Brilliant Hotel & SPA

ontbijt was super, hygiene top! locatie is prima er worden veel hotels nog bijgebouwd, ligt aan het strand maar niet in de buurt van een winkelcentrum of iets dergelijks. je zit in een omgeving met strand hotels en restaurants, en een klein supermarktje bijna naast het hotel. en dit hotel heeft een parkeergarage, ook handig voor je huurauto

Geen gebruik van gemaakt van zwemvad en spa, maar verder zag heter fantastisch uit!

Disappointing Service at a Beautiful Hotel

The hotel itself is visually stunning — modern, new, and with great potential. However, our overall experience was significantly undermined by service and cleanliness issues that simply shouldn’t occur at a 4- or 5-star resort.

Water Outage on First Night
On our first night, the water ran out entirely in the middle of a shower. While the issue was resolved the following day, this kind of infrastructure failure is unacceptable at a high-end property.

Housekeeping Is Severely Lacking
Housekeeping is where the experience truly fell apart. The maids did not properly clean the room. The bed was made sloppily, the bathroom was not cleaned, and used towels were replaced with “clean” ones that had visible stains and someone else’s hair. The bathroom mirror and shower door were clearly untouched, and the floors were dirty. It seems that two maids come in at once and whisper amongst themselves while rushing through the job. I am Albanian myself, and I find this level of service highly unprofessional and disappointing.

Front Desk: Polite but Ineffective
The front desk staff are polite and articulate, but often provide inaccurate information. For example, when I complained about the dirty room, I was first told it hadn’t yet been cleaned. Moments later, a maid came up, apologized, and admitted she had rushed and didn’t finish cleaning — contradicting what reception had said.

I also asked for the room to be cleaned earlier in the day, as I nap between 12–4 PM. The front desk told me this could not be accommodated due to their schedule, and that cleaning staff prioritize checkout rooms. I was told they could make a one-time exception, but typically cleaning happens until 3 PM — meaning I either skip my nap or miss room service. At a resort of this caliber, more flexibility is expected. Asked to speak with manager they said they would get the massage and manager would contact if they wanted to speak with me. I don’t think they will.

Food: Average and Unexpectedly Non-Albanian
The buffet food was just average. It’s marketed as Mediterranean but leans heavily toward Middle Eastern cuisine. Dishes like curry chicken were featured, which felt out of place for an Albanian seaside resort. It appears the chefs are Turkish — which isn’t inherently negative, but does shape the culinary identity away from local or Mediterranean expectations.

Room Quality vs. Cleanliness
The room itself is nice and modern, but the cleanliness is clearly below standard. Even the mini fridge had visible handprint stains when we checked in. It’s obvious that housekeeping only focuses on what’s immediately visible rather than paying attention to detail. Corners are cut, and deeper cleaning is neglected — which really takes away from the otherwise pleasant design of the space.

Food & Beverage Disappointment
The food is average at best. The wine is frankly terrible, there are no proper cocktails offered, and the “fruit juice” is just bottled sugar with flavoring. For a resort experience, the drinks and dining options were far below expectations.

Beach Conditions Are Poor
The beach was one of the biggest letdowns. The sand is littered with rubbish — likely due to guests who litter and the hotel not cleaning it regularly. The water itself is cloudy, with dark sand, lots of seaweed, and floating garbage like plastic bags. It doesn’t match the photos or expectations of a 4- or 5-star beachfront resort.

I spent a week at the Brilliant Hotel in Albania. While the hotel building and rooms deserve 4 stars ( one lift only, nor enough space at swimming pool and entertainment area) the overall experience was mixed and, in several ways, disappointing.

Location & Beach
• Very poor location – not much to see or do nearby.
• The beach was not nice, and the sea water was not clear at all.

Food & Drink
• Food was very poor, with repetitive meals served daily and little to no variety.
• The only consistently good options were the fresh fruit, salads, and herbs.
• Drinks were a let down: only very basic options like whiskey & coke or gin & tonic were available, popular drinks such as Aperol Spritz or Mojito were not included in the All-Inclusive package, forgot about Prosecco :(, spirits was served from unlabelled bottles, and the wine (served from machines) was of awful, all drinks were only available until 10 p.m., which was quite disappointing.

