Review: The Hotel Brussels

A lot of your pictures came out crooked. Was there alcohol served?

Totally would not have imagined that interior based on the exterior.

And Instagram or not, please no angled pictures 😉

Another thumbs down the angled pictures...

"The issue is that I always try to stay at chain hotels whenever possible to maximize elite benefits and points earning potential, and without a loyalty program or belong to a hotel group...."

How do you decide between an OK chain hotel vs an amazing non chain hotel? Europe has amazing boutique style hotels that will not offer you points but will offer you an amazing and unique experience. I also struggle not to get points but I rather stay in a small unique boutique hotel versus a cold chain hotel with hundreds of rooms where you just feel as another guest.

"I’d definitely consider staying here again if the price is right."

It isn't 🙁

The "flexible" rate for that Suite is $600+. And since it's not a chain hotel, the only way to get upgraded from a basic room is to be a presenter at a conference.

It did look really nice though. My thought is "I’d definitely consider staying here if" someone else is paying the bill. 🙂

Funny about the photos. In my industry, stuff that's shot purposely angled is called Dutch angles. You weren't far off, being in Belgium!

@ Santastico -- There are definitely exceptions, especially boutique hotels that participate in FHR/Virtuoso. The issue here is that this hotel isn't quite "boutique" enough to make me choose it over a chain.

But if a boutique hotel is really unique I think it's totally worth skipping a chain to stay at it.

No angled pics in the future please! Been there done that 😉 kind of thing. Brussels is a strange city, and a bad hotel scene. I like being there but not too often. Taking a break this year! 🙂

I really like the instangles. Not too shabby. Just try to angle the other way next time for a more varied post. We stayed at the Marriot. It was cute and central. I like Brussels for the weekend.

Nice soothing color scheme of the hotel room.
Kelly has excellent handwriting and writes a welcoming note.

Time to replenish the buffet, however.

New camera? The recent pics are amazingly clear.

The Handbook of Style suggests putting the lid down before taking pics of The Toilet.
😉

@lucky
how much is the hotel room/night in general then, if you know? $200, $300, $400/night?

Funny, the old hilton in vegas is now "the hotel" as well, once they split from hilton!

You could come to Minneapolis and get it all. The Hotel Minneapolis is part of the Autograph collection from Marriott. And it is really colon the inside, a former old school bank.

It's a shame that this hotel left the Hilton Worldwide family. More depressingly, Conrad Brussels also re-flagged about a year later. Though there's still a Hilton in the city center, both of the aforementioned properties were better.

Hi everyone,

First of all I would like to thank Peter for the compliment about my handwriting 😉

With regards to our rates > the average rate for a Panorama Suite is about $ 400, and prices are lower during weekends since we are mainly a business hotel. We also have a Facebook Fan Rate offering 15% discount on the Flexible Rate and a special Fan Treatment, bookable via https://www.facebook.com/thehotelbrussels/app_305394136188487. In case of additional questions please don't hesitate to drop me an email via [email protected] 😉

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

Warm Regards,

Kelly Wouters
DotCom Manager
The Hotel. Brussels

I hear you about the points and benefits options, but... as noted in a prior reply, sometimes those things are NOT as important as they seem. If/when you can find them, the medium and up-scale non-affiliated hotels and inns are usually a far better experience. Comparing those non-branded hotels to the First World, perhaps Amerikan standard is mixing apples and oranges. Whatever floats your boat and gets you points is fine, but I think you are missing about 75% of the fun. **Even if you have to pay** real Euros, not use points etc., I think you are missing something if you don't try a few more of the one-off inns. The best rival or exceed the chain houses and they make their rules on the fly. Service: small house. Food: small house,shut up and eat what is served. Gracious friendliness and memory: They do remember! If you are polite and enjoy their facilities they will always have room for you. Behave like a jerk and their book is always full.
As often as you visit Europe, I have to wonder why you do not explore a lot more of the smaller, top-end inns. I guess it must be about points. Nice review.

I'm curious as to how you got upgraded without being part of a loyalty program? You had one of the nicest rooms in the hotel, yet lamented the difficulty getting upgraded. Was this room paid for by the conference?

I'm mostly curious for selfish reasons, like wanting to stay In an awesome room like this :).

@ Jeffsetter -- The room was paid for by the conference. Not sure how the actual upgrade happened, though.

The hotel looks nice but I wish they came up with a more imaginative name to avoid the confusion.

There's certainly room for boutique hotels even if you have status/points/whatever with hotel programs. Recently, stayed at Hotel Maximilian in Prague and its amenities/location were pretty darn great for the price. But other posters are correct that you need to establish a good relationship with them 🙂

Obama uses this hotel when he visites Brussels