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Bad Rate: Package Busters at Rocco Forte Hotel Amigo

Where: Rue de l'Amigo 1-3, Brussels, Belgium

[Ed. Note: This is the Bad Rate in our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature. These rates listed below were valid on November 28, 2006 and are subject to change. Enjoy.]

Tis the season to play Santa and Scrooge. This week we looked at a city that goes all out for the holidays--Brussels--and we found a lump of coal in the stocking at Rocco Forte Hotel Amigo.

As we noted in the Good Rate post this week, The Times of London reports that Brussels puts on a great European Christmas Fair.

The Rocco Forte Hotel Amigo is by most accounts the top hotel in Brussels and it also has a prime location near the Grand Palace and Place St. Catherine. But they take "nickel and dime" to a new level, more appropriately they "dollar and euro you to death."

When we took a look at the packages offered through the hotel site, it's clear that they are simply the sum of the parts added together. The Brussels Your Way package, for example, tosses in breakfast, a welcome drink, some coupons, "free access to the health club" and a "free newspaper"--then adds 75 euros to the regular room rate. (Brussels Our Way would mean we don't have to book a package to get a newspaper and gym access from a 5-star hotel.)

The Brussels Shopping Package runs the bill up 170 euros to include breakfast, a cocktail, and a personal shopper at your side for three hours. Without a package you'll pay a staggering 28 euros per person for breakfast ($36) and either way your car will require 24 euros a day for parking (over $31). If you're unfortunate enough to have a child with you, that will be 50 euros for an extra bed, thank you very much. We're scared to even guess how much Internet access would set us back.

If you're here on EU business and someone else is picking up the tab, forget all this and wallow in your sumptuousness. Still, request a room away from the street if you are a light sleeper: the main complaint here is about the noise from streetfront rooms.

Related Stories:
· Rocco Forte Hotel Amigo reviews [TripAdvisor]