7 Best Hotels in Lower Town, Brussels

Location, charm, and history are Amigo's stock in trade---the 15th-century site was once a prison, and it's said that Belgium's then Spanish occupiers mistook the word "vrunt" (prison) for "vriend" (friend), hence the name. Located just a block from the Grand Place, you'd be forgiven for just lingering a while. Rooms are largely neutral with green, red, or blue highlights, silk curtains and leather headboards, plus a mix of modern furniture and antiques. Works by Belgian artists hang on the walls, and Tintin pictures and figurines cheer up the mosaic-tiled bathrooms. If you'd like a view over the surrounding rooftops, ask for a room on one of the higher floors (these also cost more). 

This boutique stay lies on place des Martyrs, a historic location that contains a monument to the 445 patriots who died in the brief but successful 1830 War of Independence—many are buried in a crypt below the cobbles. The Juliana's grandeur certainly befits this hallowed setting. Its rooms are sold as "apartments," highly stylized and continuing the neoclassical design that courses through the building. A beautiful pool and wellness area (gym, sauna, hammam) keeps up the general air of moneyed luxury, which filters down to everything from the Molton Brown bath products to the rather fine in-hotel brasserie. 

Having had a complete makeover and rebranding, it doesn't take long to appreciate the selling point of Craves, whose stylish, speakeasy-style Art Deco bar and accompanying Middle Eastern restaurant draw the eye as you make your way to the reception.The rooms are bold, if tasteful, affairs, decked out in deep blues and blacks, with marble surfaces, hardwood floors and brass accents—like an old-school gentleman's club by way of North Africa. Combined with its location—slap-bang in the center of the city, not far from the Bourse—it's a useful bolthole and a likeably polished stay.  

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.

This stylishly restored, 17th-century building lies between the Grand Place and the Gare Centrale. Rooms surround a lovely interior courtyard, with some suites located up a splendid Louis XVI staircase. Named after Belgian artists, the rooms come with plain floorboards, exposed beams, and suede sofas, while some have terrace views. There are a couple of budget options on the top and bottom floors, which are a little smaller—those rooms around the Patio section tend to be a little newer. Suites have decorative fireplaces, and the honeymoon option is particularly romantic. A gym and wellness center are an added bonus.

Occupying the building of what was formerly one of the city's more eccentric stays, there is little that is quirky about this polished, family-owned boutique hotel. But that's rather the point. It's all light wood, sleek lines, creams, and beamed ceilings, like something out of an upmarket French furniture catalogue, and not dissimilar to its excellent sister hotel in the Louise area. The bar-café downstairs is very much of the lounging-with-a-newspaper variety, and also doubles as the breakfast area, while the rooms are large for the size of the building. It's a surprisingly quiet area too, despite the bars and restaurants of place Sainte-Catherine being just a short walk away.   

Near the northern end of the Galeries St-Hubert shopping arcade, this hotel has an Art Deco facade and is decorated in a variety of styles, including "Maritime" rooms with blue-and-yellow walls and wood floors. The greenery-filled atrium incorporates a 10-foot-high section of the 12th-century city wall and serves excellent Scandinavian-style open sandwiches. Its Michelin-starred restaurant, Sea Grill, is among the best dining spots in the city.