After the train trip from Lyon to Brussels Central station I was in a taxi for a short ride to my next hotel The Hilton Brussels City in Rogier.
If I’d done my homework a bit better I’d have gotten a train to either the Rogier Metro station or to Brussels Nord station which are both a ~5 minute walk from the hotel… but alas I’m not known for planning so spent ~€15 on the taxi.
Hilton Brussels City, Brussels, Belgium
The hotel is in a great location next to the botanic garden about a 10 minute leisurely walk from the centre of the city.
The room itself was nice – I was in a converted loft like room with a living room and seperate bedroom but you can tell this is an old hotel that’s had a cheapish makeover.
One of the powerpoints was falling out of the wall. One of the windows you could open, but the other one was screwed shut.
Also, cleanliness left a little to be desired. There was a swatted mosquito on the wall when I first went into my room, and it was still there when I left. And there was a nice hair from the room’s previous inhabitant waiting for me in the shower – yuck!
On the plus side the air conditioning worked great, there was a Nespresso machine and free Wifi throughout the property.
I had breakfast in my room rate which was a self service buffet in the breakfast room which had the standard scrambled eggs, bacon, potato croquets, pancakes, pasties and cheeses plus juices and hot drinks… and the waffle maker 🙂 A good enough spread that I’d head out exploring filled with energy.
There’s also a nice bar off the hotel lobby that opens late afternoon for drinks, and doubles as the dinner restaurant. The beer menu was pretty good and the bar staff were able to help me try most of the good beers throughout my stay. The food choices were quite good as well for hotel food, not Michelin quality, but robust with decent serving sizes.
Check in and check out were a little tardy as the front desk staff seem to retreat to the office and have to check through the office window every now and then to see if a customer is waiting – this really needs to be improved. But once they were on the case the process went smoothly.
Its a good hotel and with some improvements would be really top notch.