We stayed in the Brilliant Apartments for the first time from the 19th - 28th October 2016. We have visited Cyprus a number of times over the years, including getting married in Paphos. We have always stayed in 4 or 5 star hotels before this one so we were a little apprehensive. We needn't have been, the Brilliant Apartments were just what we were looking for. We are a family of 4 with 2 children aged 3 and 10.
The rooms are a big deal for us, we spent a long time searching for accommodation where we wouldn't all be stuck in one room like sardines. This was where these apartments made it for us. Our one bedroomed apartment consisted of a large bedroom with a king-size bed in it and a huge amount of storage space. There was a safe within the room which was large enough for us to keep all our valuables and important documents, we were charged 15 euros for the safe which is in line with other hotels I've stayed in. There was then a separate kitchen / lounge area which had a sofa bed and a set of bunk beds in them. Both our children rotated across both the bunk beds and sofa bed without any complaints. There was a TV on the wall with plenty of channels, we always managed to get the news or a children's channel to entertain my 3 year...We stayed in the Brilliant Apartments for the first time from the 19th - 28th October 2016. We have visited Cyprus a number of times over the years, including getting married in Paphos. We have always stayed in 4 or 5 star hotels before this one so we were a little apprehensive. We needn't have been, the Brilliant Apartments were just what we were looking for. We are a family of 4 with 2 children aged 3 and 10.
The rooms are a big deal for us, we spent a long time searching for accommodation where we wouldn't all be stuck in one room like sardines. This was where these apartments made it for us. Our one bedroomed apartment consisted of a large bedroom with a king-size bed in it and a huge amount of storage space. There was a safe within the room which was large enough for us to keep all our valuables and important documents, we were charged 15 euros for the safe which is in line with other hotels I've stayed in. There was then a separate kitchen / lounge area which had a sofa bed and a set of bunk beds in them. Both our children rotated across both the bunk beds and sofa bed without any complaints. There was a TV on the wall with plenty of channels, we always managed to get the news or a children's channel to entertain my 3 year old daughter which was all we needed. The kitchen consisted of a fridge with a small freezer compartment in it, hob with 2 rings on it and plenty of cupboard and kitchen utensils. The kitchen is ideal if you are self catering and Lidl is literally opposite the hotel and open from 7am until 9pm daily. We were in room 20 which was great, looked out to the tennis court and had a huge balcony. Plenty of space for sunbathing as you get the sun in the afternoon around the time my daughter had a nap and perfect for drying clothes. Our rooms were cleaned every day bar one, with fresh towels etc always provided. We had no complaints at all about the cleanliness of our apartment.
The Brilliant apartments have 2 swimming pools (one small for children), the main one with a swim up bar (although not open as we went right at the end of season). There was plenty of sunbeds which weren't the cheap blue plastic ones you normally get which was a pleasant surprise, very comfy! There is also a small park which both my children enjoyed. There is free Wi-Fi in the reception area, you can also get Wi-Fi in the eating area where there is also a couple of pool tables to entertain the kids. Thomson recommend this hotel, I Iiked the fact my son was welcomed to join in the kids club activities even though we didn't book via Thomson as we boked directly. Melisa (Thomson rep) always had a friendly smile and welcome and was there most days, she was quick to help us out with information on the cheapest way to get to Larnaca too when we needed to get there urgently. My son particularly enjoyed the chocolate party and the daily darts and pool competitions. We found it handy that there was a washing machine and dryer on site, although we certainly didn't need the dryer we used the washing machine to get some clothes clean before coming back to the miserable cold English weather. At just 3 euros for a wash (industrial sized washing machine) we found this a bargain.The food is nothing to write home about! The breakfast is ok, although not the usual buffet style that we are used to and prefer. You are given a menu which you can choose from a full English OR cereal and toast with juice and tea / coffee. It got very samey after a few days. The evening meal was poor (we were half board), however I will say that when I asked to see the manager Andreas about the food he ensured I felt listened to and like a value customer and went out of his way to put the situation right (which he did). I would stay at these apartments again but on a self catering basis, I noticed that there were a lot of families that had stayed here year after year.
They have a table where people are encouraged to recycle books that would normally be left on a sunbed or put in the bin when read. This is a great idea and something as frequent travellers we see in a number of hotels across the world. I was astounded though to see that they request a donation of 2 euros for a book!!! This is the first time I have ever seen a charge for this and it seems extremely cheeky and left a bit of a bitter taste.
The reception staff made it for us, they went above and beyond on several occasions and go out of their way to ensure you have a great stay! Carmen & Tracey were amazing! We had trouble with a hire car we'd ordered and they phoned the company for us, helped us print off info, gave us local maps and timetables and generally chipped in with good advice or some friendly conversation on a daily basis.
These apartments are in the perfect location, literally a 5 minute walk to the beach (Fig Tree Bay) shops, bars and restaurants. The beach in Ayia Napa is far nicer, worth a quick taxi ride if you haven't got a car. It's more spacious and you don't feel like a sardine. We would consider staying here again for the rooms especially and it's great for children to make friends, however we would stay on a self catering basis.More
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