Hotel Review: Hilton Brussels Grand Place

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On our 2025 Europe trip, I went a little overboard on hotels. I think it was the sense of “We’re 40, this may be the last long Europe trip we get for a while or possibly ever, let’s stay where we want,” that drove me to pick whichever hotel (usually a Hilton) was closest to the things we wanted to do. This caused us to stay at some pretty fancy hotels (at least for us), with mixed results.

We used our points on the Waldorf Hilton in London, which was okay but wouldn’t have been worth its cash rate, and paid cash for Hotel Bagues in Barcelona, which was absolutely worth its price but out of our normal budget range. Later in the trip, we had some more hits and misses, including a disastrous use of all our Hyatt points.

When it came to Brussels, I had a lot of thoughts about where I wanted to be. I’d been to Brussels twice before, and loved it. This would be my first visit post-sobriety, and I wanted to make sure Eriko tried every delicious thing the town has to offer. When I saw there was a Hilton located right by all the stuff we wanted to see, I booked that thing faster than… a guy who books stuff.

The Hilton Brussels Grand Place

You may wonder why we repeatedly choose chain hotels like those from Hilton. Aside from the points and status we get from my hotel credit cards, it’s because I like to cut down on unknowns. Independent hotels can carry surprises, especially in Europe. In 2022, our hotel in Florence surprised us with staff rooting through our bags while we were gone, and our hotel in Paris surprised us with a fire alarm in the middle of the night - followed by six more on other nights. That usually doesn’t happen with Hilton, and if it does, they give you free stuff to say sorry. As I get older, I’m more willing to eschew whatever is the cheapest option in favor of one that carries a brand’s consistency and the ability to ask for redress when things go wrong.

Hilton Brussels Grand Place is a legit Hilton (as opposed to one of their extension brands that lack some of the standard elements like Executive Lounges or in-hotel restaurants) that’s just steps from Brussels Centrale station and is billed as a four-star hotel. The large lobby has a little shop on the left side, plenty of places to sit, and a desk to the right. There’s free water and coffee as well. There are two lines, one for regular folk and one for Hilton Honors members, but when we were there, we didn’t see much of a distinction - it was kind of chaotic in terms of who was next in line and which line they were in and all that.

They told us we would be receiving an upgraded room on the fourth floor with a view of Old Town (as opposed to a view of the train station across from the hotel). We asked about the Executive Lounge, and at first the guy told us our Gold status didn’t get us access because the room we booked was technically blah blah blah, then immediately changed his mind and told us they’d give us complimentary access. I appreciated that. Usually, Gold status is supposed to get one Executive Lounge access if the upgraded room is on the Executive floor, but in this case the lounge was on the first floor, so I don’t know how they would determine that. Regardless, we got our keys and headed up to the fourth floor.

There is, apparently, a connection between Brussels and the Smurfs, or Les Schtroumpfs, or De Smurfen. I guess they’re originally from Belgium. Our floor had a Smurfen room, along with a photo board where you could put your face through a hole and make believe you are a Smurf. If Smurfs are your thing, this is the hotel for you. If not, don’t worry, because they have plenty of normal rooms too.

Rooms at the Hilton Brussels Grand Place

As mentioned, chain hotels are about consistency, and there are certain things I look for in a Hilton. One of those is a Nespresso machine, and this room had one, so I was happy. There was also a big bed and a nice view, along with pictures of Brussels and a mirror on the wall, little details that made the hotel feel nice even though this is clearly not a Hilton on the level of the Hilton Tokyo or Conrad Bangkok. There are many pictures of that lamp because Eriko liked it for some reason.

Note that the water in the room is NOT free, so you’ll need to run out to a shop and get some drinks to put in the mini fridge, which can be found in the closet along with the room safe. I didn’t unpack for this room like I do sometimes, but if I had, there would have been plenty of closet space to keep the suitcases out of our way, though this wasn’t necessary because the room was nice and big.

The bathroom was the fanciest-looking area in our guestroom, with both a bathtub and a shower. The shower had two doors, meaning you had to make sure both were closed before you started the water. I thought it would be useful because I could leave the towels on the rack and then open the second door to get them, but the door didn’t open that far and they were still unreachable. Basically, what I’m saying is that there seems to be no advantage to having two doors on a shower and I’m not sure why they did it.

