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Advantages: easy to get to, the Grand Place Disadvantages: Mannakin Pis is dissapointing, takcy tourist shops
! We also had wonderful ice cream sundaes. They were simpler than some here but tastier. It was washed down with Belgian beer. My favorite is cherry beer (kreik) but my sister thought it was disgusting. The bill was about 60 euros for four people.
There are plenty of sandwich shops and kiosks for a cheap lunch. We found a place just off the Grand Place that sold nice cheese toasties and the shop assistant was very friendly.
Unfortunately we did not drink in any bars as time was very short. We did visit a supposedly art deco bar but it was small and expensive so we left ( we were also very tired)
Belgium is also home to chocolate. However the weather was very hot and humid so I did not want to bring a squishy mess home so just stocked up on cherry beer instead.
I really would recommend Brussels. I know there is a cliché of it being dull ...
duskmaiden 27.06.2003 (30.08.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brussels (Belgium)
Advantages: Location, size, quality service and comfort Disadvantages: Some will not like the limited facilities
I was fortunate enough to stay at Le Meridien, in Brussels a few weeks back after winning a competition. It was a novel situation all round as I would not normally be able to afford to stay at this quite exclusive establishment on my travel and subsistence budget and, even if I were I would be too busy to appreciate my surroundings. I do visit Brussels a lot for work and have stayed in many hotels (I reviewed the Welcome Hotel a while back and this remains one of my personal favourites for my business trips) but this was a nice change and most people enjoy a little bit of luxury once in a while.
Ownership
The Le Meridien chain is managed by the US based Starwood Group. This also includes the Sheraton, Westin and St Regis chains amongst others. They operate 888 hotels worldwide, 499 are managed and the balance are franchised ...
Advantages: Stunning architecture and lots of lovely different beers and chocolates Disadvantages: Not a huge amount of well known attractions
minutes). Another great thing about being in Brussels is how very close you are to other European countries. When I lived there, I used the train to hop over to Germany for visits to both Dusseldorf and Cologne (takes 2 hours), as well as into Amsterdam (?42.50 takes under 3 hours). I didn't make to Paris, but that's only 3 hours away as well (costs approximately ?50.00).
***CURRENCY & SHOPPING***
The currency here is of course the Euro. Credit cards are widely accepted in all the shops and restaurants so you don't need to have pockets full of cash.
Avenue Louise is home to all the designer boutiques and more expensive shops. It has various undercover arcades which are great for window shopping but rather expensive to browse in. This was the area in which I had my studio flat when I lived in Brussels; whilst it was nice and quiet ...
Bollinger28 21.08.2005 (26.08.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brussels in general
