The Empire Hotel and Country Club was
recently (2002) voted "Asia's Leading Resort" by World Travel
Awards, and it is easy to see why. This multibillion dollar
complex is a complete world onto itself, as we found when we
traveled there over the November Holiday. The Empire is
essentially a self-contained oasis, boasting a golf course,
recreation center, several pools, a bowling alley and cinema,
in addition to a wide range of rooms and villas. The photo to
the left shows the entrance to the resort, about a 20 minute
ride from the airport. The photo to the left is the most
flattering (and oft seen) image of the Empire complex from the
beach. It is not hard to see why it is listed among the luxury
small hotels of the world.
From the
guardhouse the road to the resort winds upward to the main
building, whose impressive entryway is shown in the photo to
the left. Anyone who has spent time in the Middle East will
undoubtedly feel at home with the decor of the Empire Hotel
and Resort. To be fair, it is more understated than many of
the more opulent Middle Eastern Hotels, but there is certainly
the requisite amount of gold lacquer and glittering glassware.
As we arrived at the end of Ramadan, we were greeted by a
large model of Brunei's most prominent mosque, shown in the
photo to the immediate right.
A few short steps
from the entrance and check-in area is arguably the most
spectacular architectural feature of the Empire, the Atrium.
The five main floors of the hotel only extend about half of
the way across the building, opening onto an atrium that
rises six and one half floors from its base. Opposite the
hotel's main entrance, the atrium is enclosed on the beach
side by a wall of glass, bathing the area in light and
highlighting the Hotel's tropical setting. The atrium is
supported by massive marble columns trimmed in gold and
teak. The photo to the left shows the base of the atrium
with the ornate columns; clicking on the photo will bring up
a second photo that shows the glass wall and beach area. The
photo to the right shows one of the mezzanine levels (two
levels below the entrance) which hosts one of the hotel's
four restaurants, each on its own mezzanine level, facing
the atrium.
There are a host of
restaurants and shops clustered around the atrium. To the
right of the check-in desk on the atrium's second level is an
arcade of shops, shown in the photo to the left. They
specialize in jewels, carpets and clothing. around the corner
from the arcade is a series of steps the winds up to
Spaghettini Trattoria, the Hotel's cozy Italian restaurant,
shown in the photo to the right. There is a second Atrium
Cafe, a coffee and sandwich shop which serves the second floor
of the atrium, allowing visitor to grab a bite while soaking
in the spaciousness of this central lobby area.
One floor below
the main entrance are two more restaurants. The main dining
room and the Indera Kayangan Ballroom is built on a mezzanine
overlooking the atrium, and all of the buffet style meals are
served there. Most guests to the hotel take their meals here,
as it is included in most of the hotel packages. The
restaurant boasted a generous buffet of both western and
Muslim (halal) food, with especially good seafood. Patrons are
entertained by a player piano, perched at the edge of the
mezzanine (photo to the left). For larger groups, the Indera
Pura Lounge (photo to the right) offers banquet style seating.
There are also several large banquet/conference rooms located
on the floor above.
While the atrium is a
show-stopper, the rooms are what really appealed to us. They
were large, comfortable and beautifully decorated. The picture
to the left shows a view of the room from its anteroom (which
had huge closets and ample storage space for luggage). The
king-size bed sported an amazingly soft down comforter, and
beyond the bed was a small reading area with two stuffed
chairs and a table. Beyond the white curtains was a wraparound
balcony with a view of the beach. The photo to the left shows
the divider separating the storage and living spaces, as well
as the writing table on the wall opposite the bed. It was a
large, well appointed room, and everything in it had the solid
feel of quality. Spectacular. The video below from
TravelFoodTech offers a quick tour of the hotel
Video Tour of the Empire Hotel, Brunei
Take a Virtual Tour of the Empire Hotel and Country Club
Instructions:
Place the cursor on a number to view that feature in a new
window. Click on "Close" to shut that window and return to
the diagram below. [Hint: be certain not to drag the mouse
over another number, or it will open that window
instead] If this doesn't work (or negotiating between
the numbers is too annoying), click on the links in the box
below. Be sure your ad-blocker is turned off for this page.
Those on mobile devices will find that the "Close" button
may not work, in which case you must use your browser's
"Back" button
