Two Brussels hotels win 'five-star superior' label

Brussels now has two hotels in the "five-star superior" category. They are the Steigenberger Wiltcher's (167 rooms), located on Avenue Louise, and the Amigo (173 rooms), located in the street of the same name, behind Brussels city hall.

The five-star superior category was created in 2019 by the Brussels Region to spotlight the local luxury hotel sector.

This was necessary as the classification of hotels by categories had been interrupted for several years in Brussels, due to the latest state reform which transferred the responsibility for tourism from the Francophone Community Commission to the Brussels Region.

To remedy this situation, the Brussels parliament gave the green light, a little over two years ago, to a draft ordinance allowing the Brussels government to define the parameters of a classification of this type.

According to the secretary general of the Brussels Hotel Association, Rodolphe Van Weyenbergh, this is essential for Brussels as a tourist destination.

A hotel can obtain recognition of this level of comfort if it meets a set of classification criteria which have been determined by the Brussels government. As a classification in terms of number of stars, it has adopted the "Hotelstars 2015" criteria, established by the Hotelstars Union, an organisation that brings together associations of hotels, restaurants and cafes in Europe. Flanders and Wallonia were already members.