Numa l Lief

Great location for walking to nearby attractions, nice quiet neighbourhood with a good choice of cafes for breakfast. Room quiet, comfy bed, clean and good shower - but no room service at all during 3 x night stay to empty bins, replenish water etc.

Enjoyed my stay in Brusell at Numa Lief. Self-service accommodation close to the Grande Place. The room itself is a good size, comfortable bed & great amenities. The only thing I would recommend is for the cleaning staff to be more polite and say hello. Otherwise, I truly enjoyed my stay.

While some may find the totally automated experience of a self-serviced apar**ent confusing, I can’t recommend the numas enough. This was my second experience, and every time I travel for business (as in this case) or leisure, I’ll check if a numa is there. The comparison to hotels is a bit misleading. This is more like living in someone’s apar**ent (I don’t think I’m allowed to use the name here) without having to worry whether you’re treating their home appropriately. It’s also surprisingly affordable, I might add. Not exactly in the touristy centre of Brussels which is all fine by me.

We booked a room for two nights trough a third party, when we got to the hotel we hadn't received any pin code or how to access the building or our rooms. The phone numbers wouldn't work and had to rely on a WhatsApp chat as the hotel isn't staffed with a reception. After an hour of communicating through WhatsApp, having to take pictures of our passports, input details etc... we were finally given a pin code to get into the room. The room was spacious, separate toilet and bathroom, but the toilet doesn't have a wash hand basin so not very hygienic when needing to wash hands after using the toilet. The bed was large and every comfortable. 2 large pillows each, which were some of the best pillows I've ever had when staying in hotels. We stayed on the 4th floor and the room is we very quit most of the time. We had paid for the breakfast for our duration, but as they don't have any facilities at the hotel, breakfast was served at Klok, which was about 50m walk across the street. I wouldn't recommend the breakfast at all. As they are an eco venue, they didn't serve tea or coffee, only chicory and infusions. The breakfast contained one egg, on slice of ham, small block of cheese, granola with yoghurt and a couple of triangles of bread which were barely toasted and very doughy. The staff said that all ingredients are locally sourced. Couldn't they have served some Belgian waffles or pastries, we were in Belgium after all Check out was done through scanning the QR code in your room, which was quick and easy. The hotel is good if you're antisocial as there are no communal facilities and you can keep yourself to yourself. It's conveniently located just a short walk from the city centre, but that's the only plus point. I doubt we would stay here again when we next visit Brussels.

Excellent room size (we paid for an upgrade) and good value. But it's not a hotel, it's a serviced apar**ent, 50 euro to clean the room, no towels or bed clothes unless you do it yourself. Air conditioning made a strange noise if any of the doors open. Hall was downright dirty. The check in is an experience, didn't want to let us in until 3pm despite room being ready.

All communication with the hotel was via WhatsApp. It worked. They texted through a PIN code for the front door, lift and room. This number was then punched in each time you entered the building, so we never saw another person inside the building - except for 1 guy in the lift one morning. So it's a bit impersonal - while I appreciate how efficient the system was, I still prefer to be greeted by a real person at a front desk. The room was easy to find on the top floor so we had a loft window. The hallways were narrow and dark, but the room was very clean and very spacious compared to most other hotels we stayed in around Europe. Toilet and bathroom are separate. Bed was comfy and the room was quiet. Minibar was complimentary, which was great! The location is a mix of 2 worlds - from the station to the hotel (10 mins) we were asking "what have we done?" but once you drop your bags and head into the old town, it is nothing short of spectacular.

Everything about Numa is fantastic. Great communication great location great overall experience…. we would do it again in a heartbeat.

For an American the coffee portions are small, but makes sense for Belgium as everything is smaller. Excellent area with easy access to some beautiful historical areas.