Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria Brussels

Living in Brussels it was just a voyage of discovery of the hotel facilities. The hotel is beautiful - restored after more than 20 years of closure. The staff are more than welcoming, helpful and excellently professional. A joy to re-visit after such a very long absence

And that is.... for a start... a more welcoming staff -which was short of being plain rude, from the reception desk to the breakfast room. Room was nice, medium sized to Bxl standards. Some heating misfunctions but I suspect that has been fixed since then and I must stress the maid tried to solve the problem by bringing us a little electrical radiator (which was far from sufficient) together with what might be the only smile we ever saw within the hotel’s walls. Location is very convenient yet not too central so parking is easily available in the street. We attended a concert on New Years eve and had not booked a table for after concert dinner, expecting to easily find something available at 11 at night. Quite a mistake. We then headed back to the hotel, arriving shortly after midnight to discover the restaurants and bar were closed already. Other souls, apparently as lost as us, were wandering aimlessly in the lobby, probably for the same reasons. There is, however, a good side to having dined – and changed years- on little more than crackers and cheese from the (very basic) room service : it is quite unforgettable and we still laugh at the evocation. The building itself is beautiful, needs some refreshment but not too urgently – all in all I really dont mind slightly tired upholsteries… Bar is very comfortable and a pleasant retreat after a busy day…. but, as I said, closes at midnight…. Nice varied hot buffet breakfast. On our departure, the reception clark spontaneously offered us our minibar consumptions as a compensation for the poor late night snack possibilities… and we hadn’t even complained nor asked anything. However we suspect other guests might have, as some of them seemed quite upset about it. We did appreciate the gesture.

I've stayed at the Sofitel Astoria in Brussels several times over the past years and if you're after genuine old world charm and elegance then this is the place to stay in Brussels, however if it's full service luxury then it might be best to choose one of the more modern Sofitel's. On 2 occasions the reception upgraded me to a suite at no extra charge which made for an exceptional stay. The room service was superb with a maid even coming in when I was out for dinner to turn my bed down and lay out complimentary slippers and a robe! The restaurant is one of the grandest settings I've seen in a hotel but the cuisine isn't anything special and a bit overpriced. However, in my opinion the whole point of staying in the city centre (especially in Brussels) is to go out and experience proper restaurants so it's ideal to have such a nice restaurant/bar for breakfast and an evening drink.

For a 3 night weekend in Brussels, we chose the Astoria believing that a the grand sounding description would make for a nice weekend. First impressions were fine, the room was clean and comfortable, and it had a great bathroom. But we then found that the restaurant was not open on Friday, Saturday and Sundays!! Breakfast was ok, but the lounge / bar area was not particularly welcoming. The decor, carpets etc were all looking very tired, and its situation is a good 15 / 20 minute walk from the Grand Place area. 2 night / 3 day stay would have long enough in Brussels, but it does have some beautiful buldings. Be warned though, the area of the city towards Gard Nord is the red light area.

We booked our hotel through the Sofitel website. As frequent users of the Sofitel hotel chain, we have a Sofitel Privilege card which really made our experience extraordinary. Our privilege card enabled us to be upgraded to a suite for the price of a double room, which gave us access to a huge room - the size of a small apartment - "The Schumann Suite." The hotel itself is exquisitely decorated in highly detailed Edwardian Style. Lots of stained glass, chandeliers, gold leaf and very high ceilings. Our room was decorated in soft tones of peach and yellow with lots of crown and chair molding. Extremely comfortable bed with a feather comforter, large living area with sofa, chairs and desk. Great bathroom with granite floors, separate tub and stall shower (with extra shower heads), double sinks. All of the amenties you would expect in a five star hotel including toiletries (nice shampoo, soap, extra toothbrush, toothpaste, q-tips, shoe horns, shoe polish cloth, terry-cloth bathrobe.) You feel like royalty in this place. Although the air-system didn't seem very effective as other guests have mentioned, this was not an issue to us in September. I would imagine that in the hotter months, this might be a problem. The staff were helpful and pleasant and spoke enough English for us to communicate well and help us with directions to various tourist destinations. My one annoyance (mentioned by others) was not having coffee service in the room, however, this was alleviated by the kind dining staff providing us a tray with coffee pot, cream and sugar daily - free of charge! We did not try the 25 Euro breakfast, per person per day, as we thought the price was a bit exorbitant. The hotel overall can use some "brushing up" as it is slightly rough around the edges. However, for a hotel over 100 years old this is understandable. There are some areas that need to be touched up - a few cracks, chipped paint, etc. I did not fault them for this as the overall experience is still quite grande. The distance to the Grande Place is about a half a mile - not far, although walking back is uphill and can get tiresome if you are doing it daily, as we were. There ARE a few restaurants within walking distance (walk towards Botanique), which were good, although not too much in the general vicinity. The Botanique metro station is very convenient, just a couple of blocks away. Overall I would definitely recommend this hotel and enjoyed the experience.