Oud Huis de Peellaert Hotel – 90E/night, included buffet breakfast and wifi
There are a lot of small nice-looking hotels in Bruges, but we choose de Peellaert because it was just a few blocks from Markt Square and the best price for our one night stay. Immediately upon entering the hotel you had a sense of comfort and style. The staff was very friendly and helpful with recommendations and directions every time we asked. Our room was small, but had enough room for ourselves and two small bags. The bathroom was roomy with lovely tea tree oil soaps and shampoo.
Probably the nicest thing about the room was the discovery of triple-paned windows- there was a jackhammer going off just down the street, but once the windows were closed, you couldn’t hear it. How nice for a hotel in a busy location!
our view from the third floor
The buffet breakfast was great: standard meats, cheeses and breads (no waffles, Eric lamented) and your coffee was provided in an individual decorative silver pot. Any place that includes smoked salmon on the breakfast buffet is fine with me. Once we checked out, we were able to easily store our luggage while we walked around the city for a few more hours. Highly recommended!
Le Meridian Brussels– 187E / night, included buffet breakfast
To be honest, we overpaid for this room because of the travel snafu last year and needing to use (or lose) our pre-paid credit. Originally the price would have covered us for two nights, but as it went, the room and terrible buffet breakfast were not worth it. First of all, the hotel entrance is under construction (which we knew about), so we had to enter the hotel from a side entrance and were greeted by employees standing at a tablecloth-covered metal table with computer wires everywhere. Then, to get to your room, you had to go up and down at least three sets of stairs (fun with your luggage!) to a small bank of elevators.
Secondly, take a look at the photo of our view below. Seriously? So much for a panoramic view of the city.
our ‘panoramic city view’ left a little to be desired
Finding ice was even more of a hassle; in fact, I never found the ice machine. A nice employee found me wandering around and offered to get the ice for me, which, apparently, was on a completely different floor from where the front desk told me. The room itself was acceptable with a comfy bed and nice toiletries in the bathroom but nothing special. One nice bonus due to the construction were the complimentary tickets to the BOZAR museum, although when we got there, three different people claimed to have never seen a voucher like ours before. Thankfully, they accepted them anyway. And, of course, no free internet access at a business hotel.
The biggest disappointment was the buffet breakfast. At 30 Euros a person, it can best be described as a rip-off. The hotel advertises Illy Coffee all over the place but when I asked the morning wait-staff for a latte they just pointed me to the pod espresso machine. Hmmm. The breads were just okay, the fruit was clearly canned, and most of the cold meats looked unappetizing. The wait staff’s behavior was bizarre, they never asked if they could get us anything, yet hovered around the tables all the while. Upon leaving we found two sad looking sparkling wines in a bucket of cold water, untouched.
Unlike other Starwood properties, this hotel never sent out a questionnaire on our experience. We have been to two other Le Meridien properties in Paris and Vienna and both outshone this one many times over. The construction does not excuse the poor management evident at this particular hotel and I can’t see a good reason to go back. Not recommended.
Maison Noble – 119E/ night, included hot breakfast and wifi
Eric stumbled upon this B&B when we got tired of researching Brussels hotels and decided to explore the small inn options.
After a rather hectic morning, Matthieu politely greeted us at the door and showed us promptly to our well-appointed room on the third floor. Interestingly, the keys were radio controlled so no giant wood blocks in my purse!
The room was beautiful with several windows along one wall affording us lots of natural light. The huge bathroom had double sinks, a large rainwater shower head, deep soaking tub and the same lovely L’occitane shampoos and soaps we had in Bruges. Matthieu was helpful about suggesting places to eat or get a drink and both recommendations he gave us, Royal Brasserie and Mort Subite, were great experiences. The B&B location is very quiet and only a few blocks from lots of restaurants in St. Katherine’s Square.
Breakfast is handled a bit differently here (in a good way) as it’s a made-to-order setup. Our table was stocked with fresh-squeezed orange juice, croissants, jam and hot milk as needed for my coffee; we just had to tell Brandon how we liked our eggs. Yum. All while viewing this beautiful stained glass window. I would highly recommend this place for anyone staying in Brussels.
our very comfy bed in our absolutely gigantic room