Gadong Hotel

Having stayed at all the hotels in the city centre, I was going to stay at the Centrepoint Hotel in Gadong for one night in May but it%26#39;s apparently closed until November. Looking at a map, it seems that the closest hotel is the Grand City Hotel with the Riverview and Traders Inn as options.

The Grand City doesn%26#39;t appear in Trip Advisor%26#39;s list. Has anyone stayed there? Is it acceptable? Is it easy to get to the Gadong Malls? If it%26#39;s really bad, are either the Riverview or Traders Inn close to bus stops? I%26#39;ve got a bus map but it%26#39;s diagrammatic and I can%26#39;t relate it to the roads around Gadong.

Gadong Hotel

That%26#39;s bad luck about the Centrepoint being temporarily closed - as its very central and good value in Gadong. There is a new hotel (1-2 years old) in the main Gadong Mall building - the Rizqun International. I have known professional expats who have stayed there and said it is good. It%26#39;s a bit more expensive than the others. Its own website lists rooms from about $300B, but if you go through marimari.com or asiarooms.com you should get for half that. For location it cannot be beaten - right in the middle of the main Brunei shopping mall precinct. Cinema complex and food court also in the four-storey mall. Easy to get there from airport with local bus or taxi.

Grand City is very hard to get to - despite being close to the airport. A colleague of mine stayed there and ended up driving to Kuala Belait instead of BSB because of poor signage and strange road configurations which are characteristic of Brunei! It%26#39;s quite isolated and apparently clean but basic. Riverview and Traders are both closer to town centre, but both would need transport to get anything which is difficult in Brunei. Accurate maps do not exist in Brunei, either.

Check Rizqun if you have had a look at the town centre. I would recommend it as ideal location for overnight stay.

Please email me if you need any more info.

Geoff