Sofitel Brussels Le Louise

We booked this as a weekend get together for two friends of 40 plus years looking forward to a good catch up and a bit of luxury whilst exploring Brussels. One good thing about this hotel is its very convenient location. A very short stroll from the Louise metro station, we could be at the Gare Zuid/Midi for the Eurostar (and very regular services to beautiful Ghent) within 15 minutes. It was surrounded by high end shops and close to the city's museums and galleries - perfect for us. I had emailed the hotel prior to arriving to ask for restaurant recommendations (I had even written in my best French...) and had received no reply, so my expectations were slightly dulled prior to arrival. It is a very compact hotel and the corridors and rooms felt not very different to what you would expect from a basic, budget hotel. The beds were very comfortable and the bathroom had lovely toiletries from L'Occitane. Coffee and herbal teas plus water was provided but no biscuits or -heaven forbid- Belgian chocolate. It all seemed a bit "budget" despite the price tag. We enjoyed a cocktail in the bar on our first night, prior to dinner at an excellent local restaurant, La Vigne (I will recommend it to you because if you ask the hotel they won't reply ...) . The bar felt that bit special and we enjoyed our time there. Unfortunately on our second and final night, the bar was inexplicably shut and everyone was shunted into the breakfast room/restaurant which lacked any kind of atmosphere and was very busy with people eating/ trying to have a relaxing pre dinner drink. It didn't work and just made the hotel facilities seem even leaner. Breakfast was adequate but it's by no means a spectacular buffet. Staff were friendly and helpful. Would I go back? Possibly, but I would expect the price to represent the quality of the hotel. Don't expect a luxury experience, because you will be disappointed.

Exceptionally sweet hotel All the little things are beautiful Clean , comfortable rooms and excellent breakfast, very friendly staff We will come back

This hotel exceeded my expectations! From the warm welcome at check-in to the beautiful room with a fantastic view, overlooking the courtyard which I didn’t expect for a city hotel , everything was top-notch. The location was perfect, close to everything we wanted to explore. The staff provided exceptional customer service, going out of their way to make us feel welcome. The bed was incredibly comfortable , the overall room size was quite large and the showers were fantastic in the bathroom. The breakfast overall was excellent. Everything you needed. The only one thing is we had dinner one night at the hotel and found that they were lack of staff so the service wasn’t very brilliant , had to look for staff at for service. Overall, a fantastic experience, and I’d definitely stay here again.

While checking in, I realized that I had left my passport behind at the hotel in Paris. Ronald, who was at the check in counter called the Paris hotel where I stayed and informed them about it. Fortunately the housekeeping staff there had found my passport and turned it over to the Reception Desk at the Paris hotel. Ronald was very helpful and empathetic and he confirmed that my passport was in the locker of the Paris hotel. Fortunately I was going back to Paris after 3 days and got my passport. The room at the hotel was clean and service was also good with the staff being pleasant and ready to help. We got 2 complimentary bottles of water daily. I would definitely stay again at Le Louise if I go back to Brussels. The location of the hotel is also good and is in a safe neighbourhood.

Our holiday in Brussels was spoiled by our stay here. My partner has accessibility issues and chronic ill health. We had been promised a first floor room with walk-in shower. On arrival, the staff were completely unfriendly. They allocated a second floor room and when challenged, we were told that we'd have to stay in the second floor room, and then move the following day. A big inconvenience. The room was very uncomfortable, one of the mattresses was at an angle, and the pillows themselves were so dirty and stained that they smelled. The kettle stank of cheese and when we asked for this to be replaced it was washed out and handed back to us still smelling. We had to insist on a different kettle which they obtained from another room. After a poor night of sleep we spent until 2pm trying to sort out the room issues, only to be told that there was no such thing as a twin bedded room on the first floor! We were promised that our existing room would be cleaned and made good for our return from sightseeing. On our return it had not been touched - still in the same condition. We were told that we would have to wait in the lobby if we wanted the room made up! So, we decided to move to a different room, on the third floor! This room was more comfortable but still had dirty smelly pillows. We had lost the will to complain further as we felt that we were not being seen as significant customers. In addition, the air conditioning system sounded like a foundary! Each time we dealt with a different member of staff who did not communicate our issues to the next. It was hugely stressful, ate into our holiday experience, and we were treated as an inconvenience rather than our situation being an inconvenience. Solving the problem through a continuous loop of poor communication does not equate to a five star customer experience. A couple of days later, we asked why they had done nothing to appease us, and we had been told that they had deducted 30% from our first nights stay which was a paltry aplology which hadn't actually been communicated to us! On leaving they attempted to charge us for a breakfast that we hadn't taken, and riffled through piles of paperwork to make sure that we hadn't taken it! The whole experience was a complete fiasco from start to finish, and we wonder who is responsible for coordinating the customer experience at this hotel.