Having read other reviews we wondered what we had let ourselves in for (2 mature visitors). The hotel IS on a main road and opposite a couple of bars, so it can be noisy if your room is at the front. Otherwise very satisfactory, room small but clean neat, tidy and well serviced. Breakfast buffet was excellent, varied and plentiful. The staff were always polite and helpful. There are a lot of 'immigrants' (african and middle eastern) in the area but they were friendly and very approachable. There is an excellent, welcoming Lebanese restauraunt within 50m and another hotel restaurant within 250m. Clemanceau Metro Station (1.50 euro per hour) is within 200m making it an ideal base to explore all parts of Brussels and only one stop from the Midi station (Eurostar arrival point). The free minibus service to and from the centre (after 6pm) WAS running and offered to us. If you want very good value at a budget price it is excellent - if you want a 5* hotel for a 1* price, - get real!!

On arrival to the area where the hotel is situated, it appears to be just a slightly run down part of town. This area is actually a poorer part of Brussels with nothing more than a couple of local food shops and one or two bars.. During the day there are alot of different people from all cultures & origins walking up and down the streets. But on one evening, we were in a taxi coming back to the hotel & there was huge gangs of male teens & 20 somethings hanging around. One house was surrounded by police & baracaded off. It was actually very scary! Not a sight welcomed on holiday :( !! The area is not a place to walk about on your own. Especially NOT at NIGHT!! I went with my Mam (63) who also thought this area was AWFUL. The hotel was fine, altough the staff could have been friendlier! The towels were changed everyday & the beds were made up but the rooms were not cleaned & they didnt stock up soap or loo roll. This place would only be recommended if you are on an EXTREMLEY tight budget. I personally would not stay here again.

Scandinavia is quite an average 3stars hotel in Brussels with excellent ratio quality / prize. I know a lot of hotels in Brussels and even 4stars hotels are some time at the same niveau. The only problemm is rough locality ( Anderlecht ) , but in fact, during our stay nothing really serious happened ... Advice : ask for a room with window to the courtyard . Generally : for 55.- EUR / doubleroom the hotel is OK. Vladimir, Bratislava

The Hotel Scandinavia is not all that bad. The room I had was clean and relatively spacious. The bathroom was a bit pokey but you're not in Brussels to spend time sitting in a bath tub! The resturant is slightly overpriced. The staff were polite and helpful. There is a shuttle bus that will run you into the centre of the city but it has to be booked 30minutes prior to you leaving or wanting to be picked up. The problem with staying at this hotel is the location. The road is busy for most of the day and night. It's the clubs nearby that pose the problem. I was woken up 4 times by girls screaming with laughter outside. I thought it was a pack of hyennas at one stage. They come out from the bars and just let loose. The guys aren't much better and just sit in the cars revving engines and playing music. At night the area is slightly seedy and has the feeling of being unsafe. During the day it's perfectly fine. I wouldn't say this is the worst hotel in the world. You get what you pay for. Just remember to pack the ear plugs!

A few of my friends and I visited Belgium during our school break. We booked through a travel agent to be on the safe side and as it turned out we were in the worst part of town. We also called for the shuttle, which apparently does not exist, it was never running for the 3 nights we stayed. The lady receptionist was extremely rude and hung up on us repeatedly. Therefore we went downstairs to ask her where the nearest bus stop was, she assured us we could walk - granted this was 10 pm at night. We walked to the center, which was close, and received negative attention from teenage boys. They would sing at us and make rude comments towards us. We were 3 girls, and 2 boys but that didn't seem to bother them. Men kept approaching us and offering to sell us drugs while we were in the discount shops looking for conditioner. The city was safe and really pretty. On the way back we saw those same guys and tried to avoid them. Our friend that was walking towards the back started yelling as one of the boys grabbed her purse, she fought for it an the chain broke. The boy ran off with her purse. This happened right by the discount shop and there at least 10 guys around that did nothing to help. The owner of the shop wouldn't even call the police. We called the police back at the hotel and they said this happens all the time we shouldn't have been walking. The police took over an hour to get there and she is apparently the only one that speaks English. The next day we tried to take a cab down the street the boys ran to look for her bag since it was broken, we thought he might have tossed it. The taxi drive down the street, he locked the doors 4 times and said he wouldn't drive down it. That there was no security, When I asked the police woman what was down the street she said it was "horror." The rooms were gross and over priced and I swore they had bed bugs as we all complained of itching. The police told us to keep stuff in our safes in the room but our safes were locked when we got there and they would not show us to use them. We took a taxi everywhere, we were even escorted home by the police on the second night as the culprits saw us in the taxi and started to follow us. We do not recommend this hotel. We felt unsafe and dirty in the rooms. It will definitely ruin your trip to Belgium. Do NOT stay here.