Let me start by saying that I did not have high expectations for this hotel considering we were not paying very much. I'm generally quite easily pleased, but this place truly was awful.

There's always a degree of uncertainty when you first arrive at a budget hotel, and my first impression upon entering the room was one of, what have I gotten myself into? First of all, the room smelled quite musty/smoky. The furnishings are also quite old/worn, the most noticable being the floors which were scratched to bits.

I had read about the stairs before leaving and expected them to be your average european hotel stairs. But, they really are the most awful, winding, steep stairs you'll find. Also, they have some motion detecting light system which did not always work and was a bit unsafe because the stairs were not always lit.

The beds were also very old-- I would estimate 30 years and this is no exaggeration. They were extremely saggy in the middles.

Many people here have mentioned the excellent location. There are 2 sides to this. Generally speaking, the geographic location was excellent and this was probably the only benefit to staying here. But the specific location, down a creepy alley, was awful. There was usually someone peeing in a grate outside- that kind of alley.

The room was clean on the surface but was definitely in need of a "deep clean," for example, the bathroom fixtures were dusty. The floors were also dusty/dirty but it was hard to tell since they were so worn/scratched.

I can put up with an ugly room or old furniture but the room was also extremely loud. I believe all the rooms must face the street and the windows did not block out sound at all. Trucks went by all night and there were always drunk people talking right outside. Also, there is a church nearby and the bells start going off starting at about 7am. To sleep at all I had to use earplugs.

My other main complaint was the staff. On one day we returned to our room but were asked to leave (!) by the maid who hadn't cleaned our room yet. We tried to avoid the room on subsequent days at this time but there wasn't really any regularity to it. Also, we were walked in on once, when the door was LOCKED, by a staff member who wanted to change a lightbulb. They didn't even knock. They said that they didn't expect us to be there? I don't really understand this logic.

My initial feeling was to not leave such a poor review, but I wonder, what is the point of staying in a hotel where you cannot a) sleep (due to noise) or b) come and go as you choose?

The other thing that is worth mentioning is that this hotel is affiliated with the one next door/ I think it's actually the same hotel. In fact, we were asked to check in at this hotel next door and Abberdeen seems to be only an extension of "Le Grand Colombier" reviews here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g188644-d649423-Reviews-Le_Grand_Colombier_Hotel-Brussels.html

Worth noting that the reviews are much poorer and people also note the connection between the 2 hotels.

If you are in Brussels for 1 night at most, have absoluetly no budget and just want anywhere to crash, I would say that maybe this place is a pass but I would definitely never stay here again, and in fact, this place left me with a lousy impression of Brussels.