Hotel

rooftop · Polished The Hotel Royal Rooftop is the polished central hotel terrace that anchors the upper tier of Brussels hotel-bar drinking, with a view across the lower town's rooflines toward the Grand Place spires and a north-east orientation that gives a long, golden late-afternoon light. The cocktail programme is built around stirred classics executed at genuine hotel-bar precision, a serious Belgian-gin reserve programme, and a small stable of seasonal signatures that use Belgian botanicals — Genever, herbal liqueurs, foraged ingredients — without making a tourist board of it.

Service is polished without being stiff, the heating strategy extends the usable season well into October, and the wine list runs proper depth on French and Belgian producers. It ranks second because the technical floor is the highest among the hotel rooftops, and the Belgian-specific signature programme is the most considered.

For the full ranking, see our editorial round-up of the 10 best rooftop bars in Brussels, the broader Brussels rooftop bars guide, and our category index of rooftop bars worldwide.