Times Hotel

Rooms and decor

Picture a white-and-grey modern block in the Berakas district paired with Times Square Shopping Centre — that is Times Hotel, a 4-star with roughly 92 rooms that has become a go-to for travelers flying in and out of Brunei. Open the door and you get warm beige-and-brown tones, laminate wood furniture and plain carpet. It is not lavish, but it reads clean, orderly and noticeably more spacious than same-price rooms in a lot of countries. Beds are firm, the linen is crisp, there is a desk by the window, and the bathroom has a big mirror and a steady hot-water heater. Many rooms face Berakas, with the road running straight out toward the runway; others look onto the quieter garden behind the hotel. Flat-screen TV and minibar are standard, and the free Wi-Fi holds up well enough to run a Zoom meeting. If all you need is a room to rest in before an early onward flight, this is about as neat a fit as you will find.

Food and amenities

The heart of a stay here is not a fancy spa or a rooftop pool — it is the Times Square Shopping Centre sitting directly underneath. Ride the lift down and you hit a full universe of food, from Excapade Sushi, ranked among Brunei's most popular Japanese restaurants, where reviewers say the sashimi and Salmon Aburi are fresh and good value, to local kitchens serving Nasi Katok and Ambuyat, Brunei's national dish. Add a big food court, coffee shops, a supermarket stocked for take-home gifts, and a bakery you can smell the moment the lift opens. Inside the hotel there is a restaurant doing an international-meets-local buffet breakfast, a small fitness room, a tour desk that can set up trips to the rainforest at Ulu Temburong, generous free parking, and front-desk staff who speak fluent English and can call a taxi or book an airport transfer within minutes. The short version: you do not have to leave the building to get everything a short trip needs.

Location and getting there

Location is the trump card. The hotel sits in Berakas, just about 1 km from Brunei International Airport (BWN) — a five-minute drive, often less — which makes it the obvious choice for anyone on a late or pre-dawn flight who does not want the haul in from the city. An airport shuttle is easy to arrange with notice. Central Bandar Seri Begawan is about 10 km away, a 15–20 minute drive that brings you to the gold-domed Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, the thousand-year-old water village of Kampong Ayer, and the Gadong Night Market that runs every evening. The easiest way around Brunei is the Dart app, a local ride-hailing taxi at roughly B$10–15, or a hire car, since public transport here is limited. There is a petrol station, a clinic and convenience stores nearby, which adds peace of mind for families and solo travelers alike.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The complaint that comes up most is the distance from the city center: if your trip is built around the mosque, the palace and Kampong Ayer, budget the time and the fare for a 15–20 minute drive each way, every day — and without a hire car those Dart rides add up fast. The second thing to weigh is the atmosphere: Berakas goes very quiet once the mall closes around 10pm, with no late-night spots and no bars (Brunei bans alcohol sales anyway), so if you like an evening stroll with some buzz it can feel flat. On the rooms, a few reviewers note furniture starting to show wear in the older units, plain bathroom design, and aircraft noise at dawn in rooms facing the runway — light sleepers should ask for a high floor on the garden side. The hotel pool is also small and not a highlight, so anyone expecting a big swimming pool should look elsewhere.

Our take

After reading through the real Agoda and Booking reviews, Times Hotel sells its airport proximity and the convenience of a mall in the basement without apology — and it delivers. Rooms are clean, beds are firm, the service is warm, and rates start at just $63 a night, which is strong value for a 4-star in a country where the hotel list is short. We score it 7.6/10. It is at its best for business travelers in for a quick meeting, transit passengers with an onward flight, families with young kids who want everything under one roof, and anyone who rates convenience over old-town atmosphere. If the trip in your head is wandering near the gold-domed mosque and boating past Kampong Ayer every evening, Berakas may not be the right base. But choose it when the heart of the trip is land, rest, sleep, fly on at dawn — and the money will feel well spent.