Scandic Hotel Grand Place, Brussels

...spent three nights at the Scandic Grand Place, as we had arranged a block booking for the conference I was organising in Brussels and the Scandic Grand Place was the more moderately priced hotel in which we had got a discounted rate, although I ended up booking through hotelclub.net as it was another EUR 25 a night cheaper, so I was paying EUR 110 per night including breakfast.

I was able to check in early - arriving at just before 11am ...
...for me - usually check-in is from 2pm. My room was quite small, with the fittings somewhat on the basic side - we'd been told that the hotel was 4* although I would place it as a 3* - in particular since there was no gym available (currently being renovated). The fittings were somewhat basic - and there was no safe in the room, which is something that I tend to take for granted at a hotel of this class. There was also no ironing board or trouser ... more

I spent three nights at the Scandic Grand Place, as we had arranged a block booking for the conference I was organising in Brussels and the Scandic Grand Place was the more moderately priced hotel in which we had got a discounted rate, although I ended up booking through hotelclub.net as it was another EUR 25 a night cheaper, so I was paying EUR 110 per night including breakfast.

I was able to check in early - arriving at just before 11am on the Saturday morning and my room was already ready for me - usually check-in is from 2pm. My room was quite small, with the fittings somewhat on the basic side - we'd been told that the hotel was 4* although I would place it as a 3* - in particular since there was no gym available (currently being renovated). The fittings were somewhat basic - and there was no safe in the room, which is something that I tend to take for granted at a hotel of this class. There was also no ironing board or trouser press, although these could be requested at reception.

The bathroom was compact, with shower in bath and a washbasin, with shower gel and soap in a dispenser - when I arrived however, the soap dispenser was empty, although this was refilled the next day. The bed was comfortable although the linen looked a bit tired and the desk and chair had also seen signs of wear and tear. The television (tube screen - again not the most recent model!) had a good selection of channels - as with most of Belgium, BBC1 and BBC2 were among those, so I took advantage of having a lazy Saturday evening in to watch a few British shows I would otherwise not get to see.

However, had I been spending more time in the room, particularly during the day, the lack of natural light would have disturbed me - the rooms are arranged around an air well - and therefore struggle to get a lot of light, in particular when you are on the second floor of a five storey building. Wireless Internet Access was free, easy to set up and reliable and plenty fast enough for what I required it for.

I also booked a meeting room for a meeting for 15 board members and the facilities were perfectly adequate - beamer and screen were included in the rental (EUR 250.00) and there was a coffee machine which provided us with adequate refreshments for the duration of the meeting. We could have had one of the two rooms for the meeting although it would have been slightly more cosy - as it was we had two rooms put together.

The breakfast buffet was perfectly adequate - there was a standard choice of cooked or continental styles of breakfast, with juices and coffees and it was all self-service, with breakfast from 6:30am on weekdays (very practical) and until 11am on weekend days (likewise!). Instead of a minibar in the room there were items for sale by the reception at non-minibar prices.

Locationwise it was very practical - only a few hundred metres from Brussels Central station (for the train to Zaventem airport) and from the Grand Place and for the conference facilities of the National Bank of Belgium.

All in all the hotel was perfectly satisfactory, but not somewhere I would consider for a romantic weekend break given its lack of facilities, although for price and location for business travel it was perfectly adequate for my needs. 

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