Brunei's Empire Hotel voted ‘Best Host Venue' on Asian Golf Tour

Empire Hotel and Country Club has been voted "Best Host Venue" by the region's top golfers on the 2005 Asian Tour, according to a press release.

The resort topped a poll of 28 other venues on its debut as a host of the Asia's premier professional golf tournament.

Key voting criteria for the 18-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed championship golf course overlooking the South China Sea were the course, facilities, caddies and staff.

Australian Terry Pilkadaris, who won the inaugural Brunei Golf Open, said, "This is the best place, golf course and hotel wise, that we've been too. It's beautiful."

The Asian Tour returns to the Empire Hotel and Country Club in 2006, on August 24-27.

Empire Hotel general manager Anne Busfield said, "We are delighted the Asian Tour players enjoyed their visit and look forward to welcoming them back in 2006."

Another recent sporting celebrity guest, Formula One racing driver Jenson Button, also named the Empire Hotel and Country Club as his favourite hotel in the world in an interview.

Designed by one of the world's golfing greats, Brunei's top golf course is rated among the best in Asia with lush, scenic fairways catering for golfers at every level. The par 71 championship is considered a "thinker's" challenge with tight fairways and fast greens skirted by jungle, cavernous ravines and a lot of water.

The resort has been collecting regional and international awards since it opened and was voted "Best New Resort" by Travel Trade Gazette Asia in 2001. TTG Asia subsequently named Empire Hotel in as "Best Independent Hotel", and in 2004 and 2005 as the region's "Best Resort Hotel".

Competing on the global stage in the prestigious World Travel Awards, the Empire Hotel and Country Club has been named "Asia's Leading Resort", "Brunei's Leading Hotel", "Asia's Leading Golf Resort" and, for three consecutive years, the "World's Leading Presidential Suite" for its breathtaking Emperor Suite, which is one of the world's largest at 666 square metres and has its own private indoor swimming pool and self-contained cinema.

Source: Borneo Bulletin