Mostly positive impressions

Wy wife and I chose to stay in Bristol Stephanie for 3 nights when we attended the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Belgium.

Pros: very large rooms, easily one of the biggest rooms (not suites, not luxes, mind you) I've ever had in a hotel. Room is nicely decorated and conveniently equipped. Bathroom is also big, and there's a separate toilet.

Electronic safe box in the room for free.

Internet access is 16 euro for a daily unlimited download, a great deal, a think.

The hotel is situated in fashion shopping area, and is only a short walk from the subway station. The railway station Bruxelles Midi is less than 10 minutes away.

Buffet breakfast is adequate, with little difference from other hotels of this price range. We didn't use the restaurant for dinner, and had no time for the pool.

Cons: the center of Brussels is quite far away, either a lengthy walk, or a tram ride.

Rooms desperately lack shelves for smaller articles of clothing.

Room faced the backstreet, where some construction works started at about 8 a.m. except weekend. A bit noisy, though we didn't really suffer from that.

Not all of the personnel displayed the expected level of friendliness. Especially when we came back one day after a full rainy day on the forest racing track, and having travelled over 400 miles that day, our shoes covered with mud, the evening reception guy displayed arrogance quite beyond the allowed level.

The pricing seems inadequate. We got a bargain deal from our agent, at EUR125/day in a double room of this size, but I'd think twice to pay more than 160 euro.

In the end, it all depends on the purpose of your stay in Brussels, and the price you get. That incident on the reception aside, we were satisfied and will most probably choose this hotel again.

Great deal

My husband and I had a wonderful weekend break in Brussels. From Lastminute.com we got a great deal - 2 nights in the Hotel Bristol Stephanie inc breakfast and return Eurostar tickets for £285 for the whole holiday including booking fee. The hotel is situated on Avenue Louise - which is where all the designer shops are located - very nice area. The trams run outside the hotel and these will take you within a 4 minute walk of the Grand Place, alternatively the Underground can be found at the end of the road. It is a fairly convenient location - a taxi ride from the Grand Place to the hotel is 8 Euro's.

The Hotel itself is very clean but quite empty on a Saturday & Sunday - I think the other reviews are correct in saying that it is mainly for business travellers during the week. Before our trip we read a review that said the breakfast was cold so we made an effort to have breakfast early - 8 am - however it was still cold at this time. Don't let this put you off though as the breakfast was very good anyway with choices of fresh fruit, cold meats, all different types of bread and cakes, cereal, yoghurt, and the traditional English fry up which was the cold bit but the bacon still tastes great in a roll.

Our room was very nice, clean and had a separate bathroom and toilet both with marble effect tiles - very clean and modern. It has satellite TV and was very comfortable. We brought our own drinks and nibble with us after reading that the in-room bar was expensive. We thought if we bought a bottle of water at the bar it might be cheaper than the room but this was not the case. I recommend buying water at the station before arriving at the hotel.

The Pool is open from 10am till 4pm on weekends and we were sightseeing at these times so are unable to comment on it.

Over all we would stay at this hotel again and would be happy to recommend it to friends.

Bland

I spent quite a while researching accommodation for my weekend to Brussels in early February and I thought I had found somewhere exceptional...however I had not. I found the hotel a typical bland corporate enviroment, way over priced simply because 99% of their rooms are occupied Mon-Fri by EU bureaucrats who dont care about the room rate because its paid for by the tax payers of Europe.

I was also disappointed with the pool opening times, not displayed on their website. On departing the desk staff insisted I pay extra for the buffet breakfast, a hefty fee, fortunately I still had an email stating that this was included in my weekend rate. However it was still an embarrassing experience in front of other people waiting at the desk. There are better places to stay in Brussels for the rate you have to pay. Small things like having to pay for internet access just cheapened the place. When its meant to be a top hotel with expensive rates, you expect these things to be included. I was almost surprised my wife did not have to pay to use the hair dryer.

Excellent

A five minute taxi ride from Midi station located on the Avenue Louise with lots of shops surrounding. The hotel was excellent, the room we had was huge and clean. I would visit this hotel again but I wouldnt include a sunday in my visit as most things around that area are closed.

Disappointed

Spent a long time researching for a 5* hotel in light of getting such cheap Ryanair air fares in mid December 2003. Found Tripadvisor the best way to do this however found Bristol stephanie fell short of (perhaps) our high expectations. Buffet breakfast was OK but always cold. Reception staff staff were courteous and helpful, and interestingly were not local whereas sole main bar (local) staff was very rude and made us eat/drink elsewhere. Pool was not available to us and this was one of the main reasons for the choice - however limits of opening times are not pre-warned. Location was ok for high street (expensive) shops but a long walk from the more interesting thoroughfare of the main square where we would stay next time.

Pleasant hotel

Pleasant and comfortable, if entirely anonymous. Restaurant is poor, with a particularly half-hearted maitre d'hote. Some rooms are much better than others.

Excellent Hotel

Stayed here this weekend and could not wait to write the review.

Excellent location, based at the top of Avenue Louise. Within a 15 min walk to the Grand Place and within 5 mins of resteraunts (and a good irish bar!). Staff were amazingly friendly, they could not do enough for us. Booked through octopustravel.co.uk, very cheap (2 nights for £150 incl B&B), usually costs 380 euros per night!!! The rooms were amazingly queit on an evening and very comfortable. Drinks in the bar are on the expensive side, but worth the few drinks on an evening just for the ambience. The hotel rooms were the largest i've seen and just what you would expect from a 4 star hotel. Within 5 minute taxi from Gare du Midi (the train station where the Ryan-air bus from Charloi Airport drops you off). I'll stop rabbling now - needless to say an excellent hotel in a superb location.

Excellent base for shopping

My sister and I spent a weekend at the Bristol Stephanie earlier this year. The room was enormous and very comfortable - lovely colours and fabrics. The bathroom was huge and luxurious. Excellent selection at breakfast - staff very helpful and courteous. If you come to Brussels for shopping this is the place to be - situated in lovely avenue in heart of the shops near nice restaurants and cafes. We two women felt very safe walking at night within the vicinity. Highly recommended.

Excellent

nice neighbourhood, great service, cool pool, abundant breakfast, picking up for trips to Belgian cities right from the hotel - excellent! will definitely return again

Sheer luxury

We (my husband, myself, two sons and their wives) spent a weekend at the Bristol Stephanie and it was wonderful.