The Empire Hotel, Brunei

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…