Hilton Brussels Grand Place: A Great Location in Central Brussels

The Hilton Brussels Grand Place is next to the Brussels Central train station and is walkable to many sites, making this a great option for tourists.

The front of the Hilton Brussels Grand Place

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Booking the Hilton Brussels Grand Place

I was looking for a good place to stay in Brussels, Belgium for this trip for quite a while. I started by booking the Marriott Executive Apartments Brussels, but its location and the amenities just didn’t appeal. After that, I was hoping to see The Standard finally join World of Hyatt but while all other Standard hotels joined, this one was almost forgotten. We haven’t been Hilton fans after all the devaluations, but the Hilton Brussels Grand Place seemed to check all the boxes on what we needed.

They had a €359/night rate for their family room, which included two separate rooms and enough space to fit all of us. It’s a little more than I would have liked to spend for one room but Europe is tough when it comes to room sizes. With fire code as strict as it is, there’s a fair chance that most rooms won’t fit a family of four. If I still had hotel credits from my credit cards to use up, I would have considered using them here.

Instead, I booked direct and found I’m still a Hilton Gold member? I’ve had Hilton Gold for years from any combination of the Hilton Surpass card or the Amex Platinum or Business Platinum. But I have none of those cards. I also held the Hilton Aspire card and had Diamond from it, but no longer possess that card either. Hilton doesn’t do soft landings of elite status, so there’s no reason I’m supposed to have Gold status. Thus, I thought it was a glitch on the website and didn’t expect the benefits to stick on arrival.

Earning Hilton points

Full disclosure: there are no referral links in this section. The cards we present below are publicly available and we earn no commission from them.

If all you want is Hilton Gold status, your cheapest option is the Hilton Surpass card. At just a $150 annual fee, it can be a helpful card to have if you visit Hilton hotels with some frequency. The 130,000 Hilton points as a sign-up bonus is icing on the cake for that first year.

While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, American Express Membership Rewards (MR) cards transfer points at a 1:2 ratio. That means you’ll get 2,000 Hilton points for every 1,000 MR points you transfer. But in a pinch, if you need more points, that can be an option, but it’s an expensive option.

Why? Because Hilton very frequently sells points at a rate of 0.5 cents each and the points are worth 0.4 cents each. Using Amex MR for such an inefficient option isn’t really something we want to promote.

First impressions of the Hilton Brussels Grand Place

We arrived at the Hilton Brussels Grand Place after a 30-minute walk from the Brussels Midi/Zuid station. Due to the national strike, we were unable to reliably take the metro over to the Brussels Central station. If we had, the exit for that station was quite literally right in front of the Hilton. Oh well. We ended up walking right by a pep rally for the national strike along our path, which prompted questions from the kids, but it was civil and we had no issues passing by with our luggage.

The Brussels Central train station is literally right next to the hotel

We made it over to the entrance of the Hilton, which wasn’t too grand-looking.

Entering the Hilton Brussels Grand Place

Once inside, we immediately saw how nicely the interior was decorated for Christmas. Not to spoil the rest of the article, but I think this was the nicest-looking room in the whole hotel.

Immediately to the right of the entrance is the rather small reception desk. Here, I was quickly checked into my room. He recognized my Hilton Gold status that I had from… somewhere? And he let me know where breakfast will be, just down the hall behind us. Another gentleman asked us to let him know if the connector between the rooms is locked and he’ll come up to fix it for us.

Reception desk is right inside the front entrance

The kids felt a little hungry, so the front desk also handed them an apple and offered candy. My kids declined the candy but accepted the apple, which had letting etched onto it to welcome Diamond members.

Apple with welcome message written on it

The rooms

Our rooms for this stay are on Floor 1 (remember in most of Europe, the ground floor is Floor 0). Our set of connecting rooms is in its own special section of the hotel, which only has five rooms.

I’m not sure if this is just where they stuck all the specialty or family rooms, but we never saw another guest in our time over here. Even the elevator only went up to this set of rooms and nothing more. The private-like experience is welcome.

