BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: The Brunei Hotel has achieved a milestone in the hotel’s history since it opened its doors last year as the first Boutique Hotel in Brunei, winning the Certificate of Excellence Award and ranked No 2 by TripAdvisor, Borneo Bulletin reported.
TripAdvisor is one of the world’s largest travel sites, enabling travellers to plan and have a perfect trip, offering trusted advice from real travellers and a wide variety ..of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. Its branded site makes up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 60 million unique monthly visitors and over 75 million reviews and opinions and operates in 30 countries globally.
Speaking to the Bulletin, General Manager Andy Goh expressed pride of this achievement, applauding his team managers and hotel staff on a job well done. According to Andy, the hotel was judged online through guests who have stayed at the hotel.
The Brunei Hotel is quite popular among travellers especially westerners who are not so much into the commercial areas such as Gadong. Most importantly, the rating had been based on customer service and overall experience from the very moment guests step in and check in to the hotel and upon reaching their rooms, cleanliness and comfort along with the facilities that await them.
The good rating had continued with the breakfast they have had the next day, the sumptious selection and the friendliness of the staff, which all goes into account in reviews and ratings. “We are honoured we are ranked_ number two especially as this comes from guests who have stayed with us before,” he said.
The hotel, being a local brand, is ranked number two, after The Empire Hotel. and Country Club, out of 20 hotels of local and international brands in the sultanate.
Brunei Hotel has also been chosen because of its strategic location right in the centre of the capital with easy excess to the Waterfront, Water Village and Temburong.
“The managers have done a good job, but of course there is still room for improvement.
“They started when the hotel was first renovated and the current team of managers play an important role in encouraging and motivating the staff,” he said.
He also pointed out that customer service is not a one-day thing but an ongoing process, as one can be good in one day but then go down the drain the next day, so the managers and the department heads have to monitor their staff at all times to ensure that good service is best provided.
‘As the General Manager I’ll be honoured to drive them. Together we can achieve to make The Brunei Hotel, to be the pride of the nation,” he said.
Being the new General Manager of the hotel as he had just got on board a few months ago, he expressed hope to bring the staff to a higher level and improve customer service at all times.
The hotel also features weekend night live performances, a time for local Bruneians to come together and enjoy good music.
“This is a place that they can actually show their talents and build their confidence because not many people can perform in public,” said Andy.
Meanwhile, Brunei Hotel will feature an exclusive dinner alongside a special live performance by Andy Suzuki of The Methods with several other local talented singers this weekend. According to Catering, Sales and Event Manager Kee Taufek Kee Harrith, guests can enjoy a delightful buffet dinner while enjoying live performances by Andy Suzuki who is in town on a commercial project.
The Methods is a band from New York City, comprising lead singer Andy Suzuki, violinist Jason Gorelick and percussionist Kozza Babumba, the grandson of Grammy Award winning Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji.
Andy Suzuki & The Methods combine electric violin, djembe and piano while mixing elements of blues, jam-band-style soloing, folk, and piano-rock and the band, released its first EP, titled “300 Pianos” in 2009 and the release of the second EP “The Ghost Stories EP” followed in February 2012.
In 2011, the band was selected as the Manhattan winner for WNYC’s annual Battle Of The Boroughs and last March 2012, the band performed at an Official Artist Showcase as part of the SXSW Music Festival.
Andy Suzuki was included by The Urban Daily in the ’25 Artists That Need To Be Heard’ series.