I have stayed here a couple of times and both have been miserable experiences. They seem to have an arrangement with travel agents to give British officials visiting Brussels the worst possible deal. For example, they refuse to give a bed and breakfast rate in spite of the fact that our subsistence is based on bed and breakfast being provided, so we are unable to claim for it, and they are charging huge amounts for the room. This leaves the choice of either being out of pocket by €25 or going hungry. When I raised this with the rude, supercilious staff (they seem to clone them),along with the fact that the rooms are freezing cold and dirty and the drinks machines never work, compounding the fact that that one is kicked out hungry in the morning, the attitude was "tough". They did eventually say they would get back to me but never did.

My impression is that if you are British you are made to feel unwelcome from the moment you step through the door to the moment you leave, cold and hungry, the next morning.

I am asking my union to advise any colleagues to boycott this hotel for business travel. I certainly would not want people travelling for pleasure to have this sort of experience.

The Sofitel Europe Brussels is located in an area outside of city centre close to the European Institutions. It can be reached from the airport with the Airport Bus (no. 12) or via metro (stop Schumann). A taxi to city centre is around €10 or take the metro costing € 1.50.

Only open a year or so the hotel is very modern and functional. The common areas are spacious and airy. My check in was unfortunately delayed as the hotel was full the night before and housekeeping had not been able to clean rooms. At 10.30 am this appeared a bit unusual. The concierge asked me to have a coffee in the bar which I did (though as a Sofitel Privilege customer I was expecting that the hotel offer this for free rather than charging me €6 for coffee, but that’s a minor gripe).

About 45 minutes later my room was ready and check in was very efficient and lasted less than 2 minutes. An offer to bring my luggage up was made which I declined as I did not have much. The room (210) was again modern and very comfortable. The room had a large work desk with sufficient electric outlets and access to internet (wired and wifi, though both cost an outrageous €19 for 24h), a large armchair, fresh coffee maker and a small fridge containing complimentary mineral water. Unfortunately no mini bar was available though apparently drinks could be ordered from the bar. A lot of thought went into the design of the rooms as these were certainly not the biggest in the world but very functional and they look great, including a proper 40 inch flat screen TV.

The bathroom was large and included a spacious shower room with the usual high quality Sofitel toiletries, bathrobe and slippers.

Breakfast differed between weekdays and weekend. On weekdays it is the usual buffet affair with good quality items whereas on the weekend hot breakfast is served on order. Consider having the French toast, it is absolutely delicious.

My room was a very competitive €125 per night booked on the Sofitel website. The hotel excels with the small touches like putting Neuhaus chocolates in the guest rooms (there is a shop in the hotel) and providing a second clean/towel service with the turn down service.

Overall I highly recommend to hotel to business and tourist travellers alike.

We have stayed in this hotel several times and it has never disappointed. It's much nicer than it looks from the street. The hotel proper is actually above ground level...you take the escalator up to the reception area, lounge, bar, etc. The public areas are handsome and quiet and set around a pretty private garden. Check-in and check-out have always been smooth and fast. You need a room key to access the elevators to guest floors, a nice security feature.

Our favorite rooms are on the top floor facing the street. You have a view of the Boulevard Waterloo shopping area, Parc Egmont, Palais de Justice, tiled rooftops, and on a clear day, the Grand'Place and even a glimpse of the Atomium. All rooms are air conditioned.

The decor is pleasant, with some prints of early hot air balloons. Extremely comfortable beds with high quality linens, spacious bathrooms with good selection of Roger & Gallet toiletries and plenty of plush towels (terrycloth robes also come with the room). Plenty of storage, inroom safe, desk with enough space to work on.

The last time I stayed there, my room came with a complimentary bottle of mineral water, box of Belgian chocolates, and attractive coffee table photo book about Belgium (to take home with me). As a Sofitel frequent guest, I am entitled to a free drink in their bar--they have an excellent drinks menu, including some very nice champagne cocktails.

The hotel is just three stops from the Gare du Midi. The Louise metro/tram stop just a two minute walk away makes it easy to get around town. There are some good restaurants nearby, including Les Larmes du Tigre, the best Thai restaurant in Brussels. Across and up the street is Copenhagen, a cafe and restaurant that is a good choice for drinks or casual dining (with live jazz on some nights). Or you can hop on a tram and head up to Ixelles, where many of Brussels' best moderately priced, non touristy restaurants are located. There is also a taxi stand right outside the hotel.

We have never paid more than 115€ for a room. It's one of the best bargains in town for superior business/leisure accommodations. We have recommended it to friends and business colleagues and they have all been very pleased with the choice.

I loved the room decor and feel of this hotel; it's very modern, very high-quality. (I also like more traditional decor, incidentally.) Initially I was disappointed that my room was facing onto the inner courtyard rather than towards the outside, but in the end I liked the peace of that. I needed to spend some time in Brussels writing in my hotel room so I was glad to be in such a nice environment where I felt completely comfortable. I also loved the large walk-in shower in the bathroom rather than a bathtub (though another reviewer has posted a photo with a bathtub instead so maybe you can specify your preference). The barrier between the bathroom shower and the room was cloudy glass rather than a wall--a nice touch if you're there on your own but I suspect potentially annoying if with someone who wants to use the bathroom at 3am. I'm not such a huge fan of the whole feather bed thing--I prefer my pillows flatter--but I expect most visitors would find the beds exceptionally comfortable. The room's outer wall is one huge window, but if you close the extremely effective curtains all the way, you won't be able to tell when it's morning.

The location is good, right next to the Leopold park beyond the eu parliament. If you want to go to the center the metro is two blocks away, or you can walk it in 20 or so minutes. As other reviewers have noted there are plenty of restaurants nearby, also a deli across the street if you want to bring something back to eat in your room.

Judging by the fire escape plans, the rooms looked all identical (other of course than the suites/apartments), so you won't be gambling on the size & quality of your room when you book here even if you get a special internet rate.

The listed rack rate is outrageous, 450 euros--I can hardly imagine what hotel room would be worth that--but I doubt there are many days in the year you'd get charged anything approaching that much, and in the business off-season at least you can get a great deal. Unfortunately you do get high-rate internet charges (100 euros for a week, 20 euros for a day) and breakfast (25 euros--best if it's included in your room rate). If you do get the breakfast it's excellent, and be sure to ask for cooked items like scrambled eggs, tomatoes, and mushrooms, which were fantastic, but the servers won't always tell you they're available. At the (cold) buffet there are some innovative gourmet items you don't normally see at breakfast buffets. The restaurant menu looked great but very expensive--I didn't try it.

The room minibar is regularly restocked with free bottles of still and flat water. I confess I drank virtually all of them each day despite my environmental guilt about throwing out so much plastic.

The one thing I disliked about the hotel is the continuous pop music piped throughout all the communal spaces--lobby, "reading" room off of lobby, breakfast room, corridors. An unending stream of hits from the 60s to the present. I got in the habit of having my ipod headphones securely plugged in whenever I stepped out of my room so I could choose what I was listening to. I guess a lot of people these days tune that sort of thing out but it really got on my nerves. (Am I already getting old at mid-30s?)

Other than that I thought this hotel was fantastic. I'm surprised actually that it's not even higher on the list. I also stayed recently at the current #1 Brussels hotel, Montgomery; for solo business travel I slightly preferred the Sofitel Quartier Europe, though for a leisure trip with my partner I would choose Montgomery--more romantic.