With Brussels as our first stop on a 9-day trip to Europe the New Year, I had selected the Hotel Agora Bruxelles Grand Place for it’s incredibly central location and great cash rate. As you know, I’m a fan of the Hotels.com Rewards program with it’s simple rewards earning concept.  I had booked the room on Hotels.com for a cash rate of about $85 USD quite in advance. I’m not one to typically book a hotel five months out but I went ahead and booked early this time. Plus the Hotels.com rate was refundable up until a couple days before check-in.

Overall Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Location: 5 of 5 Stars
Service: 4 of 5 Stars
Comfort: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Cleanliness: 4 of 5 Stars

Located in the very hard of Brussels, the Hotel Agora Bruxelles Grand Place is just a stone’s throw from Brussel’s Grand Place. Brussels itself is not very large but the location of the Hotel Agora Bruxelles Grand Place is one of it’s strongest benefits. We arrived at the hotel around 3 PM and entered the small ground floor lobby. There were two employees at the check-in desk and they were just finishing helping other guests. Notably, the front desk staff was very friendly. We were quickly checked in and given and overview of the neighborhood and a few dining suggestions.

We were advised of the steep stairs and our bags were take to our room for us due to the steepeness of the hotel’s stairs. If you have any mobility issues or trouble with narrow and steeps stairs, do not stay here. I’ll certainly admit the stairs were a pain to navigate with bags but I found them a bit charming. But great caution is required going up and down the steep, spiral stairs. There is no elevator at the Hotel Agora.

We settled into the room to unload our bags before beginning some exploration of the city. The room itself is moderate and size. We had a double room which consists of two twin beds that can be pushed together or separated. The was a small dining table with two chairs and a small storage closet with a safe. A handy luggage rack folder out of the wall.

While I’m used to smaller spaces outside the U.S., the bathroom at Hotel Agora left a bit to be desired on size. The bathroom was probably the smallest bathroom I’ve experienced in my travels. The Dorsett Mongkok might be a contender as well but at least a close second. There was a decent sized shower but the counter space was non-existent and the sink was quite tiny. It was hard to hang your towels without dropping your towel in the toilet as the towel rack was so low.

The bed was reasonably comfortable and I was pleased that the room was overall clean. If I’m going to have a small bathroom, I can live with it as long as it’s clean. The linens and towels in the room were comfortable but nothing special. There were windows the length of the room with a nice little view onto the street below.

Since we spent most of our time exploring Brussels rather than hanging out in the room, the Hotel Agora Bruxelles Grand Place was a reasonable option for our stay. I appreciated the friendly staff and the clean room but I could have appreciated a bit more comfort in the room. Still, the location is hard to be and even though my overall score of the hotel is average, I’d consider staying here again, solely based on the location, But more than likely on my next trip to Brussels, I’ll sample someplace else.