Of all the places that my children have been to so far, the one place they keep begging that we visit again is the Empire Hotel and Country Club in Brunei.
How can I blame them? The place, as I remember it, was spectacular. The room was huge. And so was the bed. And the sheets were made of the softest cotton, so soft they felt like satin. The sheets alone made me want to lounge in bed the whole day…
The bathroom — done up in glass, marble, and gold — was equally spacious. It reminded me a lot of the Trump Tower in New York City. Except that the Trump Tower’s bathroom was a lot smaller.
But what the children loved the most about the hotel was the children’s pool and slide. The colourful plastic balls were all over the place, so I can only assume they belonged to the hotel.
The adult’s pool was unique — there was sand at the edges, as though you’re on a beach. But the water was chlorinated, not salty. And there was an area meant specifically for building sand castles.
Here’s the pool and beach/pool as seen from the Empire Hotel’s imposing lobby.
As you can see, the sea is also accessible from the hotel but we were more than content to stay in the pool during our stay.
The Empire Hotel also has its own private movie theater, a spa, and a championship golf course that was designed by Jack Nicklaus. If you ask me, it’s an excellent place for family weekend getaways!
It’s been years since we last went there, as you can see from the photos of the kids. [NB: All photos taken with a point-and-shoot camera, long before I even knew what a DSLR camera is.] Perhaps it’s time to visit it again…
Tags: Brunei
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:54
beautiful nga! :)
i have a friend who lived there for years [she's now here in the Philippines] and is inviting me to go to brunei. i’ve been wanting to go there for some time now. this holy week sana pero di natuloy. someday, i hope!
March 2nd, 2009 at 14:11
kg: my cousin went to brunei when it was hari raya (celebration after the end of the fasting month, ramadhan). she went to the king’s open house in the palace and shook hands with the queen! she said the queen’s hand was super-soft! :D
March 2nd, 2009 at 14:37
OMG, i love the pool, my kids will love that pool, heheh…
March 2nd, 2009 at 17:39
yup, the pool is HUGE and well-maintained. and there weren’t that many guests when we were there. their rates are not exactly cheap though — current promotion: family fun getaway (2 adults + 2 children) for 3 days, 2 nights incldg breakfast is at B$580 + 10% sales tax. That’s about USD377 or RM1,400 (the USD is really strong as of this writing). When we went there, we went with a relative could get special rates ;)
March 2nd, 2009 at 19:58
the rates aren’t so bad, it’s a very good deal i must say!
the kids are so tiny pa, and as usual, roundboy has his trademark sweet smile! ^-^
March 2nd, 2009 at 20:49
ah..now i see you are starting to think in euros :) RM1,700 is around P16,800, a small fortune in pesos, if you ask me ;)
March 3rd, 2009 at 20:46
I also had the opportunity to shake hands with the Queen of Brunei and Princess Sara during one Hariraya:-)