Picolo recommends · Hotel in Brussels, Belgium
Hotel Amigo
A one-time city prison turned elegant hotel, so close to the Grand-Place that you reach the cobbles before your coffee has cooled.
Turn the corner by the town hall and the Grand-Place opens up, with gilded guildhalls on every side. Amigo is tucked into the lane just behind it, in a building that held the city's prisoners long before it welcomed hotel guests.
Inside, the mood is polished and calm. Rooms carry drawings by Belgian comic artists, a nod to the country's love of the strip cartoon, and the bar fills with people from nearby offices when the working day is done.
Picolo’s verdict
Why we chose Hotel Amigo
This is our pick for a romantic city break. Few addresses in Brussels put the old square this close, and an early walk across it, before the coaches unload, is the moment people tend to remember from the trip.
It does not come cheap, and the lanes around it fill with sightseers from mid-morning. If you want early nights at the weekend, ask for a room on the courtyard side rather than towards the street.
What you get
- Historic building that was once the city jail
- Rooms hung with Belgian comic art
- Bar popular with locals after work
- Grand-Place a minute from the door
- Concierge for tables and tickets
A day at Hotel Amigo
- Morning
- Cross the Grand-Place while it is empty and the guildhalls catch the first light.
- Midday
- Follow the comic-strip murals painted on walls around the old town.
- Afternoon
- Coffee under the glass roof of the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert nearby.
- Evening
- A drink in the hotel bar with the after-work crowd, then dinner in the lanes.
Location
Grand-Place, Brussels, Belgium
Open in MapsQuestions about Hotel Amigo
How far is Hotel Amigo from the Grand-Place?
About a minute on foot. The hotel sits on a narrow street directly behind the town hall, so the square is practically on your doorstep.
Which rooms are quietest at Hotel Amigo?
Rooms facing the inner courtyard are the calmer choice. The streets outside stay busy with visitors in the daytime and on weekend evenings.
What is special about the Hotel Amigo building?
For many years it was the city's prison. Today the interiors are refined, and the rooms feature work by Belgian comic artists.
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Updated 6 Nov 2026All articles
How Picolo chooses
Our editors pick every hotel themselves, and most of them we have stayed at. No hotel can pay to be included or ranked higher. When you book through our links, Hotels.com pays Picolo a small commission. It never changes the price you pay, and it never decides what we write.
