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The Brunei Hotel in Bandar Seri Begawan has one major advantage over virtually every other hotel in the city – it is located slap bang in the center of the city. Click here to book a room at the Brunei Hotel.
Location is especially important in a place like Bandar where being “5 minutes from town” can mean being stuck in the middle of nowhere with only expensive hotel taxis to ferry you about town.
The Brunei Hotel is located on the corner of Jalan Pemancha and Jalan Sungai Kianggeh, facing the river of the same name. It’s just metres away from the Tamu Kianggeh Market and a short walk to most of the city’s attractions, including the Yayasan shopping complex, the waterfront and the Omar Mosque. It is a short stroll to Bandar's tiny CBD which gives you the choice of several dozen Malay, Indian, Chinese and western restaurants.
The Hotel is an odd looking building that harks back to the 1970’s with its mirrored glittery lobby and somewhat dated rooms. The downstairs lobby features a comfortable lounge suite and a tiny souvenir store and is generally well maintained. The staff are very friendly and we found them helpful in terms of organising transport, tours and so on. A great deal of the hotel's charm is down the to the homely atmosphere maintained by staff that smile and make a genuine effort to ensure your stay is without problems.
The hotel has a conference room with seating for 100 guests, although most visitors will never see this facility. The onsite restaurant is called the Mawar Coffee Garden, a rather quiet eatery that serves up a varied repertoire of western and Malay dishes.
Unless you are getting breakfast thrown in free with the room don’t bother eating here – you can get a better meal for less at the Chinese / Malay restaurant about 100 metres or so along Jalan Pemancha, minus the air conditioning. Notwithstanding this advice, the service in the Mawar Coffee Garden is impeccable, courteous and friendly.
The rooms are quite well equipped if a tad small – you get a fridge, color tv with a few cable channels, telephone, aircon and room service if you wish it. The rooms are a little musty and look a bit dated but overall its good value for Bandar Seri Begawan and the place has its fair share of character and charm.
We paid about US$55 for a double with breakfast included, however walk in rates are around B$200 and you will get wildly varying quotes to stay here. If you are on foot in Bandar, this is definitely the hotel for you. Every attraction and shopping facility is within walking distance.
If you have access to a car and don’t have to worry about location so much, there are hotels in places like Gadong which are worth checking out.
Click here to book a room at the Brunei Hotel.
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HOTEL RESERVATIONS 
