I am trying to do better about writing reviews as soon as I get back from a trip, and I just got home last night, so here goes!
My good friend of many years, Shane and I, decided to take a quick weekend trip to Brussels , he met me there and continued on to Paris where he is right now! We stayed one night at Four Points Brussels because I needed the night for SPG elite qualifying, and it was cheap (Review coming), and the final 2 nights at the Hilton Brussels City.
Booking
I chose the Hilton Brussels City, because of the price and location quite frankly! This was a quick last minute budget trip for both of us, and was not a luxurious trip, so we was OK with that, but I did expect more from a full service Hilton (more on that later).
I also wanted to take advantage of the Delta Promo going on where you can earn 250 MQM plus double Delta miles for a 2 night stay!
The Price was Apx. $105 USD a night, and we were splitting it, so it was perfect. The other Hilton, Hilton Brussels Grand Place, was more than double that, and not that far away location wise, so we decided on Brussels City. I am sure Grand Place would have been better according to the reviews, but oh well.
Like I said, it was a quick trip and I needed to some cheap miles and such so it is what it is.
The Hotel
The hotel is in an OK location. Not necessarily central, but close to everything! Brussels in general is a smaller city so everything is close. The hotel is a 5 minute walk from the North Railway station which made it very easy to hop the train yesterday morning back to the airport for a Apx. 9.00 USD. Some people online say its in the Red Light District, I disagree, I just think its on the edges of center, and close to a train station which attracts certain things, but we NEVER felt unsafe!

The Hotel looked very nice, albeit small from the outside, sitting on a square next to (attached to) the Crowne Plaza, and across the square from the former Sheraton, which apparently closed a few years ago due to bankruptcy of the owners, and it, the Sheraton was the biggest hotel in Belgium.
Check-In
I got a good idea how things would go with this hotel right away upon check in. The staff seemed very indifferent, and was not that welcoming. We did arrive early and am thankful for them getting us in a few hours before check-in time. Upon Check-In I asked if I was upgraded , being that I am a Hilton Honors Diamond member, and was told no, because they would be fully booked tomorrow. To me that makes no sense, as we were one of the “booked” rooms tomorrow, and I was Diamond. Hilton does not guarantee a suite upgrade, , but I have found at full service Hiltons, Diamonds usually do get upgraded if they ask. After the duty manager that was checking us in, hemmed and hawed a bit she miraculously found us a “suite”. Keep in mind, I had already pulled up the hotels availability on the Hilton app during this process so I knew what was available and what was not.
We found out that the hotel did not have a lounge, and we would take breakfast in the dining room of the mornings which I was fine with.
The Duty Manager was nice, but you could just tell that the culture was not what it should be for a full service Hilton hotel!
The Room
The “Suite” we was assigned was a tiny Twin Suite that has seen better days, for sure! It has 2 tiny twin beds pushed side by side and they were literally cots with a mattress pad on top, I kid you not. There was no normal amenities like robes or slippers, no mini bar, and very few bathroom amenities.

The room was technically clean, but it was stained up and looked dingy. The windows were filthy, but that may have been a blessing because the view was of a moldy wall. Keep in mind we were on the 5th floor, which was nowhere near the top of the hotel.
The furnishings were all very old and used, and just not what one expects.
The room also had a few odd quirks like automatic lights in the bathroom. I don’t mind this so to speak because it s efficient, but it was annoying because they stayed on 5 minutes after using the bathroom, and it was hard to not wake my friend up in the middle of the night, and also the lights went off if you took too long of a shower, leaving you in pitch black unless you opened the shower and waved your arm.

Another issue I hated was it sounded like all the drain pipes were running through our walls. Every time someone flushed their toilet above us or took a shower, it sounded like a deluge.

The Hotel
The hotel had a 24 hour fitness center and sauna, that I never even checked out so I cant comment on it, but its nice they had a sauna.
As I mentioned, the location was ok, pretty central, we walked or took a quick Uber everywhere we went!
The overall condition of the hotel was OK at best, and nothing fancy, which is ok for the price we paid, but not really what one expects at a full service Hilton, maybe a Hilton Garden Inn or Hampton.
Complaint
Anyone that knows me, knows if I have a problem, I will tell you! A fabulous feature of the Hilton Honors APP is a “tell us about your stay” button where you can leave real time feedback that goes directly to Hilton corporate and the response is usually within minutes. I did in fact complain about the room location, condition, size and view, and got a response back within minutes. The problem is corporate said they couldn’t reach the manager and emailed them and they would get back to me, unfortunately 2 days later they never did. Usually if one complains via this feature, its required the manager get back to you and try to make you happy, but I never received a message on my phone or a letter under the door, or nothing! This upset me more than anything as a few kind words and an apology can g a long way. If I would have got a call from the manager explain that’s all they had and they were very sorry It would have helped the situation, but it made matters worse that they simply didn’t care.
One could tell when walking past the front desk to and from the room, the way the staff, not only didn’t greet you, they turned away from you, as if they were trying to avoid greeting you, that the culture of this hotel was not what it should be! I was in the hotel business for many years and I can tell you no matter the price of a hotel, a good hotel always has impeccable customer service and makes your guest feel welcome and appreciated, this hotel failed on this!
Wrap-Up
The Hilton Brussels City was mediocre at best. Yes the location was ok, and the price was good, but I would have paid a little more to have a better room a \nd better service had I known. Although I am a bargain traveler, I am still a discerning traveler and try to find a nice balance! I could have found a much cheaper option, that was not a big brand hotel where I had status but I didn’t because I like certain perks, and they were not delivered as promised at this hotel.
The reviews on TripAdvisor about this hotel are mixed, but there are many bad and I should have headed that, you should too!
No, I don’t recommend this hotel, even if its cheaper , I think one could find better for the same price or a tad more!
Thanks for reading, and PLEASE, TRAVEL MORE!