I had selected a few rentals to show my husband in Brussels when we were planning our trip. When he saw the Mayeres House, he said, “That one.” Didn’t even consider any of the other options.

We had such a good time and the pleasures began with Eugénie’s lovely responses to our questions, her solicitude for our comforts and needs, everything. She was there to answer questions about transportation to and from the airport and the little concerns about food shopping and so on.

Once we arrived at the Mayeres House, Eugénie, Ben, their adorable children and sweet old dog made us feel at home. I had an unexpected problem with Verizon and accessing my email and while Ben couldn’t fix the problem he was sympathetic and supportive and made the ordeal easier to bear. He also wrote me out a list of the most fabulous food and wine sellers. Don’t miss Rob’s Gourmet—all kinds of delicacies there and it’s a fairly easy trip by bus. The Halal butcher around the corner is very good, and there are a number of nearby shops that sell excellent fresh produce.

The apartment is well appointed and extremely comfortable. The wifi is dependable, the kitchen is functional, the television has good channels and the all-important BBC, the bed is firm and the household washing machine and dryer a blessing. The location is excellent. While we started by being dependent on the Métro, we soon discovered a preference for trams 92 and 93 and buses 63, 65 and 66.

While the apartment is outside the “Centre” it is still central. And there is so much to do in Brussels and beyond. We made day trips to Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp. (Central Station is, generally speaking, more pleasant than North Station and they are functionally interchangeable.) We haunted museums, explored Art Nouveau architecture and had a fabulous morning at the Belgian Comic Strip Centre – Museum. The Mayeres House is a place one can really settle into—and were I to come back to Brussels, I would certainly try to come back to the Mayeres House.