HI Brussels Generation Europe
HI Brussels' canal-side hostel — full breakfast included, shared kitchen, walking tours, 27 EUR dorm beds
Wonderful
4,870 reviews
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Compare prices for HI Brussels Generation Europe in Brussels
49%
Solo travelers
82%
Would stay again
51%
Made friends here
2.5 nights
Avg. stay
Our Honest Take
From the Hostelpedia team. No BS, just real advice
Generation Europe is the Brussels hostel that gives you the best value if you're willing to cross the canal. 27 EUR for an 8-bed dorm with a proper breakfast included — eggs, cheese, Belgian bread — is the real cheapest viable dorm bed in Brussels once you account for breakfast supplements elsewhere. Molenbeek's reputation in English-language media is louder than the actual reality on Rue de l'Éléphant, which is a quiet residential street four minutes from Comte de Flandre metro. The HI-chain experience means the dorms are functional rather than pod-private, so if you're a light sleeper book a private twin or 4-bed family room instead. Pick Generation Europe if breakfast-included matters, you have an HI card, or you're travelling with family; skip it if you need pod privacy or want to step straight out into the Grand Place scene.
🎯 Insider Tips
- 1Get up for the 07:30 breakfast. It thins out from 09:00 and by 09:30 the hot items (eggs, stewed tomatoes, sausage) have been cleared. Belgian bread + Chimay cheese + coffee is a real meal, not a continental.
- 2Walk back via Dansaert after dinner. Rue de Flandre is lit, busy, and has the best canal-side bars (Bonnefooi, Dolphins). The canal bridge at Sainctelette is where it gets quiet — fine, just not picturesque.
- 3Use the HI card if you have one. 10 percent off walks the 8-bed down below 25 EUR, which is the cheapest with-breakfast rate we've ever tracked in the Brussels centre.
- 4Book the family room rather than two twins if you're travelling as four. 140 EUR for four beds and a private bathroom is sharp for Brussels inside-Ring pricing.
🔥 Why We Love It
27 EUR in an HI dorm with full breakfast included — cheapest viable breakfast-included bed in Brussels
Walking-tour sign-up Wednesday + Saturday, plus occasional beer tastings
Full shared kitchen with hobs, fridges, and space to eat without queueing
En-suite bathrooms in 2-bed twins and 4-bed female dorms on upper floors
4 min to Comte de Flandre metro (lines 1 + 5), 12 to Grand Place on foot
📖 The Full Story
Generation Europe sits on Rue de l'Éléphant in Molenbeek, one block from the Sainctelette canal bridge. Ten minutes on foot to Sainte-Catherine restaurants, twelve to Grand Place — a genuinely walkable distance that guidebooks often scare travelers away from (Molenbeek had a media moment post-2015 and the neighbourhood still carries that tag in English press). In practice, the canal side of Molenbeek is a mixed working-class and young-professional area with a growing arts scene, and Rue de l'Éléphant itself is residential and quiet. Comte de Flandre metro (line 1 + 5) is four minutes away.
It's run by Les Auberges de Jeunesse, the Walloon/Brussels HI federation — so expect the standard HI hostel experience: institutional-clean dorms, tiled bathrooms, functional rather than boutique furniture, and an included breakfast that's better than the 2GO4 5-EUR supplement and almost as good as Sleep Well's paid 6.50-EUR one. Dorms sleep 2 to 8; the 2-bed twins and 4-bed female dorms come with en-suite bathrooms on the upper floors.
Common spaces are deliberately dense: a sizeable dining hall that flips to a common room after breakfast, a lounge with board games, a small ground-floor bar that opens 18:00 to 23:00, and a tiled outdoor patio. Staff run a walking-tour sign-up every Wednesday and Saturday, and host occasional Belgian-beer tastings in the bar. The clientele is the most international in Brussels — HI draws school groups, families, solo backpackers, and the Euro-rail set, so the common room mix is broader than the 2GO4 young-solo crowd.
✨ The Vibes
💬 What Travelers Say
Hayley
🇬🇧 United Kingdom · April 2026
“We had a private room and it didn't feel like a hostel. Breakfast was better than I expected — real cheese and eggs, not just bread.”
Adrian
🇷🇴 Romania · March 2026
“Clean enough, with private toilet and bathroom. Very good breakfast. The walk back from town crosses the canal — quiet at night but never felt unsafe.”
Muniz
🇮🇪 Ireland · February 2026
“Organisation, cleanliness and hospitality. The breakfast was simple but genuinely good, and the staff speak proper English.”
Simona
🇩🇪 Germany · February 2026
“Everyone very friendly, good value for money. The 8-bed bathroom gets busy at 8:00 but that's expected at this price.”
📍 What's Nearby
Comte de Flandre metro (lines 1 + 5)
4 min on foot
Sainte-Catherine fish-market restaurants
10 min on foot
Grand Place via canal bridge and Dansaert
12 min on foot
Canal-side MIMA contemporary art museum
3 min on foot
Dansaert bar + boutique district
8 min on foot
Gare de l'Ouest
15 min on foot
📋 House Rules
- •Check-in 14:00 to 23:00, check-out before 10:00
- •Quiet hours 22:30 to 07:00
- •Breakfast served 07:00 to 09:30
- •HI member discount applied at reception
- •No external guests, keycard dorm entry
From
€27/night
Compare prices across booking sites
Room Types
Bed in 8-bed mixed dorm
€27
Standard metal bunks, shared floor bathroom, breakfast included.
8
Bed in 4-bed female dorm with en-suite
€33
Women-only, keycard access, upper-floor en-suite bathroom.
4
Private twin with en-suite
€78
Two single beds, private bathroom, desk. Most hotel-like option.
2
Family room (4-bed private, en-suite)
€140
Four beds, private bathroom, sleeps up to 4 as a family or group.
4
🏠 Amenities
🏨 Other hostels in Brussels
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