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Review: Eurostar Business Premier lounge at Brussels Midi/Zuid

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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

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:

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.

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.

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.

Category

Club Eurostar

Comments (55)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Chris says:
    15 Jul15 July 09:50

    Are you able to fast track through security/immigration if travelling in business premier or carte Blanche ?
    I understand access into the station is laborious

    • Rob says:
      15 Jul15 July 09:58

      No, but no-one needs to queue in London now if they register for iProov. You go straight through a dedicated entrance with no queue.

      • Chris says:
        15 Jul15 July 10:10

        Thank Rob very helpful

      • aseftel says:
        15 Jul15 July 10:13

        Not quite no-one. Under-16s can’t use iProov.

        • Rob says:
          15 Jul15 July 10:16

          You won’t be getting into the lounge either via Amex Plat if you’ve got a kid, so you might as well pony up the extra few quid for Business Premier over Standard Premier and be done with it!

          • The Original David says:
            15 Jul15 July 10:30

            “Few quid” – Business Prem is about £150pp each way than SP if you’re booking in advance. That’s a lot to “pony up” for access to a mediocre lounge… Give the kid a tenner to spend on cake and chocolate and head into the lounge in peace…

          • Rob says:
            15 Jul15 July 10:46

            I never book in advance! Difference has been more like £50 on the trips we’ve done recently, given we rarely book more than 3 weeks out. I still don’t pay it because I’ve got iProov and an Amex Plat but the gap seem narrower because StanPrem is getting so pricey.

            In fact, when Rhys went over to Paris to do the Canopy review, he booked himself into Standard because he couldn’t face charging the company the Standard Premier fare wanted.

          • Yossi says:
            15 Jul15 July 14:24

            On weekends, they’ll often let you bring a child in on Amex Plat. It’s at the discretion of the people at the desk. They’ve always allowed me to in the past when I was polite. Now that I’m Carte Blanche, they have no issues with it at all.

          • Stuart Sims says:
            20 Jul20 July 11:56

            I went just before Xmas with my 12 year old and 16 year old. Maybe we just got a nice attendant but they let us in with my Amex Platinum

      • Yossi says:
        15 Jul15 July 14:29

        Technically, iProov is for Carte Blanche and Business Premier members only:
        https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/your-trip/smartcheck
        I have always been able to register guests who come through with me, though.

    • Yossi says:
      15 Jul15 July 14:22

      Yes, you can use the express aisles through check in/security. Carte Blanche can bring in guests, too.

  • Mark says:
    15 Jul15 July 10:55

    The cocktail robot has been missing in action for a couple of years now, unfortunately. If you get your timing right for early evening departures and are one of the first into the lounge, they often do a selection of hot mini quiches, etc.

    • Andrew says:
      15 Jul15 July 13:36

      Something being out of service that long really is a sign of a gutter brand. All mouth no trousers.

  • Lee says:
    15 Jul15 July 11:45

    It is a shame that there is no real food to speak of in Eurostar lounge. Great beers. But they could do with upgrading their wines as well…

  • BahrainLad says:
    15 Jul15 July 14:24

    Do the Amex MR -> Club Eurostar transfers work yet and have they changed the outrageously poor value conversion ratio?

  • Londonsteve says:
    15 Jul15 July 16:36

    What’s a ‘typical’ one way fare on the London-Brussels route if booking 2-4 weeks in advance? Standard class, not interested in escalating the cost, just want to get to and from Brussels where I connect with a DB service to Frankfurt.

    The alternative to paying full fare is to travel on an Interrail ticket and benefit from a flat 30 Euro booking fee on Eurostar on any of their international routes, although there is limited availability in the fare buckets you’re allowed to book into this way and it would rarely be available a couple of days before departure.

    • Londonsteve says:
      15 Jul15 July 16:42

      I’m considering taking the train between London and Budapest once my BA status expires as a through ticket Budapest-Brussels involves only 2 changes of train and gets one to Brussels in good time to catch the last Eurostar of the day to London. Advantage is that it’s greener, no airport hassle and one can enjoy the world go by in a way that air travel can’t offer. Last but not least, you can carry two items of luggage at no extra cost for which you’d otherwise need a second mortgage if flying. Downside is that two of the trains are operated by DB and their recent timekeeping has been, shall we say, sub-optimal. Missing the last Eurostar means spending the night in Brussels after booking a hotel at short notice.

      • Charlie says:
        15 Jul15 July 22:16

        I frequently take the Regiojet between Budapest and Vienna, and also between Vienna/Brno/Prague, which in the business compartment is superb. (As you probably know, £15-20 ish between Budapest and Vienna, and slightly more than that to Prague). Off peak in CE LHR to PRG is 8,500 Avios plus £42 and VIE or BUD is 8,000 Avios plus £72. In addition to major hassle, you’re unlikely to get the train from Budapest to London for less than £150 each way (and that’s comparing the train to CE, which without status gets lounge access etc.). Might I suggest: LHR to PRG in CE, then Regiojet from Prague to Brno, stop off for a seven course tasting menu at Borgo Agnes (about £80 including wine), continue to Budapest by Regiojet, then back to London from Budapest in CE?

        • John says:
          16 Jul16 July 04:10

          Flying to take a train would defeat the purpose of being green, avoiding airports and carrying 2 luggages

        • Londonsteve says:
          16 Jul16 July 14:37

          The Brussels-Budapest leg is as little as 49 Euros each way and involves a DB ICE to Frankfurt, another DB ICE to Vienna, followed by an EC service to Budapest run either by an OEBB Railjet or newly refurbished MAV EC coaches. On top of this I’d need a Eurostar ticket to Brussels, hence the original question what these typically cost throughout the year. If it’s £90 each way, then I’d agree that £150 would appear to be the expected cost of the full journey, which doesn’t make sense when you can fly Club Europe with Avios on an off peak date for this much, get 2 x 32kg luggage allowance and lounge access.

          With Interrail however you can bring the cost of the journey down to as little as £65 each way including the 30 Euro booking fee for Eurostar, but you need to buy an Interrail pass with at least 10 days in 2 months, so you need to have enough travel planned to justify the upfront cost. £65 while taking two items of luggage is an unbeatable price and the relative discomfort of travelling by rail over such a long distance can be justified not just by the low price, but also by the environmental credentials. The whole journey can be accomplished by only changing trains 3 times and there’s a 45 min-1 hour gap between trains as a safety margin in case of delays.

  • Stan says:
    16 Jul16 July 13:03

    I would just note that as of last Wednesday there was no “construction corridor” to enter the lounge. It seems they have finished their works.

  • Ian says:
    16 Jul16 July 21:03

    Just a shame that any decent seats are always silly money compared to flights.

  • cin4 says:
    22 Jul22 July 17:01

    The Paris lounge is great if you ignore the food. This, however, looks atrocious.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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