Maison Du Dragon

The hotel's Chinese restaurant is one of the few dedicated Chinese places around the Benelux, which makes it a shame that fewer tour groups have been coming since COVID and the restaurant is much quieter than it used to be. Mr Chen and Ms Zhao looked after us very well. The roast duck was exquisite, and we also enjoyed the fried leafy vegetables, which felt especially welcome after a long stretch of meaty meals. The Chinese dishes were very decent.

We'd booked our original hotel months ahead, but when we arrived, they said it was overbooked and cancelled our reservation. They found us a “nice hotel” nearby, which is how we ended up at the Maison Du Dragon. We were only in Brussel for one night, and I waited until Amsterdam the next day to shower. The first thing that hit us inside was a strong smell of Chinese food. The elderly woman helping out was kind, but the elderly man, who I believe was the owner, was unwelcoming. He seemed upset that we paid by card instead of Euros, and didn't activate the room key. When we said it wouldn't open the door, he didn't believe us. After exploring Brussels, we got back around 23:00 and had to ring several times before anyone let us in. The man cracked the door open and stared at us as if he'd never seen us before. The third floor smelled of cigarette smoke. In the room, the smoke detector was missing from the ceiling, and what they called a bed was a thick box spring with a thin padded mat. I don't know if that's standard in Brussels. The walls, carpet, ceiling, outlets and light switches were stained, with some kind of black grime outlining them. The phone didn't work, though we didn't need it, and there were coffee cups but no coffee machine. After breakfast, the elderly man stopped us in the lobby to remind us checkout was by 12:00. I wish I could give less than one star.

Speaking about the restaurant, the food was delicious and the portions were good. Prices were more than fair, the decor was nice, and the service was great.

Having a fridge in the room was useful, and the location worked well for the town centre and Brussels Noord. But my room wasn't very clean and smelled of stale cigarette smoke. The surrounding area was full of sex shops.