voco Brussels City North,an IHG Hotel

I find this hotel excellent for my stay. The team of staff is friendly, specifically Mr Kowshik who is very welcoming and knowledgeable. Breakfast timings are very useful as it begins as early as 6 AM. Rooms are big, modern with easy electronic controls.

Staff were unprepared for our coach party, even though they were warned in advance. Check-in was therefore slow. The lift needed a door-key pass waved at it but there was no sign making that clear, so a lot of time was wasted figuring out why it wasn't working. The restaurant was similarly unprepared for guests, which meant staff were thin on the ground. When we asked for a dinner menu, a waiter put a little card on our table. It had a QR code. We scanned it. It led us to the tapas menu, which was not what we wanted and was not available at night. We told the waiter and he went to fetch another little card with a QR code but no-one was sure if that one led to the right menu. In the end he produced a photocopy of a real menu and then proceeded to tell us that most of the food wasn’t available anyway, so we gave up and went hungry. This absurd palaver loses the hotel one star. The room was clean, the bed was very comfy but we had to hunt for the weirdly hidden bathroom light switch which was another source of irritation. Overall, the place seemed to be trying too hard to be clever. This could be a great hotel if staff were more on the ball and it was run in a conventional way instead of relying on the gimmicky use of technology.

Was a bit underwhelmed. This hotel opened just a few weeks ago, so everything is in top shape which is a plus. However, there was no IHG elite status recognition whatsoever. The bed was not so comfortable. The blanket was way too thick for my taste. Maybe they are recognizing this--the room temperate setting was very looow, almost freezing, which counter-acted the monster duvet cover. Location also not great. Not much in the area at all. Overall, while I appreciate the property is new and fresh, there are a couple of things I think could have been better, so my overall rating is just average. Potential is there, though.