The young women who run Hotel Brilliant are amazing at their work. Some of the most attentive staff I’ve had at any hotel – they helped us arrange cabs and tours, and bent over backwards to make our stay a pleasant one…which it was.
Going in, the only concern I had about this hotel was that I knew it was located a little outside of the downtown area – but I needn’t have worried. The hotel offers free bikes for anyone going into town (a 5 minute ride). And in the evening, the staff will happily call a tuktuk to shuttle you to your choice of restaurant (cost was about K3000 for 4 people, about US$2). And of course, you could easily find your own tuktuk to come back to the hotel (as long as youre back before 10pm when the town shuts down.
As for the amenities, it’s a lovely spot with plenty of plants and flowers around. The rooms are clean and comfortable (although our bathroom shower did have an uneven floor that meant the water didn’t drain very well). Each room has a veranda as well, so you can sit out and enjoy the warm weather. And everything seems to be well maintained – not always a given in Asian countries.
Note, we stayed in the standard hotel rooms – the place does also offer some larger chalet-style bungalows, but I can’t speak to the quality of those rooms.
There is wifi, but we found it very weak, almost not worth the trouble.