Cheap hotel/hostel near Brussels airport

June 24, 2008 7:30 PM

My college-age niece (MEANING: broke, almost!) needs a cheap place to stay near the Brussels airport. She's going to be spending US dollars, so I know "cheap" is relative. She's an inexperienced traveler and a little timid. Any ideas?
posted by soulbarn to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

How long?
posted by Class Goat at 7:53 PM on June 24

A better idea of what she is willing to spend and when she will be staying there would be helpful.

She should search for hotels near Zaventem or Diegem (both are adjacent to the airport). There are various airport hotels near there and some business hotels in Diegem. Check here to see the proximity to the city center and to the airport.

On the Brussels Airport website, there is a list of hotels that have shuttles to the airport. Brussels is a really easy airport to get to - the train stops literally underneath the airport. You can get from many parts of Brussels to the airport quickly and easily, so she may want to consider staying in the city center instead and taking the train to the airport in the morning. It is very easy and most people in Belgium speak English, particularly in Brussels, so if she gets lost she will be able to get directions.
posted by bedhead at 7:55 PM on June 24

Has she checked out youth hostels in the vicinity? They're cheap, most of the ones I've stayed at serve breakfast and sometimes even sell beer in the evenings, and they're usually full of young travelers from all over the world who can be great resources themselves.
posted by padraigin at 10:08 PM on June 24 [1 favorite]

She should book into the youth hostel for a couple weeks, and while there, look around the colleges etc for accommodation ads. Even if she doesn't read the language, it should be pretty easy to figure out what "ROOM FOR RENT, $80/WEEK, NO BOND" is in Belgian.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 2:10 AM on June 25

Have your niece check out a website called Couchsurfing. It is a large community of over 500,000 people that over up couches in their homes to travelers all over the world. It's great for students and for people that want an 'insiders' view of the cities they travel in, as an alternative to the colder/impersonal hotels and hostels.

Have her check it out, and if she has questions she can contact me at the same username with any questions/personal experience stories.

I use it quite exclusively and it is an amazing way to travel.
posted by wile e at 3:23 AM on June 25

seconding wile e on couchsurfing. I've been using it for a year now in like 4 continents and about 8 countries, and have had a great experience with everyone I've stayed with. Like wile e above, I've given up on hotels and such; this is the only way I travel now.
posted by whatzit at 4:15 AM on June 25