Service & Facilities
• Staff were generally friendly, and we appreciated the very good DJ and the leisure area/lounge across from the hotel, which also belongs to the Brilliant Hotel group: the DJ was free, but everything else had to be paid for, even access to the swimming pool there cost €20 per day, which felt unfair for hotel guests.
• Sunbeds and towels are free for quests, which was quite helpful. No chance to find a free sunbed after 8 am around swimming pools. Unless you want to pay £20 (adults only).
• No free access to gym, spa and salt Grote ( which was not working anyway).

All-Inclusive Experience
• The All-Inclusive package was extremely limited.
• The hotel has an à la carte restaurant, but All-Inclusive guests were not allowed to eat there at all – not even once during the week, which is very unusual.
• It felt like the hotel was divided into two classes:
- Full-paying à la carte guests had access to elegant restaurants with white tablecloths.
- All-Inclusive guests were clearly treated as lower-tier customers.

Entertainment
• We were not surprised or impressed by the entertainment – no themed nights, no atmosphere, nothing special like a "bbq night”.
• The only memorable evening was when they had Albanian dancers, which was genuinely enjoyable - but quest were sting on the floor as no chairs provided, comparing to the opposite site where customers from the restaurants were siting by the very nice dress up tables - you can see this on the main photo of the hotel.
• There was also every day some live music, but it was hard to enjoy due to confusing background noise from other nearby hotels.
• Overall, the Albanian dance night was the only standout, and the rest was either lacking or unclear.

Poor Experience with General Management
We had a bad experience involving the minibar:
When we opened the fridge door, a bottle of water fell out and broke, making a mess in the room. The bottle was clearly too large for the fridge door, so the issue was not our fault. Despite that, we were asked to pay for the damage. We requested to speak with the hotel manager, but no one followed up.
While staff didn’t directly refuse, they never got back to us, and the manager never came to speak with us, which was very disappointing.

Summary:
While the hotel building is impressive and the staff are polite and helpful ( at the bars and restaurant) the overall experience was far below expectations. Poor food and drinks, lack of access to key facilities, a clearly tiered guest system, and unresolved issues with management made this holiday feel frustrating. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re prepared to pay for everything extra on top of the All-Inclusive.

My experience was 10/10 i loved the staff , the view and the vibe was amazing. The food was delicious and the rooms were very clean , totally recommended . You should try it sometime. They had live music and very good cocktails. Also the pool was very clean .

Brilliant Hotel is simply amazing! A very clean, peaceful place — perfect for a family vacation. There’s a lot of greenery all around, which gives a fresh and relaxing atmosphere. Our kids loved the playground, while we enjoyed some peaceful time by the pool and the beach. The staff is very kind and always ready to help. The food was delicious and the facilities are well maintained. In short, a place we’d love to come back to! 🏖️🌿👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

I can't believe I forgot to mention the fabulous spa. Myself & 2 friends had the luxury, sauna, Turkish bath, massages, reflexology & facial it was wonderful.The staff were professional & friendly.The spa, we chose was 2 hours & great value for all the treatments & discount as they were 3 of us.The spa was immaculate & well worth the money.Treat yourself, your on holiday .

Very beautiful and comfortable hotel. Facilities were amazing, food and breakfast was delicious and the indoor swimming pool was great.

I would say that is one of the most beautiful experiences and vacation I ever had.Rooms with amazing view ,fresh food everyday and whats more important drinks and juices all day.My rate wold be 10/10.Im planning again to do my reservation for this year to Hotel Brilliant!!

My experience in brilliant hotel was amazing !
the food was so delicious and drinks were available 10am till 10 pm !
the staff was very kind and helpful for everything that we needed!
Rooms were very clean !
it was a great experience that i never forget!
Thank you brilliant hotel see you again 😍

The management team at Brilliant Hotel & Spa is amazing! They’re super organized, approachable, and really know how to keep everything running smoothly. It’s clear they care about both the guests and the staff, making the hotel a fantastic place to stay. Great job all around!