Advice on Hotel in Brussels
 

Need advice on picking a hotel in Brussels for next week. Part of the stay will involve small children (4 and 2). I am debating the Sheraton Brussels Hotel and Towers (I am SPG Gold) vs. the Hilton Brussels (HH Silver). Any advice would be welcome!

The Sheraton is quite nice but not exceptional, but it is in the red light district (or a block from it, as it is by the North railway station); but then much of Brussels is in the red light district. Hilton may be slightly better located, but not much, however I think the Sheraton is a better building (but some of its facilities are closed on weekends, or at least was when I stayed there a few years ago). There really aren't any good places to stay in Brussels and it isn't a great city for children (but the beer is superb).

The sheraton can often be booked for dirt cheap rates on priceline. check http://biddingfortravel.com for the latest scoop

If your stay is on a weekend, nothing beats the Metropole. Great rate and a fabulous hotel. (Ditch the kids and visit the bar there, it's one of the great bars of Europe, for real, listed in lists and everything.)

Here's the link for the weekend special rate: http://www.metropolehotel.be/EN/exclusivity.cfm

Now if it's not on a weekend, then the Metropole is way spendy. But on the weekend, at 119 euros a night, it's fabu.

Last time in BRU stayed at the Le Meridien which is literally across the street from Gare Centrale and in a great location. 24 mins. to the airport on the train. Found a drop dead rate from Le Meridien through their weekend specials website as a Moments member.

Also spent one night at the Barsey Hyatt to add to my faster free nights and found it to be an undesirable location, however they did provide free internet.

I don't know your budget. The best is the Amigo.

http://www.hotelamigo.com/rates.html

I stayed at a Hilton in Brussels two years ago. I think there are two . This one was near a train station and the AC wasn't working well. Additionally, they were doing construction near by. We actually changed rooms twice the first night. It ended up being funny- I speak French , the boyfriend with me, did not. I was pretty torqued by 2 am and the second room with no AC and the front desk clerk tried to tell me that the temperature on the thermometer was not the temperature in the room- hmm where would it be the temp- Peru?.
Anyhoo, as we were schlepping to room number 3, the front desk clerk turned to my BF and said " your wife is not a pea ( happy)" . He replied" no, right now she's a B".
So, overall it was not a great stay. It was LOUD from the trains and the construction( I think it should be done by now) and breakfast was like $22 a person- way more than other places I stay- even in Sweden. I think that we had trouble getting the room cleaned also and the manager wasn't too receptive to our issues. So , my vote is not for the Hilton :)

Have a great trip.

I'm glad people are still recommending the Metropole- I was there 10 years ago so my recommendation would be out of date- but it's an original. Very art deco, with a bird-cage elevator. There's a picture by reception with the attendees of a conference years ago- Einstein, M. Curie, De Broglie, Planck and every other luminary in physics and chemistry who has had a constant or formula named after him/her. What history!

Ack
 

ACK, the Amigo? I stayed there twice in Jan and Feb following someone's advice on this board. I hated the Amigo the first stay but decided to give it a second try since it was the most expensive hotel in BRU and I figured I must be overlooking something.
Took me 15 minutes to check in. My limo driver was not permitted to park in the narrow little parking area in front of the hotel. My non-smoking room smelled of smoke. Room service dinner took 1.5 hours! Second night of stay I couldn't sleep because I heard a prisoner wailing and screaming from 3am on(hotel is near a jail).Took me 30 minutes to have a porter come to my room to take my luggage down for check out.

Second stay two weeks later was a repeat of the first, only this time the room service guy didn't speak French OR English and spoke only Italian. I'm told the hotel is now room by an Italian group and service is really awful because of this change. The concierge with curly hair was good actually and the frail looking girl with glasses at the front desk were the only people who seemed to take their jobs seriously.That was the biggest waste of 250 euro/night! I've stayed at the Stanhope from then on and haven't had any complaints.

High rates don't always mean quality. Stanhope had a special for half of wht the Amigo was charging and was 10 times better.

Thanks all for your very useful comments. Most appreciated.

I have stayed at both the Sheraton and the Jolly-Grand Sablon a few times each. The Sheraton is perfectly fine, but if your room rate includes breakfast, make sure you bring the printout. The "your rate does not include breakfast" speech is apparently common. I like the Jolly - rooms are small (probably Sheraton is better for family) - location is great, and the included breakfast is nice.

I went to Brussels for a long weekend recently and stayed in the Stanhope; the rates are very good at weekends and it really is a great place to stay if only for the extremely helpful staff. It's up in the district with the embassies and the EU parliament.

I stayed at this hotel on my first every trip to Europe (London-Brussels-Den Haag) quite some time ago. My recollection of the experience is of a very comfortable room with good space and a nice balcony. But overall the hotel had a strange feel to it, maybe attributable to my newbie status as an international traveller at the time. An excellent location given its proximity to the Gran Plas. Is there really still a jail in the neighborhood?

Otherwise, I generally agree with the other poster's here. Brussels isn't the best city for a good hotel experience. I've spent time in the Sheraton's there and while acceptable, they aren't anything that makes the stay that much more special.

Well, there is a 5***** star Conrad Brussels [http://www.conradhotels.com/en/ch/ho...tyhocn=BRUHCCI]
which I found to be a great hotel when I stayed there a few months ago. If you have HHonors status, you can use it to get an upgraded room and a complimentary buffet breakfast...

Metropole is good, but the rooms in the newer addition are a bit motely.

I would vote for the jolly grand sablon for location alone.

the bar at the metropole is fantastic!

lala