The title compound, C(8)H(8)Br(2)O(2), crystallized with two independent mol-ecules (A and B) in the asymmetric unit. They differ in the conformation of the 2-hy-droxy-ethyl chain with the C-C-C-O torsion angle being -68.0 (12)° in mol-ecule A and 172.2 (9)° in mol-ecule B. In the crystal, the A mol-ecules are linked via pairs of O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming inversion dimers, while the B mol-ecules are linked via an O-H⋯O hydrogen bond, forming a polymeric chain propagating in [010]. In addition, there are O-H⋯O and O-H⋯Br hydrogen bonds, and Br⋯Br [3.599 (2) Å] and π-π inter-actions [centroid-centroid distances = 3.581 (6) and 3.931 (6) Å], leading to the formation of a two-dimensional network parallel to (001).