I went there back in 2008. I doubt much has changed. The Empire hotel is worth staying at. Very good for what you pay (or at least what we did). No drink though, of course.

The highlight of our trip was Ulu Temburong national park, and the journey to get there. It's in the "other" bit of Brunei so you need to take a speedboat from BSB and then a shallow-bottomed boat once you get up the river a bit. Quite a journey.

We did hire a car but it's not really worth it. It takes very little time to get from one end of the country to the other and there's not a huge amount to see. BSB is worth wandering around in for a day or so, but that's about it.

If I were heading back to that bit of the world I'd skip it and go to Sabah. But if you are there, the national park is the thing to do.