{"id":445,"date":"2012-04-08T14:03:27","date_gmt":"2012-04-08T18:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/boardingarea.com\/blogs\/verygoodpoints\/?p=445"},"modified":"2014-12-29T18:50:44","modified_gmt":"2014-12-29T23:50:44","slug":"aloftbrussels-hotel-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2012\/04\/08\/aloftbrussels-hotel-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Aloft Brussels Hotel Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Business traveler?\u00a0 Don\u2019t let the aloft Brussels Schuman website scare you away, the hotel is superb.\u00a0 Having recently stayed in the Sheraton Brussels and the Le Meridien Brussels, I wanted to give the aloft a try.\u00a0 However, I got a little worried after checking out their website.\u00a0\u00a0 I know they\u2019re modeled after the trendy W hotels, but when I read the first line of their online description \u201c\u2018Easy breezy\u2019 adventures await you at Aloft Brussels Schuman\u201d I wondered if the hotel was the right choice for business travel.\u00a0 \u00a0When I hear easy breezy, I instantly think of Cover Girl Makeup, not a hotel.\u00a0\u00a0 I decided to throw caution to the wind and book the easy breezy aloft Brussels despite my concerns.<\/p>\n

Check-in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Boy, am I glad I did!\u00a0 I used my Your24 SPG benefit (after 75 nights in a year, you get the benefit of requesting any check-in\/checkout time w\/in a 24 hour period \u2013 check in at 10am, check out at 10am.) I arrived from Chicago at 10am local time and was in my room by 11am.<\/p>\n

The hotel offers self check-in and traditional check-in options.\u00a0 I tried the self check-in and had to be helped by a member of the team \u2013 it wasn\u2019t easy.\u00a0 In the end, the team member had to check me in the old fashioned way because the self check-in machines didn\u2019t like my Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card (that\u2019s the second time I\u2019ve encountered a machine that didn\u2019t like the Chase Sapphire Card \u2013 the first was in a Taxi in London.) \u00a0Once I was checked in, I headed to my room.<\/p>\n

The Room<\/strong><\/p>\n

Located on the 8th <\/sup>floor \u2013 the top floor of the hotel \u2013 my room had quite a nice view of the city, but also had a direct view into some apartments that had floor to ceiling windows (why don\u2019t people close their blinds?)<\/p>\n

The rooms are what you\u2019d expect from an aloft \u2013 loft style rooms with trendy amenities like Bliss bath products and a gigantic TV w\/audio visual connections, \u00a0so you can plug your devices into the TV \u2013 I plugged in and played angry birds.\u00a0 My room had a king bed (a real king bed \u2013 not two singles pushed together,) a large desk with plenty of light and plugs, a mini-fridge (an empty fridge is a great perk), and a bench under the window.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The bathrooms are shower only \u2013 which is ideal for most business travelers \u2013 but could be a challenge for young families \u2013 I can\u2019t imagine how bath time would work for my 2 yr old nephew.\u00a0 The room was very clean and since the hotel is only 1 year old, almost everything was in mint condition.\u00a0 The only sign of wear and tear in my room was some paint in the shower that was peeling.<\/p>\n

My only complaint about the room is the blinds \u2013 they\u2019re paper thin and don\u2019t block out the light.\u00a0 There are no blackout shades, so when the sun came up, I was awake.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Hotel<\/strong><\/p>\n

The hotel features the aloft re:fuel concept \u2013 serving breakfast, lunch and some dinner options.\u00a0 I chose breakfast as my platinum amenity and that included my choice of 5 breakfast items (a breakfast sandwich counted as 1 item, juice was 1 item, a croissant was 1 item, etc\u2026 ) which was plenty for breakfast.\u00a0 I also got a complimentary coffee certificate to be used at any time during my stay.<\/p>\n

The XYZ bar is the happening place to be on Wednesday nights.\u00a0 The bar was full, people were playing pool and sitting around a mockfire place enjoying drinks.\u00a0 The bar offered a limited menu \u2013 pizza and other bar type foods.<\/p>\n

The staff<\/strong><\/p>\n

The staff is very friendly and helpful and speaks excellent English.\u00a0 I found the staff at the Aloft much more welcoming and accommodating than the staff at the Sheraton Brussels.\u00a0 The staff had great suggestions for local restaurants and was always helpful with directions and getting a taxi when needed.<\/p>\n

Overall<\/strong><\/p>\n

I really enjoyed the Aloft Brussels and I\u2019m glad I didn\u2019t follow my initial impression based on the website!\u00a0 I would absolutely book the Aloft again (and probably will since I\u2019ll be in Brussels again.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

XYZ Bar<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Aloft Hall<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Bed<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Bathroom\"<\/a>

Bathroom<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Self<\/a>

Self Check-in<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business traveler?\u00a0 Don\u2019t let the aloft Brussels Schuman website scare you away, the hotel is superb.\u00a0 Having recently stayed in the Sheraton Brussels and the Le Meridien Brussels, I wanted to give the aloft a try.\u00a0 However, I got a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[306,742],"tags":[762,36,743,745],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nAloft Brussels Hotel Review - VeryGoodPoints<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2012\/04\/08\/aloftbrussels-hotel-review\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Aloft Brussels Hotel Review - 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