This is a small hotel, but the room was quiet, the Nespresso pretty good, and the closets of good size. Most important was the view, which was fun to look at each morning, reminding us that we were in Brussels. Not a spectacular place, but good enough to be a standard Hilton, which was all I wanted.

Breakfast buffet at the Hilton Brussels Grand Place

The breakfast buffet was quite close to the elevator, and was usually full of people. There was no hot food menu and no ordering of coffee - this was strictly a buffet situation. The self-serve coffee machine wasn’t great and didn’t have many options. However, there were several juices that rotated throughout our stay. I specifically remember the pineapple, orange, and apple juices.

There was standard European fare like various breads and muffins and a tray of cold cuts and cheese. There was also scrambled eggs and some sausage and bacon that didn’t look too appetizing to me. Other than the banana bread (which I liked), I almost completely avoided the buffet other than the granola. Not only did they have standard granola and some dried fruit to put in it, but they had three kinds of specialty granola in carrot, mango, and matcha flavors.

I tried these specialty granolas with some soy milk, and I can confirm that they were all delicious. For me, that made this a great breakfast buffet, since I was sticking to granola or oatmeal for most of my breakfasts on this trip, opting to preserve my health and save my appetite for delicious lunches and dinners and many, many snacks.

But if you aren’t a Granola Boy like me, you’d probably be a bit disappointed by this buffet. It’s fine, but not Hilton-quality. I would say the guest rooms at this place were better than those at the Waldorf Hilton (which, while fancier-looking, were small and oddly-shaped), but when it comes to going over the top at breakfast, the British can’t be beat (except for in Thailand, where they absolutely can be beat).

Exploring Brussels from the Hilton Brussels Grand Place: how is the location?

Brussels is awesome. If you don’t think so, it’s because you, my friend, are not awesome. Every time I’ve been to Brussels, I’ve had a good time. There’s the waffles, the fries, the chocolate, and if you enjoy beer, the beer. One of the best things about Brussels is a lot of the touristy stuff is all in the same general area: the Grand Place, Galleries Royales Saint Hubert, Mannekin Pis, Delirium Cafe, Tonton Garby, the Magritte Museum, Mont Des Arts, and plenty more, all located within or a short walk from the Old Town area.

That means all those things are walking distance from the Hilton Brussels Grand Place. In terms of location, you can’t do much better. It’s also across the street from Brussels Centrale (Centraal if you nasty) station, where you can catch the train to BRU or another part of town. (Quick tip: you can’t just boop your card like you can in London and Barcelona. You need a ticket from the ticket machine.) We only took public transportation to the airport because we found plenty to do in the area by the hotel. But if you want to visit the EU or Atomium for some reason, you can probably get there pretty easily.

And I do recommend getting out of Old Town, at least a little bit. Parts of Louise may seem a bit dodgy, but it’s not that scary once you walk around. If we go back, we’ll explore Ixelles and Saint-Gilles more (beyond the coffee shops, which is all we checked out this time). Regardless of how much of the city you want to see, you won’t find a location much better than the Hilton Brussels Grand Place, especially if you’re a first-time visitor.

There’s a Carrefour Express just a few steps from the hotel, making it easy to obtain drinks and cookies and whatever people eat besides cookies. Be warned that after you pay, you must keep your receipt so you can use it to boop your way out of the store.

Oh, and one last thing on Brussels: if you like big dogs, this is the town for you. We saw a St. Bernard and some other great big boys.

Some negatives: Executive Lounge and laundry at Hilton Brussels Grand Place

When we stay at Hiltons with Executive Lounge privileges, we usually eat breakfast at the regular buffet one morning, and then on another, we try the lounge breakfast. Accordingly, we walked out to the front desk to ask where the lounge was. They pointed us to there. We went inside and…

It was empty. Empty of people, of staff, and of breakfast. There was fruit and yogurt, but no breakfast buffet. It seems that at the HBGP, there is no lounge breakfast, only the regular one. Seems like something the staff could have told us before we walked in there.

