We stayed at this hotel twice, for one night on August 12th and for two nights on August 22nd and 23d.

This hotel is conveniently located within 5 minutes walk from the Grand Place. Although the Grand Place is beautiful, it is a real tourist trap. Restaurants and shops are overpriced, and for this reason we found it preferable to walk to Place St-Gery where the selection and value is much better (about 10-15 minutes walk from the hotel). Overall, I was satisfied with the location, since all of the attractions were accessible by foot in under 20 minutes (including Avenue Louise, Place Ste-Catherine, Place St-Gery, etc.).

The hotel offers an excellent buffet style breakfast which I was very pleased with. It also offers free internet access which proved essential to confirm train and flight bookings.

The staff was mostly friendly, in a European kind of way (which means not as friendly as most North Americans might be used to), and multilingual (French, English, Flemish, German, Spanish).

The rooms are fairly small but comfortable. Although our first room at a bathtub, the second only had a shower. Unfortunately, it had not been cleaned out properly and the hair in the drain caused a bit of a problem. I did not enjoy having to clean that out myself...

My wife and I spent 2 nights at this hotel and could not have been happier. This was our first hotel stay in our 6 weeks European trip after spending the previous 10 days in an apartment in Paris. I thoroughly researched hotel accommodation options in all the cities we were to visit and as this was the first I was a little anxious to ensure that I had made a good choice. We arrived early afternoon and left our bags in a secure area while we went off on a pre booked guided tour of Brussels. The room that I had booked was a standard room (I usually book superior or deluxe rooms) and you can imagine my delight when we were asked if we would like to upgrade to a junior suite at a token additional cost, and far less than it would have cost to book a suite initially. So, we never got to see the standard room, but the suite was just perfect. Not overly large for a suite, but very comfortable. Located on the top floor and not facing the busy rue des colonies it was very quiet. A perfect start and, more importantly, my wife gave the "thumbs up". The hotel is in an excellent location less than 10 minutes walk to Grand Place with a metro station right next door and as we were travelling by train through Europe we were less than 5 minutes walk to Central station. The front desk staff were professional, courteous and friendly as well as being very helpful in providing directions. Free access to the internet in the lobby was also appreciated. The breakfast room is small but was able to accommodate all guests without waiting at the time we visited. The breakfast fare on offer was not extensive, but quite adequate for a good start to the day. We left as very contented guests and would certainly recommend the junior suite if you are lucky enough to be offered an upgrade.

This is what European travel is all about.
I'm not talking "elegant" here... not "flashy"... not "dazzling."
I'm remembering the relaxed, comfortable, friendliness of the Hesperia Grand Hotel that made us wish we didn't have to leave. And if you need further accolades, try these three: location, location, location. The subway station is (literally) next door. You can walk to the Grand Place in about four minutes and not be breathing hard. Trains to all of Europe are less than a block away.
By the arcane calculations of the Mystic Order of Innkeepers, this is a three-star hotel, but it's a five-star travel experience in my book. Lovely room. Great staff. Every imaginable convenience. All at a fair and reasonable price. The next time I go to Brussels, I hope they have room for me.

I found the Central Station confusing when trying to find a way to use a lift or escalator and still get in/out the exit near the hotel. But even emerging near the main station, the hotel was just a 2 block walk uphill.

Desk staff were very helpful. As I was early my choice was immediate room facing the street or quiet room later in the day. I checked out the street room with window closed and a/c on and determined it would be fine. Only noise was occasional sirens and then the noise associated with the Friday night rollerbladers passing by. Heavy curtains blocked the light and allowed a nap in the needed cooled air.

Room was small and tired looking. But the bed was comfortable. The shower needed a good cleaning with bleach in the grout and where the half shower wall sits on the tub. Towels were soft.

Internet on a computer in the lobby.

Breakfast was OK but included severely runny scrambled eggs.

I liked the location--close to the train station, a loop down to the Grand Place and back, then a loop up to the art nouveau area and back, etc. with the hotel my anchor.