Our rooms for this stay are 106 and 108. Room 106 is the room for the parents and 108 is for the kids (in theory).

First bedroom (106)

Let’s start with Room 106, which has a king bed in the center of it. This bed is pretty firm, which we’re fans of. The pillows are also fine. We’ve been to plenty of Hilton hotels before where the pillows were a problem, but that’s not the case here. At the foot of the bed is a sitting area that made it better to put on our shoes.

Between the bed and the window is a small table and a couple of chairs.

Across the room from the bed is the large-screen TV and a desk. While the desk doesn’t aesthetically look elegant, it meets all my basic needs. There’s also a Nespresso machine on the desk if you need some coffee.

There’s also a full-length mirror if you need a wardrobe check before you go out.

Naturally, the door between the rooms was initially locked, so Jenn went back downstairs to flag the employee.

Outside the window is a view of the courtyard. There weren’t too many people who ended up walking around in this courtyard, so it was a rather peaceful view.

You can catch a glimpse of a Smurfs statue if you change your view a little more to the left. I meant to step outside to take a picture of the statue but guess who forgot to do that!

Bedroom #2 (108)

After the helpful employee opened up the second room for us, the kids were excited. This room is clearly designed to entertain families as the default arrangement is almost in a movie night setup.

I mean just look at that setup. If you wanted to spend time together as a family enjoying a movie, it’s pretty convenient and comfortable to do so.

Chairs and sofa arranged in a movie night setup

The bunk beds can fold out of the wall but we always left them in this position. But since they fold out, there is a weight limit of 50 kg per bed.

But what if an adult wants to sleep in the room with the kids or your kids are too big? There is a sofa…

…that is also a sofa bed. The good news is this one is pretty comfortable too. However, it is a little slanted like an angle-flat seat on an airplane.

The kids room also had a large storage area where we kept all our luggage.

Hidden in here is also a mini-fridge in case you need it.

Bathroom (similar design in both rooms)

The bathrooms are identical to each other, so we’ll talk about them both at the same time. There is marble tile all throughout the bathroom. However, I have to admit that all the tiles stacked vertically in a straight line is a little disorienting. I think it would look nicer if they staggered the pattern.

The shower is enclosed in glass all around. But do you see the problem? The controls are right underneath the shower head. I don’t like getting doused with cold water when turning it on.

The shower amenities are by Crabtree & Evelyn. But one thing about these–the kids bathroom was missing a bottle of conditioner. Instead, they had two shampoo bottles. Just one of those oddities that you see from time to time from what I assume is an honest mix-up.

Breakfast at the Breakfast Lounge

We made our way down to the ground floor in the morning and proceeded down a long hallway to find the Breakfast Lounge. Along the way, the kids saw yet another Christmas tree.

And they saw a statue of a Smurf. Yes, the whole city is full of them, so get used to it.

The Breakfast Lounge is open during the following hours:

Weekdays: 7AM – 10AM
Weekends: 7AM – 11AM

Hilton Gold status is only supposed to offer free breakfast for two people in the room outside of the United States. I was expecting to pay for the kids, but it turns out the hotel let them dine for free. That’s neat!

A helpful employee directed us to our table, and we were then left to explore the buffet on our own. There would be no further interactions with employees during breakfast except for removing plates. It’s a pretty basic level of service here.

The buffet is large and spans the table in the middle, plus all the space along the wall.

The buffet

Normally, I would just say I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but I do have a bit to say about some of the options, so it’ll be a mix.

First up are these sunny side up eggs, which aren’t great. I’m sure they’re great if you get them fresh, but they’ve been sitting in a buffet warmer, which made them dry. Even the kids noticed them a bit rubbery and didn’t want them.

They did have scrambled eggs, which is good if you didn’t want the other eggs. But these were almost made to overcompensate for the dryness in the sunny side up eggs as they were a bit runny. Next to it are some fries because Belgium.

