Been away for ages busy with work and the like! Finally written 100th review with more to follow......
Been away for ages busy with work and the like! Finally written 100th review with more to follow...I hope!! Nick
Member since:10.11.2003
Reviews:102
Members who trust:16
The Renaissance Hotel in Brussels forms part of the Renaissance chain of Hotels which in turn is owned by Marriott. I stayed at this hotel whilst on holiday in Brussels in August 2003 and found the hotel to be really good value in Summer (as all the business people are on holidays so the best time and cheapest time to visit Brussels is this time of year!)
The room:
The hotel bedroom that we had was well furnished and came with two Queen size beds, although room are available with one larger King Size bed. The room had a TV with satellite TV and a few okay English channels including BBC World. It also came with the usual trapping such as hairdryer, in room safe (very useful for passports and money!) as well as an iron and ironing board and trouser press. If
you are here on business there is a large desk with ISDN line connection (charge for using the line). You also get air conditioning as well as complimentary tea and coffee making facilities in the room which is great for those early starts!
There was also a minibar that was well stocked but pricey as they always are!! (About £3 for a small can of beer!)
The bathroom was luxurious and spacious with a very powerful shower and large bath as well as a good hairdryer. There were plenty of towels delivered each day and a good range of shampoos, soaps etc.
The standard of the room was excellent and everything in the room seemed to be very new. The room was cleaned each day to a very high standard.
Eating and drinking:
Complimentary coffee is amiable in the hotel lobby in the morning as are a range of international newspapers (sometimes delivered directly to our room, but not every day!)
The Intermezzo bar opens from 10am in the morning until 1am and you could take lunch and a light snack dinner here. They had a very wide range of drinks including speciality liquors and cocktails, which were not very cheap, but indulgent for a holiday!
The Symphony Rest restaurant is also excellent and we enjoyed a three course dinner with wine for under £30 per person. They have a very wide range of fish dishes on the menu and the sea bass that I tried was excellent! The restaurant never seems overly busy and the service we enjoyed was very good and the staff were very knowledgeable about the products they were serving.
The hotel itself:
Check in at the hotel is from 3pm, but we arrived at 1pm and our room was available. Check out was noon but as we had a late flight we were able to store our bags until we left for the airport.
The staff were all very pleasant and helpful. 99.99% of staff speak great English but are always willing to converse in German if you want to try yours out!
There is quite a large car park at the hotel but you do pay to use this facility (think it's about 10 Euros per day or so).
Exercise?
There is a nice indoor pool with excellent changing facilities as well as a solarium. The exercise room is relatively basic but will be fine for most people's needs and features typical exercise machines as well as highly trained and knowledgeable staff.
Who is it for?
I would say that this hotel is aimed at the business market mainly, but there were plenty of holiday makers there when we visited as well as families who all seemed to be made very welcome.
Price?
The standard room we had was 90 Euros per night during the summer special which was brilliant value and included continental breakfast for two people as well. These rooms can be as much as 300 Euros per night at other times of the year. (Here you pay for the room and not the number of people in it, ie same price for 2 adults, as for 2 adults and 2 children).
If you shop around on the Marriott website and are flexible as to travel dates you can pick up some brilliant deals!
Location, location, location:
The location of this hotel is, I think, it's main problem in that it is not really very centrally located in the heart of Brussels. As I found out whilst there, the Marriott Brussels Hotel is much more centrally located (I will probably stay there if I go again!)
To get into the centre of the city it really was a bus ride or very long walk (the reception advised us that it was about a 3km walk which is not too bad in the morning but not really what you want after a day's sightseeing!)
However, for business people visiting the European Parliament, the hotel is only two minutes away from this on foot and is approximately 2 kilometres away from the European Commission.
What is there to do?
I really enjoyed Brussels and it is a very vibrant city with plenty of things to keep you busy during the day and in the evenings.
I would highly recommend taking the open top sightseeing bus. The journey we went on lasted for about an hour and gave us a great circle tour of the city pointing out the most worthy sights such as the Botanical Gardens and Grand Place.
We also took a train to the city of Bruges. The journey lasted about an hour but I would highly recommend visiting this almost picture perfect town with it's miles of canal boats. I would highly recommend walking up the clock tower (over 300 steps as the view from the top is magnificent!)
What are the things to buy?
If you shop around you can get some great buys on chocolates and lace (But makes sure it's real lace as the mock lace is not that good really!) NB Lace and chocolates are NOT cheap, but they are great!
Another nice one, although I don't think I will be following up in a hurry. Thanks to a number of educational trips and a sister-in-law that used to live in Antwerp I think I have 'done' Brussels and the rest of Belgium to exhaustion and whilst I enjoyed there are so many more places I want to see - she has moved to Madrid now, but when I finally get there is anyones guess.
Sue
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Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
Home to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the city of Brussels, Belgium is also ... more
home to Renaissance Brussels Hotel. This property is eight miles (13 kilometers) from Brussels Airport (Zaventem Airport) and less than seven miles (10 kilometers)...
Information:
Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
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