6 Best Hotels in Ixelles and Saint-Gilles, Brussels

A charmingly renovated 18th-century building is the setting for this family-run boutique hotel, found deep in the fashionable Louise neighborhood. The rooms are bright and tastefully simple, decorated in either single or two-tone colors. Try and bag a room overlooking the inner courtyard, replete with giant outdoor chess set. Elsewhere, a billiards room provides old-fashioned distraction, as does the café-bar, which serves snacks and a good range of beers. As befits its residential setting, the area is also whisper-quiet, although it's only a short walk to avenue Louise or 15 minutes to the hip Saint-Gilles bar area. This really is a gem.

After years in the wilderness, a titanic makeover has turned this back into one of Brussels's plushest stays. It's nice to see, as the building itself has plenty of history. It was 1913 when this grande dame first jitterbugged onto the Brussels scene, and you can see it in the design; the exterior is a veritable Art Nouveau palace, its imperious white facade and black balconies hinting at the crisply decorated rooms within. Everything is up-to-date once again, with the pool, spa, hammam, and fitness center all first-rate, while the cozy hotel bar oozes gentleman's club chic. A real blast from the past.

Having styled itself as a "wellness hotel," this is one of the better-value stays along the Chausée de Charleroi in Ixelles, and its facilities—cleverly squeezed into a 19th-century mansion house—are a cut above most. The spa (a small pool, marble steam room, sauna) and fitness room are as much geared towards physiotherapy as relaxation, and it's possible to get a decent workout here, which is a rarity in most small city hotels. Downstairs, the bar is a slick, neon affair, and while the room decor tends to be quite dark (dark woods, beige carpets, gray marble), those overlooking the courtyard are more charming.

This upscale hotel has expansive terraces, a rose-filled garden populated by waterfowl and songbirds, and a good restaurant, Kolya. Roman pillars and classical scenes painted on the walls give the lobby a slightly kitsch vibe. The well-appointed rooms have Louis XV and Louis XVI-style antiques—even the TVs are set in distressed-looking picture frames. The sauna (in a design about-face) has a Moroccan flavor with tiling and arched doorways.

A top-to-bottom makeover has seen the Scott reemerge as a more elegant roaring 1920s-themed stay—all gold and dark, limpid greens. It's a solid boutique stay in one of the quieter corners of Saint-Gilles There is certainly little that is roaring about Place Loix, but the rooms are tasteful and the price is a bargain. The owners also run the equally charming Hygge Hotel in Ixelles, which is a good fallback if there's no room here.

This hotel is vintage by virtue of having a fair amount of clutter adorning its spaces—think a CHiPs-style motorcycle on a balcony and old silver food truck in the yard. It also has a penchant for swirly, 1960s-style orange-and-brown wallpaper. Aside from that, it's all rather modern. The "wine bar" is more of a bar these days, but the main appeal is just what a quiet little spot this is, a stone's throw from the main shopping streets and with a number of excellent dining options nearby.