The lounge itself is unremarkable, with coffee and some small snacks, as well as sodas in a fridge. We had it all to ourselves that afternoon, but without a view, it didn’t have much to offer beyond what our room had. We spent only a short time in there, but to me, it didn’t rise to the level of what I’d expect from a Hilton Executive Lounge, and probably doesn’t need to exist at all if they’re not going to provide breakfast. Maybe the Happy Hour buffet was good? I don’t know, because Brussels had too many delicious things for us to bother.

The hotel offers laundry service, but unlike most hotels, they don’t come pick it up from you. You have to put your laundry in a paper bag that rips in two seconds, then carry it down to the front desk and go back to the front desk later to pick it up. I’m not sure why they do it this way, but they do.

There is one restaurant at the hotel, and it is expensive. The room service menu is also criminally small, so we saw no reason to try either the restaurant or the room service. Instead, we went out to eat at night, which revealed the main issue we had with this hotel, which is entering and exiting. The back of the hotel faces Old Town and the nearby Grand Place, but there is no back way out. Instead, you must go out the front and turn right or left to circle around the hotel.

Left, there is a super dodgy-looking bereft park with a lonely statue and some weeds. I would not feel safe walking through this place at nighttime. To the right, you must go under a dark overpass where if you’re lucky, there will be a homeless man with a dog, and if you’re not, it will be empty and dark and spooky as you walk through. Coming back from dinner late at night, we did not feel especially safe on this walk. Brussels isn’t a super dangerous town, but it’s not exactly trying to make you feel secure, either.

Those awkward walks back at night erased a lot of the advantages brought on by the hotel’s location. I wish the hotel would brighten up this area and add some lights or something to make it less of a perfect place to get mugged. Nothing happened to us, but that’s not really the point. If you’re choosing this place based on location, it’s something you should be aware of.

Verdict: should you stay at the Hilton Brussels Grand Place?

Our room rate was 205 Euro per night ($229). For three nights, with taxes added, that ended up being 660 Euro total, or $740. That’s not terrible, and less expensive than the other Hiltons we stayed at during this trip. If we search for a random week in September, the rate Is about the same, with the points rate at 60k Hilton Honors points per night. You can probably find a better use for those points elsewhere, so I’d go ahead and save them and book Brussels in cash like we did.

Looking at the other hotels on Hilton’s website, most of them don’t have locations that are as good AND they’re more expensive. I think the HBGP is a lower-end Hilton, not one of their best (if you’re used to the Hiltons in Asia or, say, Los Angeles, you’d be disappointed), but considering its location and that it’s less expensive than the brand’s other hotels in Brussels, if I were set on staying at a Hilton, I’d probably choose it again.

In fact, looking at the websites of Radisson, IHG, Hyatt, and Choice Hotels, I don’t see any options in the Old Town area that are as cheap as the HBGP. The only brand that has cheaper hotels in Brussels is Accor, which I’ve found to have rooms that are small but nice, though without a lot of the frills we prefer. If you want to save money, go with one of those, because I’m sure they’re fine. And if you want a better hotel than the HBGP, go ahead and pay for it, because you’re rich. We’re not, so next time, we might go with a cheaper hotel from Accor. In fact, we might consider the Novotel and Ibis hotels that are right behind the HBGP, because they’re in almost the exact same location but without the nighttime mugging walk.

But for a long trip like this where we want to get sleep, do laundry, eat a good free breakfast each morning, and enjoy the consistency of a trusted brand, the Hilton Brussels Grand Place was a good choice, especially considering it was the cheapest Hilton in the area. Yes, the weird tunnel made walking home at night awkward, but even the best neighborhood of Brussels SEEMS dodgy but probably isn’t. That’s just how the city is: looks dodgy, is friendly and delicious.

Where is the Hilton Brussels Grand Place? Location and info

Address: Carr de l'Europe 3, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

Phone: +32 2 548 42 11

Booking website: Hilton - Hilton Brussels Grand Place

We have Gold status with Hilton thanks to the Hilton Honors Surpass Card from American Express, which offers a welcome bonus of 130,000 Hilton Honors points and an annual free night if you spend more than $15k in a calendar year. The card earns 12x points when used at Hilton properties and 6x at U.S. restaurants and grocery stores and gas stations. There are several Hilton American Express cards, and I have a few of them, but we use this one for pretty much everything. The card has a $150 annual fee; if you can get enough value out of it, that may be worth it to you.