Brussels Hotels and What To Do There

[Dynamictwo]

We are cruising out of Venice next September and already have the pre cruise and post cruise day hotels set up for Venice --in a wonderful highly recommended bed and breakfast near St. Marks. Then we have an overnight in Brussels. Can anyone recommend any special hotels? Also, any recommendations for what to do in only one day there so we can maximize our time? Thanks in advance for the advice.

[dbh62ark]

We stayed in the Stanhope Brussels last month, and I liked it a lot and would recommend with a few reservations--pun intended. :) It's a 5-star hotel located within walking distance of the Grand Place, which is the major tourist area in Brussels. The Stanhope is a little off the beaten path, but the neighborhood was very pleasant, and the hotel was just a block from the subway, which we used a couple of times. If you check tripadvisor.com, you'll see good reviews for the Stanhope. The other hotel that we were interested in in Brussels was the Amigo. We found a rate of 135 Euros per night, including taxes and full buffet breakfast, on the Stanhope's web site. The Amigo was 3 times that rate. Maybe the Amigo is worth it; I don't know because I haven't stayed at both hotels. The Amigo is located near the Grand Place, so that would help you maximize your time in Brussels, but with the metro being so close to the Stanhope, I don't think the time savings would be substantial. I liked the decor of the Stanhope very much; it's lovely. The breakfast and all other amenities were first-rate and couldn't have been better. Two minor warnings about the Stanhope are the air conditioning and the weekend staffing. The Stanhope does not have a concierge or bellman on duty on the weekends (we stayed there Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights), and that's a departure from a 5-star hotel experience. The weekend staff was very friendly and seemed highly motivated to overcome this deficiency, so we had no problem obtaining assistance with our (post-cruise) luggage. We thought we knew what we were going to do in Belgium and didn't need the concierge, but my husband heard about the WWI trenches at Diksmuide while we were on the cruise, and then he was determined to go there while we were in Belgium. But the front desk staff was wonderful and found web sites that contained all of the information we needed, so all's well and ended well. For our second note of full disclosure, we did not find the air conditioning to be adequate by our American standards; it was unusually warm while we were in Belgium and the high was 75 degrees one day (70 or more the other two days too). The air conditioning in our room just didn't keep up; it was stuffy but not too bad. Fortunately, we were gone from our room during the day, so it didn't affect us very much, and we opened the windows to let in the cool night air when we got in each night. I would definitely stay at the Stanhope again, especially considering the great rate that we had.

 

Exactly how much time do you have in Brussels? There are some that won't agree, but if you only have a day, I would forego Brussels in favor of the hour train ride to Bruges. If you can really stretch the hours like we can, you may be able to see some of both in a day. Bruges is just magical, and I can't say enough good things about Bruges.

 

If you decide not to take my advice to go see Bruges you'll regret it--just kidding! :)--but Brussels is very nice. We did the Frommers walking tour, and many of the streets and little gardens reminded me of Paris. When we got to the Grand Place, there was a band playing at the bandstand, and we just stayed there sitting on some risers for a couple of hours to take it all in. It's just awesome and rivals anything that we've seen in our extensive travels in Europe. Napoleon said that St. Mark's Square in Venice is Europe's drawing room, and Venice is my all-time favorite for sure, but the Grand Place in Brussels gives St. Mark's Square a run for the money. The little mini-Europe is a lot of fun (various monuments in miniature; sounds kind of cheesy but is great). You can go in the town hall at the Grand Place, and we also enjoyed touring the interior of the Royal Palace (also on the walking tour). Their cathedral is magnificent and somewhat resembles Notre Dame in Paris. But don't think that if you've been to Paris then you've been to Brussels because that's just not the case.

 

I read that you can't get a bad meal in Belgium and found that to be true. Also, if you think you've had chocolate and even Belgium chocolate, think again. I have never in my life had anything that tastes as good as the candy from Kim's Chocolates in Bruges.

 

I'll be glad to answer any additional questions and send my best wishes for you to have a great stay in Belgium.

 

Donna

 

In

[Member]

The 3-stars Hotel Hesperia Grand Place is just a few minutes walk from the cental train station (even train station taxi refused to get us there!). For 100 euro w/breakfast & taxes, we got a nice double room. From the train station you can take an open-top bus to tour the whole city first. Then spend the rest of the evening at the Grand Place area.

[Dynamictwo]

Thank you both for the advice. I haven't set the hotel up yet, but we will only be in Brussels fron about 2 in the afternoon, and we will be leaving the next morning. Thanks again.

[dbh62ark]

Yeah, it sounds like you'll probably want to hang around the Grand Place area, which is fabulous, during a short stay. I was just looking at my photos yesterday and wish I could post some for you. It's extraordinarily beautiful, so I know you will enjoy.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

[Bruin Steve]

My family's heritage is Belgian, so, when I visit, I've typically visited relatives...who then drag me all over the country...and with them driving, I seldom realize how we've gotten there or how far it is...In my book, Brugges is clearly the gem in a country with many gems...but it's about 100 kilometers outside of Brussels, so with one night, I doubt you are going there...My cousin Dominique took me to Waterloo to visit the battlefield...but I couldn't tell you how far out of Brussels that is, he drives fast...

 

Brussels itself is a big, spread out city, most of it fairly modern...Belgium, last figures I saw, was in the Top Five among "Standard of Living" in the world...It is a fairly rich little country with a large percentage of the population in professional and service industries...

 

A second (or is it third or fourth?) on the Grand Place...

There is a microbrewery (I assume it's still there) on one side of the Place with some couple of hundred beers unique to it...Outdoor tables and great views of the square...

 

You also need to go out and find Belgium's great monument--the "Mannekin Pis"...It is the statue of a little boy relieving himself on a street corner...It is "life-size", so you really need to look carefully...The way the story was related to me by my cousin Albert, a young Prince was discovered to be missing and lost for some time...His father, the King, was extremely distraught and vowed that when his son was found, he would erect a statue in the boy's honor and the statue would depict the Prince however it was that he was found...Well, they found the kid on that street corner, taking a royal "Pis"...The story may or may not be true, but it's pretty good...

 

This site gives some alternate versions (and some pictures):

 

http://www.trabel.com/brussel/brussel-manneken.htm

 

My advice with one night is to hang out around the Grand Place, get a good dinner, enjoy a beer (Belgians are big on beer) and relax...

 

Have fun...