Review: Eurostar Business Premier lounge at Brussels Midi/Zuid

This is our review of the Eurostar Business Premier lounge at Brussels Midi/Zuid station.

Returning from a trip to Brussels to review the Marriott Brussels Grand Place, I visited the Eurostar lounge which caters for Business Premier, Carte Blanche and Etoile passengers.

Somehow, in all these years, HfP has never got around to visiting the Brussels lounge despite multiple reviews of the London St Pancras (review here) and Paris Gare du Nord (review here) facilities.

Remember that American Express Platinum cardholders get free access to Eurostar lounges. You cannot bring a guest, but your supplementary Platinum cardholder can get access by showing their own Platinum card. If that person is your travelling companion, you’re sorted!

Eurostar in Brussels

Whilst for most people the word ‘Eurostar’ is synonymous with trains to Paris, it takes a similarly short two hours to zip from London to Brussels, with nine trains a day offering a multitude of departure times.

What I didn’t realise is that Eurostar operates a lounge at Brussels Midi/Zuid: I had (wrongly) assumed it was like Amsterdam, where the station was not originally designed to accommodate a lounge and therefore went without. (There are now plans to change this in Amsterdam as part of the rebuilding of the station.)

I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. Although there is no natural light, it was a much more pleasant place to spend 30 minutes before my train than the main concourse.

At the moment, access is through a construction corridor whilst the station makes some changes to the main concourse. Fortunately, this has no impact on the lounge except that you have to walk through temporary plastic sheeting.

Inside, you are greeted by the lovely lounge attendant as well as a well-stocked rack of newspapers. In English, this included the Financial Times, Times, Guardian, New York Times and i.

The lounge itself is not huge but there is plenty of seating and it was far from full during my mid-day departure. The majority of seating comprises these armchairs with sidetables and lamps:

Each table has a multitude of charging ports and sockets. They come in a pleasant red colour on the other side:

and

There are some barstools along the corridor as well as by the buffet, around what I assume is a concrete support for the station itself.

As always with Eurostar lounges, the food is nothing to write home about.

Eurostar takes a rather spartan approach, with just a few different snacks available including vegetable crisps and organic beetroot waffles:

The most substantial things were these brioche style breads:

The drinks selection is better with a range of red, white and rose wines (mostly French) as well as Bombay Sapphire gin, Bacardi rum, Grey Goose vodka and Black Label Johnnie Walker on self pour.

Unlike the Paris and London lounges, there is no staffed cocktail bar. Instead, there was a mixology cocktail robot promising to mix a drink ‘in seconds’. Sadly it was out of order, so I couldn’t give it a try.

The usual soft drinks were also available, including home-made peach ice tea which appears to be a Eurostar staple.

Conclusion

It is never worth spending much time in Eurostar lounges – one of the attractions of taking the train is that you can arrive an hour before departure and still have time to spare. That said, they are a pleasant spot to work or relax before heading out to the platforms. Crucially, they are far away from the oft-crowded main concourse.

Don’t come hungry, as the food offering is always weak, but if you’re thirsty then you have plenty of options.

Access is available for holders of Business Premier tickets (but not Standard Premier), holders of Carte Blanche or higher status in Club Eurostar and holders of American Express Platinum cards. These need to be issued in the UK, France, Belgium or (I think) Netherlands.

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How to get Club Eurostar points and lounge access from UK credit cards (April 2025)

Club Eurostar does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Club Eurostar points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards. 

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 1,333 Club Eurostar points. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 3,333 Club Eurostar points. Card benefits include Eurostar lounge access.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 666 Club Eurostar points. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 15:1 into Club Eurostar points.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, so you will get the equivalent of 1 Club Eurostar point for every £15 you spend.

American Express Platinum comes with a great Eurostar benefit – Eurostar lounge access!  

You can enter any Eurostar lounge, irrespective of your ticket type, by showing The Platinum Card at the desk.  No guests are allowed but you can get entry for your partner by issuing them with a free supplementary Amex Platinum card on your account.