We stayed here in March, having found an Internet deal for 72 Euros. The hotel is still undergoing some remodeling (the bar area when we were there last) but the rooms are like any other Holiday Inn in the States. The only complaint we had was that the air conditioning did not function as well as we'd have liked. Otherwise, everything was clean & above average. Knowing we were returning in March for 2 nights, we negotiated with the hotel manager to honor the same Internet rate - a very good deal. Parking is available, but like most European hotels in the city center, a 12 Euro a day charge is added. With no parking available on the street, it's both a good price and very convenient - accessing the hotel from underground.

Having lived in Brussels for 3 years, we knew the location was a good one, with good restaurants & shopping within easy walking distance. The tourist area is approximately a 30 minute walk away but trams are also available & much quicker. If you walk, along the way you'll see the Palais de Justice, Notre Dame church, the Grand Sablon area, & several museums. While it's nice to visit the tourist area - Grand Place - it isn't where you want to eat or shop, unless countless tapestry & lace shops or souvenir stands are your thing.

Since we return yearly to visit friends, (as long as we continue to get reasonable rates) we'll keep going back.

I had made a reservation in the NH in the same street, but that was overbooked. Luckily they made an upgrade to a more expensive and bigger room in the Holiday Inn, where I found a nice big room, with 2 kingsize beds. The shower was doing its work perfectly. Roomprices normally are around the 250 euros, so I was lucky only paying 25 a day (inc. breakfast)!

We lost our automatic key, but we got another one immediatly: nice.

However that breakfast was horrible. Bread as hard as a stone and only 2 pieces left (for 4 people..). at TEN O'CLOCK!

So Rooms an 8/10, Service 8/10, Breakfast 1/10. Makes it 17/30: Average.

I stayed there one night (last night), upon invitation of the European Parliament. They paid 125 euro for this. When I entered the room (very big and clean) I was greeted by stale air and incredible heat, about 30 degrees celsius. When I called in technical assistance to use the ventilator to cool down the room, they told me unfortunately it was broken down and could only heat. Even 'switched off', it still produced heat all night!

No other rooms were available anymore, they told me, though the Parliament made the reservation (and paid the room) well in advance and two people were checking in that same evening after me. I could open 1 window for about 10 centimeters, only to inhale exhaustion fumes. The hotel with almost all rooms is located on a very busy avenue, with racing cars all night and bi-directional streetcar traffic starting at 5 AM, every few minutes. First I thought I had to make a difficult choice between noise and heat, but upon closing the window, I found out it didn't matter at all, the noise level was still too high to sleep anyway. In all, maybe I got 3 hours sleep, with 2 showers in between in a desperate attempt to cool down a little.

The next morning, at 08.00 AM, breakfast was impossible. There were 15 tables covered with the breakfast remainders of other people, and no staff in sight. I had to shove some dishes aside myself and poor some coffee in a fruitjuice glass.

Any hotel might have problems with a sudden breakfast cue, but I've never seen such negligence ever before. I will never ever go there again.

The Holiday Inn City Centre was, for us, a last resort. We chose it because it provided the most value (though we still couldn't get rates below €130 - heard it's much cheaper at weekends), but it turned out to be worth the money.

Firstly, although we requested a non-smoking room, and did get one, our room had an overpowering smell of tobacco, but when we asked to be moved, our keycard was immediately changed and within 5 minutes we were moved a couple of doors down in a new, fresh room.

The hotel is currently "undergoing some refurbishment" so we were warned that our rooms may be below the standard we expected. However, everything was fine! Clean, large rooms, nice bathrooms and BBC One on the telly, as you find with all Belgian hotels. The decor is slightly off-modern (with that I mean it's far from white linen and chrome) but gives lovely soft beds and a pillow menu (god bless Holiday Inn for that idea - I can't sleep without an extra pillow)

The hotel's location is NOT central. If you don't like walking and expect to be able to walk out of your hotel into tourist paradise, expect otherwise. However, 4 minutes down the road is the Place Stéphanie tram stop that provides an easy link for €1,50 into the centre - took about 5 minutes, we were told it was a 20 minute walk. The nearest metro station is an 8-minute walk at Louise, so for other parts of the city, this is easily accessible and easy to use - you can even use the tram if you're not up to the walk and have a travelcard.

The hotel's breakfast (if not included in your room rate) is worth missing - €20 for murky coffee and slow service, but if it's included, it's a sufficiently good start to the day - pastries, juice, toast, cheese, eggs and bacon.

The hotel is in a very safe neighbourhood of town - no graffiti in sight and near some nice restaurants if you start walking town the Avenue Louise and near some very fashionable (and expensive) boutiques.

Overall, if you can get a good rate, go for it, but you can get a much more central hotel. The hotel's nothing to rave about, but provides everything you need.