Doing Bermuda on a budget is somewhat an oxymoron. However, if you’re looking for areas to pinch, the Brightside Apartments is a good option. We did $150/night over Memorial Day weekend. They give you a bed to sleep-in, a lock on your door, running hot water, AC, WiFi, and a pool. It’s steps away from three bus routes (3, 10, and 11), allowing you to get to Hamilton in around 10 minutes, airport around 10 minutes, and St. George in about 20 minutes. There’s a post office and a small convenient store around the corner with liberal hours (6am-midnight), and a couple of restaurants up the street. Shelly beach is the closest beach which is 3 stops away via bus or a rather long -but doable- walk.

That said, you’ll notice that I used very few adjectives (good or bad) so far. It’s clean, but think of it as college-dorm-room-clean. I’m quite certain a bathroom at the Fairmont will blind you with its cleanliness, not so here. You’ll get clean towels and sheets daily, but don’t be surprised if the towels are a little frayed, and the bed’s not the softest you’ve been in. We had an adjoining room, and the door might as well not have been there, as you could hear them brushing their teeth, the wall/door were so thin. Also, its convenience comes with a trade-off, as our room (near the front of the property) could easily hear all of the traffic going by. Fortunately, traffic is non-existent at night, so it really wasn’t a problem, but that might be an important aspect if you’re a light sleeper.

For my wife and me, who just needed a place to sleep and shower, it worked very well as jumping-off point each day to explore the island which we mostly did by bus. Buses run every 15 minutes Mon-Sat. We definitely would recommend it to those who just need the basics or traveling on a budget. We would not recommend it to those looking to indulge or for a beach-side property.

My husband and I have traveled a lot and are not fussy people. We don't need a lot of bells and whistles to be content in a hotel. But we both were left feeling disappointed by our experience at Brightside. It has so much potential for being one of the few affordable backpacker-style hotels in Bermuda, but unfortunately it falls tremendously short.

The room was reasonably clean, but featured much fewer amenities than we'd expected in an "apartment". Our room in the 'Annex' building close to the road only had a dorm-sized fridge and microwave. No coffee pot, no toaster oven, few dishes and utensils and no where to wash your dishes except the bathroom sink.

Another big problem with the room was street noise. The hotel is situated right at the major intersection in Flatts with traffic zipping by in a continous stream all day. If we had done it over again we would've asked to have been moved to a quieter room near the pool/garden area. We were there in the off-season, though, so it's possible that the only rooms available were those handful in the Annex buildind near the road. Curiously, the hotel propertiers put another party in the room directly next to us (and we were the only two patrons in the whole complex!) This was another annoyance because we had to hear their TV all night through the paper thin walls.

On a brighter note, the hotel owner and maid were very friendly and went out of their way to make us feel at home. The location in the middle of the island cannot be beat and there was easy access to bus stops and two great restaurants down the street. The gardens on the property were gorgeous and well kept.

Given older reviews on TripAdvisor and our general observations of the place it seems like the Brightside used to be a better place to stay, but has fallen into disrepair in recent years. If your main concern is finding a cheap place to stay on the island and you don't mind some noise and don't require many creature comforts, then the Brightside would be fine. But it seems likely that for not much more per night you could find better accomodations on the island...

Brightside (with the emphasis on the 'bright' paintwork) has its decor stuck firmly in the 80s. However the studio apartment we had was well equipped, spotlessly clean with a wonderful daily maid service and is in a good location. Would recommend it as a base for exploring beautiful Bermuda. We just shower, eat breakfast and go out for the whole day so it was perfect for us. Good value for money but don't expect luxury.

The Brightside Guest Apartments are very nice. Located in Flatts, Bermuda, they are right at a central point of the island, and a nice spot. The marina and Flatts Bridge are always bustling with people and boats, and provide very nice views from the apartments. The apartments all have (shared) verandas, with nice wicker chairs outside. We stayed in a top floor room, it was a one bedroom suite. We had a main living room area which had a couch, TV, table with 4 chairs, and a coffee table. There was a large bathroom, and a small kitchen with a large refrigerator, several cabinets with dishes and glasses and silverware in them, a stove, a microwave, and a coffeepot. There was a separate bedroom with a double bed, dresser, and closet. The place was generally clean, however, there were some small things that could have easily been fixed and/or enhanced, that would have made this place much better, in my opinion (e.g. handles on dresser drawers broken, dresser drawers cleaned/lined, matching silverware/dishes/glasses, updated paintings on the wall). The owners are a delight- Mr. Lightbourne is always checking up on you whenever you see him- and he or someone in his family is always around- and is so nice and answers all questions... like everyone else on Bermuda, just a joy to talk to. All in all, the place was nowhere near a luxury hotel that you will find in Bermuda, but for a newlywed couple who would have been happy sleeping on the beach for a low price, this did the trick! We would stay again. Also, there is a new building being constructed behind our building that looked very nice- lots of little verandas, a bright color, and right over the pool.