Brussels and Bruges Hotel

I had a good stay at this place in Bruges: http://www.hotelterreien.be

This place has rave reviews on Trip Advisor: http://www.bonobo.be/index.asp?taal=uk We've never stayed, but it looks very centrally located and within the right price range.

JoAnn, In Brussels we've stayed at Hotel Derby for €80. This is a quaint hotel on a well traveled street, trams, streetcars, and buses. Not centrally located though, it's in Eiterbeek neighborhood. Great breakfast in the morning, included. Visited Brugges but not the night. Good luck, have fun.

I HIGHLY recommend you get a hold of the Rick Steves guide Amsterdam, Bruges, and Brussels. He has extensive hotel recommendations in various price ranges, as well as suggested sight-seeing itineraries. I was last there in 2002, and my idea of the "key" attractions may not be yours. My favorite thing in Brussels, which is not mentioned in the RS book, was the Art Nouveau tour through ARAU http://www.arau.org/en/tours. These use a minibus, so you can cover more ground than on foot (the places of interest are scattered about). They also get into places closed to the public. To be honest I didn't care for Brussels, but if I went again, I'd plan my visit around these tours (they're on an irregular schedule, although I see the English tours are more often than once every 2 weeks, which they were in 2002). While walking around many European cities is so pleasant (including other Belgian cities), walking around Brussels was not; if I went back, I'd want to have specific sights planned to see - or I'd leave and see other Belgian towns. (Sorry to be negative, but you asked). In Brussels, I stayed at Hotel Opera http://www.hotel-opera.be/content_uk/Mainframeset.htm. My single was small but cheery, and the location was central. It wasn't otherwise memorable, but they had a vacancy when I needed it (other affordable places were full) and I'd stay here again. continued..

continued.. For Bruges, I stayed at B&B Dieltiens, which I see 10 years later is still recommended in Ricks' book http://users.skynet.be/dieltiens/en/engast/frame.htm. This was a great place, and the only potential problem is the steep stairs and lack of elevator. I'd DEFINITELY stay here again. If they're full, RS has lots of other B&B's listed, and he emphasizes that in Bruges, they're much better value than hotels. Bruges is lovely, and although there are designated "sights," the best thing is to walk around or take a canal cruise, soak up the atmosphere, and appreciate the time-tripping appearance of the town (largely unchanged for hundreds of years). Glad you are spending the night - Bruges can get clogged with daytrippers. You may want to reverse your plans, and spend more nights in Bruges than Brussels. In addition, if you want to get out of either Bruges or Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp are both close. I especially enjoyed Antwerp; of the four, it's the one I'd go back to first.

It's been about 10 years since I was in Brussels. However, there is a classic mainstay hotel where we spent the weekend. The Metropol hotel which is only one block from the famous and beautiful plaza. At the time, a lovely breakfast in a banquet room in the basement was included. We were there in early June on a weekend - it was a slow period and we got a great rate. It's normally expensive. However, great rates can be had during slow-season - so, check it out. A la Mort Subite (Sudden Death) is a pub with a long history just off the main plaza. It's probably still there.
Have a great trip!