Saint-Michel *

Voor een snelle, leuke reis naar Brussel is de ligging perfect. Ontbijt was zeer goed. De lift was de engste die ik in lange tijd heb gezien. De kamer was klein en de meubels waren oud, maar u kunt niet echt klagen voor de prijs. En, aangezien het aan de achterzijde lag, was het rustig, ondanks de centrale ligging.

This hotel was old but everything is old here anyway. Great view and was so glad to pay extra to get the view room. I could sit in my room and look down at this most beautiful square after dark and when nobody is there. It was nice to look at the square when nobody is awake in early morning, too. I traveled by myself but I never got board just sitting by the window and looking outside. Breakfast was included with a room. Coffee, juice, cereal, muffins, toast, ham, cheese,etc...not so good but not too bad. Might not be the best rooms but I will stay here again.

Although getting to hotel can be difficult (adjacent streets are limited to pedestrians most of the day) the location makes up for it. As has been reviewed by others, the plaza is a busy place well into the night and the windows are not soundproof so be prepared for the noise. Also the lobby and elevator is tiny (as is common in older hotels). The rooms are clean and simple. Make sure you get a room facing the plaza otherwise you may have NO window. The staff is varied in friendlyness...the gentleman that checked us in when we arrived (at night) was completely dissinterested and was not the least bit friendly. The moring staff (a womand and her daughter) were warm and friendly and made us feel at home for the breakfast. Overall, if you are prepared for the noise, we reccomend this hotel.

First, this hotel has a great location on Grand Place. The manager seems to be a nice guy, and the breakfast is okay, overlooking the square. Now for the bad news... The reception area is very tiny, and the lift, covered in green carpets, is incredibly small. The keys are kept easily for thieves to grap because the reception isn't manned at all times, so I wouldn't leave my valuables in the rooms. We stayed in room no. 45, which is quite small, so small that we had to pack our luggage away to move around. There are two hatchets in the ceiling and no windows. The bathroom ceiling was moldy with big black stains. The shower occationally produced warm water, and most of it ran all over the bathroom floor. The manager's excuse for the cold water was that he had implemented new heaters, but that the pipes had a too small dimension and were filled with sand. There are no duvets, only sheets with brown wool carpets in the beds. The television is an old cathode ray TV with a smaller screen than an average laptop. We moved after one night... The price was lovered to € 70 for the night though.

You really can not beat the location - and the beautiful view (from the rooms which have one). I stayed in the same room which I used 20yrs ago and it seemed identical - even the fridge sitting on top of an old broken one (nothing in the fridge by the way - not even a bottle openner). Staff are friendly and breakfast is pretty good. Even in May I had the loud people in the square at 2am as pointed out in other reviews. This could be helped by double glazing (one day!). so in summary - stay here if you want the best view and quite like old fashioned slightly run-down interiors. Pop into the local mini-market for water/etc :-)