The Bedford Hotel & Congress Centre is a convenient located hotel in Brussels, near the famous Grand Place and other hotspots. This affordable and elegant conference hotel in the Belgian capital is ideal for business and city break travelling. Olivier Wauters, Executive Director of Eventonline, met with its manager Guerric Quatacker.
Proud of the Family Business
The Bedford is a genuine family owned and operated hotel. “Together with my sister, I’m third generation managing the hotel. And with our in-law siblings we are four running the family business,” explains Guerric Quatacker.
The original hotel was purchased by Guerric’s grandfather in 1955. “At that time the hotel only counted 20 rooms and was called ‘Hotel Bedford and The Bordeaux’. Over the years, we extended the hotel by acquiring the adjacent buildings. During my father’s management the hotel went from 20 to 300 rooms. It was my grandfather who abbreviated the name to just ‘The Bedford’. There are more ‘Bedford’ hotels around the world, but we are a totally independent hotel, not pertaining to a group. We value this independence. It remains a family business. Same goes for our staff. We see them as part of the family too. Also, the turnover of our staff is very low. In our hotel we have a permanent base of employees, and we value the fact that returning guests recognize our employees, it’s an added value to our hospitality,” the manager states.
Plenty of Meeting Rooms
With 14 meeting rooms, accommodating 10 to 800 participants, the Bedford is one of the biggest Business hotels in the centre of Brussels. “Besides our meeting rooms, today we are equipped with 310 rooms for overnight stays, that is a lot, and we are flexible in terms of space for the meetings”, adds the manager.
What’s next?
No standing still for the Bedford. “We will continue with the renovations. During the lockdown we had time for renovations and modifications. The next step will be to renovate the bedrooms to be in line with the renovations of the common areas. That’s our big challenge now for the coming period,” continues the manager.
As the MICE market is picking up pace again, Guerric Quatacker sees the future bright. “I feel a positive vibe,” he says. “Really positive. Business is clearly picking up going back to normal.” the manager ends.
Four star hotel in Brussels – Bedford Hotel & Congress Centre