A third style of eggs, these hardboiled eggs are probably your best bet.

If you want meats, you can get bacon or sausage.

They also have cold cuts and salad if that’s your preference for breakfast.

This was my first time seeing a yogurt-dispensing machine. Kind of an elaborate contraption for what could just be scooped into your bowl.

Next to the yogurt are some fruits and more dairy.

And then they have both a pancake machine and a waffle iron. Being the waffle-making expert I am (hah), I had to help teach an older lady how to use it.

It sure does seem like people need practice because there is an awful lot of extra goop under the machine from people way overfilling it. Everyone wants their Hilton-branded waffle a bit too much.

In the center area is where all the carbs are located. One side of the table has a variety of freshly-sliced breads

While the other side had granola and pastries.

There are also some packaged gluten free items for those unable to eat gluten.

Drinks

If you want something to drink, by the entrance are some juices, but the orange juice didn’t taste freshly-squeezed.

There’s a collection of teas if you are in the mood.

And there’s a coffee machine near the waffle maker. This one tended to have a line. It’s a good thing I don’t drink coffee as I’d rather not wait in a line if I can avoid it.

Executive Lounge at Hilton Brussels Grand Place

Hilton Diamond and Diamond Reserve members can access the Executive Lounge on the ground floor. This lounge is actually directly underneath our bedroom. Since I am a lowly Gold member (somehow), I didn’t have access. While I debated re-obtaining the Hilton Aspire card to gain access, I didn’t think it was ultimately worth it.

The hours for this Executive Lounge are as follows:

Hours of operation: 7AM – 8PM
Breakfast:
- Weekdays: 7AM – 10AM
- Weekends: 7AM – 11AM
Happy Hour: 5PM – 7PM

I’ve heard there is complimentary alcohol during happy hour but I can’t confirm since I didn’t have access. Given I planned our dinners during that time frame anyways, I doubt I’d be able to confirm even if I had access.

Odds and ends

First up, the hotel has a gym but I didn’t make it over to the other bank of rooms to visit it on this trip. With all the walking we did everywhere, I didn’t feel the need to get another workout in.

You might wonder about water bottles, especially as Hilton elite members are supposed to get them for free. Since we were still working through all the drinks we got from the Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht, I didn’t push the front desk. The only reference I saw to water bottles in the hotel was this ad suggesting you should buy them in the convenience store in the front. There most definitely were no water bottles waiting for us in the room.

The Smurfs are still trendy in Belgium given they come from Belgium. Well, if you want you can stay in the Smurf room. I think there is only one room decorated this way in the hotel and if it’s already taken (as it was for our stay), you’re out of luck. That’s too bad as even though the kids aren’t Smurfs fans, it would have been fun staying in a themed room.

Ad for Smurfs room at Hilton Brussels Grand Place

Right across the street from both the Hilton Brussels Grand Place and the entrance to Brussels Central is Brewdog. We didn’t dine here, but we used it as a backup in case things didn’t work out with other restaurants. Frankly, the menu looked more appealing than the restaurants inside the Hilton but it’s not an everyday kind of thing.

Brewdog across the street from the Hilton Brussels Grand Place

Recommendation: Yes, for the location

If you’re not a Hilton devotee, the main reason to stay at this hotel is its location. It’s right across from the main entrance to Brussels Central train station, which is also connected to the metro stop of the same name. That makes this a great choice to use as a base for exploring the city. It’s walkable to several sites and there are plenty of good dining options nearby.

What the Hilton Brussels Grand Place seems weakest providing is an elevated dining experience. Our dining on-site was limited to just their breakfast offering. But we did have a peak at their main dining area and we weren’t intrigued by it. With so many other choices in the city, I think you’ll do better going out to eat anyways.

If you can find a good rate to stay here, I think you’ll find it adequate enough to suit your needs as long as you’re not looking for an ultra luxurious stay.

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