a good location and you can walk to everything. It's also close enough to the train/trams if you're arriving from Midi or Central station. I would probably check out the Red next time so I could compare the two.