THE Empire Hotel in Brunei isn’t the only hotel boasting a link to royalty – the destination’s most luxurious place to stay is funded by a senior member of the country’s ruling royal family – with inns from the African jungle to the Arctic Circle offering an experience good enough for the most important of VIP guests.
The Goring Hotel, London
Not only did Catherine Middleton spend the night before her wedding to Prince William in a suite at The Goring Hotel (below) — the 105-year-old address is a couple of blocks from Buckingham Palace — but Queen Elizabeth enjoyed Sunday breakfast with her sister and parents in the dining room during World War II.
Craig’s Royal Hotel, Ballarat
Dame Nellie Melba and Mark Twain stayed at Craig’s Royal Hotel (below), the grand Ballarat building which was constructed during the boom days of the city’s gold rush in 1853 and still welcomes guests to stay in period rooms. Its noble patrons include Queen Victoria’s second son Alfred in 1867 as well as Prince Albert and his brother George in 1881.
Arctic Hotel, Ilulissat
Greenland is a favourite travel destination for the Danish royal family and Australia’s Princess Mary stays in the Arctic Hotel (below) when she visits Ilulissat on the country’s west coast with this bright red building walking distance from the glacier that produces 80 per cent of Atlantic Ocean icebergs.
Treetops Hotel, Kenya
Queen Elizabeth was at Treetops Hotel in Kenya’s Aberdare National Park when her father King George died. Her bodyguard Jim Corbett noted in the property’s log “for the first time in the history of the world a young girl climbed into a tree one day a Princess and … climbed down from the tree next day a Queen’’.
The Carlyle, New York City
Not only has The Carlyle welcomed every American president since Harry Truman slept over in 1948 but Princess Diana stayed twice, Charles and Camilla were guests in 2005, and royalty from Spain to Sweden have made a base in this Big Apple “art-deco jewel’’.
Far Near Or Here 