4 Best Hotels in Brussels, Belgium

There aren't too many options for stays in this thin sliver of the city, between Mont des Arts and the Sablon, particularly toward Cirque Royale, but this stylish offering is the exception, and a good one given it's a low-budget chain. It's certainly in a different league to the average Ibis. And for little more than €100 a night, you get a central, stylish stay in a lively area. Rooms are comfortable and simple, the bar is rather slick considering, and there's even private parking. The breakfast can be taken in the inner courtyard.

This family-run hotel is, in truth, more like a grand B&B: owner Carmen still rents the building, which used to be a rectory, from the church (Sint-Michelskerk) across the road. It's a charming location, with an attractive interior walled garden where you can take breakfast on sunny mornings. You can even pick its apples and strawberries when in season. Rooms have been recently renovated, and the "Michel Suite" in particular is gigantic—practically a flat in itself. It's the kind of quirky stay where there's nothing else quite like it in the city, and it's all the better for it.

A great little budget stay, though buried among the residential weeds. This hyper-colorful hotel has the feel of an upmarket hostel minus the dorms, though each room is en suite and lockable. There are books to read, games to play, and the staff are uber helpful and have good local knowledge. It just has the friendliness of a good backpacker joint. Best of all: your door key is essentially an old Nokia mobile phone that allows you to make local calls within Belgium.

This four-floor, stylish boutique stay in the center, opening onto Rue des Bouchers, ticks just about every box you could want for a city stay. It's technically part of Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (which the majority of rooms overlook), and it wraps around a small internal courtyard. Rooms are elegantly light affairs, all pale woods accented by white framing, and downstairs is the excellent bistronomique restaurant Comptoir de Galeries and a bar-café.