tvervenne

Hi, i'm from Ghent but living in NY since this year,

Best location to propose is take her on a private boattrip on the canals of Brugge. http://www.brugge.be/internet/en/toe...bezoeken.htm#2
Don't forget to go to the Christmas Markets in Brussels and Brugge.

you can pm me in case of further tips for dinners, drinks, hotels,....

Koby

This might be worth a separate thread...

I'm no expert on proposals, but I think Brugge would be the perfect city for that. (But since you'll be there on a day trip, the 1.5h train ride afterwards back to Brussel might spoil it a bit... )

d'Yquem

Really poor experience. The room (a suite) was tired and quite noisy from traffic below, particularly early morning (6am) when some kind of delivery was being made and and the driver had a reverse gear alarm going off. The bathroom was dated and very badly designed - no extractor fan so a bath just steamed up the entire room.

I found the front desk staff particularly unhelpful, right from check-in (where the girl wouldn't confirm to me the grade of room I'd been given - on a previous occasion I'd booked a deluxe suite only to be fobbed off with a junior suite) to check-out (where they tried to charge me for something I didn't buy, were incredibly unhelpful in finding me a cab where I could pay by card - effectively telling me I should have paid the €85 to use their limousine service). The concierge was very helpful, but the front desk staff were utterly useless.

With the (wonderful) Conrad leaving the Hilton group, and both the Sheraton and the Le Meridien needing refurbishment and entirely new team of staff, I'm now looking for somewhere else to stay.

Ideas?

CIT85

Too bad you had such a bad experience. I stayed here 3 times in 2012. Each time I was upgraded to a Junior Suite. Since my stays were only one nighters, I wasn't too picky with the room decor or the old shaped rooms with dormer windows on the top floor.

The front desk staff are all very young with limited experience. Concierge staff is good and friendly, but still depends on the individuals. It was funny how I knew a lot more about Trappist ales than anyone on the concierge staff I talked with.

I really like the location of Le Meridien, especially for a one night stay. I had considered the Sofitels, but the locations weren't as convenient.

As a SPG Plat, I'd stay with Le Meridien.

creampuff

I agree; the Le Meridien is a great location in Brussels. Didn't have much interaction with the staff so can't comment on that. I've been upgraded whenever I've stayed and the king size bed is _really big_. Another good place in Brussels for value for money if you are there on weekends when there are good discounts is Aloft, in the EU area.

Condition One

I’ve been coming to this hotel regularly over the years, and it’s a solid Le Meridien situated across from the Central Train Station, and a two minute walk away from Grand Place. As a Platinum, I was upgraded to an Executive Room, which is the second highest room category. I’d describe it as a junior suite. Aside from the extra spaciousness of the room, it’s nothing to write home about.

If you choose breakfast as your platinum amenity, the hotel will offer you a full American breakfast (29 Euro value). It’s basic; nothing special. Hot food items consisted of scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Cold items were your typical breads, pastries, yogurt, cereal, and cheese.

There is a small gym, and they’ve added cardio equipment to it over the years. The room could be kept a bit cooler. Front desk staff are friendly and eager to please. As the location is the most central to Brussels sights, this is my preferred hotel when I visit.

stimpy

I agree. I always end up with a junior suite upgrade on one-night stays and the staff seems pretty good to me. The location is much better than the Sheraton, although the price is sometimes significantly higher. There is a decent Novotel next door in case the LM is sold out.

FD1971

To put the regular Platinum upgrades into a junior suite on the top floor into perspective, right on time before the American tourists come to Europe and like to stay in one room with three or four grown-ups, we are talking about 30 sqm. max and one side of the room barely walkable due the shape of the roof. This is one of the smallest junior suites systemwide, in fact one of the smallest suites in any hotel on the planet.

From my personal experience, only the 30 sqm. junior suites at the Radisson Blu Spa come close.

If you need space, book the Sheraton, where the average room is more spacious than a junior suite at the LM.

The LM is the more upscale property, but does not offer more space for money, value for money is worth another discussion.

stimpy

I thought the junior suites varied from 30sqm to 40sqm? I know I have been it two different types. Last week I think my room was 647 and it seemed very sizeable. But then again I never have 3 other adults staying in my room!

You are right that the Sheraton will give a Platinum member a larger suite, usually for less money, but the quality isn't as good, nor is the location.

tagv12

Getting from the hotel to the airport, which is better, train or taxi?

Thank you

stimpy

Train for sure, unless it is very late and you don't want to expose yourself to drunken hooligans.

I just had another stay, and another junior suite on the 6th floor. Very nice.

FD1971

While I did not agree with stimpy regarding his comments about the Sheraton Schiphol, this one is spot on.

If you are a single female traveler, taking the train after dark is worth debating. There are some people hanging around in trains or the train station opposite from the Le Meridien, which are not really dangerous, but unpleasant. Unfortunately, those airport trains in both AMS and BRU are also infamous for pickpocketing.

The upside, you basically fall into the lobby of the LM, when you exit the train station after paying ~4 Euro for a one way ticket. The taxi is also not faster, but probably about 10 times as expensive.

tagv12

Thank you! I will be with my husband and will be leaving for the airport mid afternoon.

Koby

The train is 7,80 € now.

terpfan101

I had a one night stay here last week after booking with hotwire since I pretty much determined that the 5* property in Brussels was this hotel. I paid like $125 for it when rates were closer to $275 at time of booking. Wasn't too fussy on hotel since it was just to be for making morning flight home from BRU. Checkin staff were young and seemed inexperienced but tried to be helpful. I offered my SPG Gold # and was told I had an upgrade to a larger room, which had a King bed. I asked for a renovated room and was told that the renovated ones would cost 35 Euro to upgrade to, I believe those were the "urban rooms" shown on the website. I thought I'd see the room first and sure enough it was pretty terrible. Yes it was large but it was so dated that it certainly didn't feel like a 5* hotel! I know I used hotwire but it seemed as if a good amount of rooms were of that style and if I were paying the true rates here would have been peeved to get one of those old rooms. So are all of those old rooms actually the norm?

I had booked this hotel to be near the train station upon arrival from Brugge and for departure to the airport, however seemed to not want to deal with the train and thus asked for the concierge to call a taxi for us in the morning. The next morning a driver was there but it was for a more limo type car service, I asked the cost and it was 55 Euro to the airport which was shocking. I should have just turned it down and gone to the line of taxis but wanted to just get to the airport on time. It was 7AM for a 9:30 flight. We arrived with plenty of time so I probably should have. Now my question is how much does a metered taxi typically cost from this hotel to the airport? I figured it'd be around 30 Euro or so, so was quite annoyed that the hotel didn't get an actual taxi but called a private driver, I'm sure making a cut in the process.