Hotel near City Center,Kota Kinabalu81.9% of visitors choose this area
AAnonymous User2025.11.30
This is our family trip to Malaysia, and we have two elders and a baby with us. Considering the check-in time was 3 AM, we booked two days so we could enter early in the morning and rest. Honestly, when you’re traveling with family, you just do whatever is most convenient as long as it’s affordable. The apartment has a great location—literally 15–18 minutes from the airport. All the food spots and supermarkets are within walking distance. It’s just an all-around great package for a first-time visitor to the city.
It was easy to sign in at security and get access to the apartment. The elevator is a bit slow because there are many residents in the building, but it’s acceptable. Once we entered the room, the AC was already on—what a breeze to welcome us on arrival. The room was clean, everything tidy. There were even clear instructions in the shower on how to use the water heater, which made things a lot easier. My in-laws took a nice hot shower after a 3-hour flight delay, and it was such a relief.
Later in the day—maybe because of the red-eye flight and the massive delay—the fatigue kicked in. Plus, we’re not used to the humid and hot Malaysian weather. My father-in-law started having a fever. I had Tylenol and other medicines ready in the bag, but we clearly needed a plan B.
I reached out to the owner immediately. My father-in-law was feeling cold even after the fever subsided. The owner contacted his friend in the same building right away and got us an extra blanket.
Plan B was to cancel our driving trip to Mount Kinabalu the next day. Since my father-in-law was sick, having him in the car for a 2–3 hour drive wouldn’t help his rest. And if things got worse while we were up in the mountains, he wouldn’t get the medical attention he needed in the middle of nowhere. It was better to cancel and stay in the city. So naturally, if we could extend the room and let him rest another day, he might recover enough for us to continue the rest of the trip.
Unfortunately, the room was already booked for the next day. The owner told us we could book another room and he’d try to let us check in earlier to make the transition easier.
After we booked the new room, I believe he made some arrangements behind the scenes. He later texted us saying we could stay in the same room tomorrow—no room change needed.
I’m really thankful to such an understanding owner, someone who genuinely cares and makes the effort to help a random visitor like me. I told him I’d write down this positive experience to share with others. Hopefully, it brings him more business.
Hotel near City Center,Kota Kinabalu81.9% of visitors choose this area
AAngela Ooi2026.01.16
The breakfast food was quite tasty, but the variety was a bit limited. Also, even though we stayed at the hotel, we had to pay for parking ourselves. Otherwise, the environment and service were great – a fantastic experience! Plus, the hotel is right in the city center, and you can walk to the largest mall in Sabah.
Hotel near City Center,Kota Kinabalu81.9% of visitors choose this area
@@jjembok_e2025.12.15
Except for the airport and Tanjung Aru, the location is excellent; you can walk to the night market and other markets. What stood out most was the amazing ocean view from the room and the clean swimming pool. I especially appreciated the washing machine and drying rack, which were very convenient, and the hot water pressure was excellent. I didn't see a single bug! If I ever go back to Kota Kinabalu, I'd definitely stay here again. 👍
What to bring: Maybe an extra towel or two?
Hotel near Tanjung Aru,Kota Kinabalu18.1% of visitors choose this area
ZZoeToh2025.11.25
Doesn’t like hotel..except there’s a people in front desk other thing all just like Airbnb
Without hotel services, late night check in with small baby, many luggage bag and stroller totally no one helping for it..front counter staff just look at us and when I ask any bell boy they say only self services
Water flow for both toilet stuck just open shower head awhile the floor already like flood
Last month I stay at here also ‘ARU’ but is under owner Airbnb.. this time choose hotel due to late flight arrive and prefer have services helping but no different with Airbnb… who knows actually the same building
The room with a very very kick ‘wet smell’ not sure is the sofa or what..actually it is the same with the previous stay Airbnb the unit just next door (more prefer Airbnb at this place)
Drinking water provided and 4 cans soft drink.. for short stay okay within 24 hours but more than that not recommend
Hotel near City Center,Kota Kinabalu81.9% of visitors choose this area
GGuest User2025.12.12
The hotel is clean and hygienic. It's a one-bedroom apartment with a washing machine. It's very convenient for getting around, being close to the pier, so you can sleep in a bit. I was always the last one to be picked up for tours. It also has a balcony.
Hotel near City Center,Kota Kinabalu81.9% of visitors choose this area
Ccocochancoco 2025.12.12
I thought it was a hotel, but it turned out to be an apartment rented out by a hotel. Many people I asked didn't even know where it was. It was a bit difficult to contact the owner, but thankfully, Trip.com's concierge helped me get in touch and check in smoothly. The room is quite spacious with good lighting, and it even has a kitchen with an induction cooker and tableware, which was very comfortable. The security is also good, as you need a card to access the elevator. It's just a few minutes' taxi ride to Gaya Street, and since it opened this year, the facilities are all new.
Hotel near City Center,Kota Kinabalu81.9% of visitors choose this area
GGuest User2026.01.02
Thank you for providing an all-in-one environment for busy professionals like me. A place where I can work, meeting old friends, and at the same time allow my 3 boys to enjoy themselves safely. The availability of both a swimming pool and a small beach, with lifeguards on duty, gave me peace of mind throughout the day. the room was also clean and convinient for us also to enjoy beautiful morning sunrise.
I was able to continue my work comfortably, spending time reading and writing on my laptop by the pool, surrounded by beautiful seaside scenery while watching my son playing. The experience was further enhanced by the availability of good food at the restaurant despite busy with customer, waitress e.g Ms Shamira and all were very helpful. Added with relaxing drinks in the evening while listening to live band performances, and quiet moments of healing by the beach, resting on the sofa with the sound of the sea. The staff were friendly and helpful, e.g Mr Alex and the team, who made our stay even more pleasant. Hopefully, we will have the opportunity to come again.
Hotel near City Center,Kota Kinabalu81.9% of visitors choose this area
GGuest User2026.01.04
My stay at Hilton Kota Kinabalu was professional and comfortable overall, balancing business efficiency with a holiday atmosphere. It's a very mature and reliable upscale hotel option in the city center of Sabah.
📍 **Location**
The hotel is located in the heart of Kota Kinabalu, with convenient transportation. It's about a 15-minute drive from Kota Kinabalu International Airport, and surrounded by a wide range of restaurants, shopping malls, and banks. It's very convenient for accessing the waterfront and major business districts, making it suitable for business trips and short stays.
🛏️ **Room Experience**
The room design continues Hilton's consistent modern business style, with a well-planned layout. The bedding is very comfortable, and soundproofing is excellent. The room's cleanliness and maintenance are kept at a high standard, effectively alleviating travel fatigue.
🍽️ **Dining & Executive Lounge**
The breakfast offers a rich variety of options, combining Chinese and Western cuisine, with efficient service.
The Executive Lounge provides a quiet and private environment, suitable for business meetings or brief work. In the evenings, it offers light meals and drinks, providing a professional and orderly experience overall.
🏊 **Facilities**
The hotel is equipped with a gym and an outdoor swimming pool, both well-maintained. The pool area offers expansive views, balancing urban scenery with a relaxing experience, perfect for a short break during a busy itinerary.
🤝 **Service Experience**
The front desk and service staff are highly professional overall, with smooth communication and seamless English service. Their timely responses reflect the mature service system of an international chain hotel.
✅ **Overall Review**
Hilton Kota Kinabalu is highly suitable for:
• Business travel
• Company hospitality
• Mid-to-high-end guests
• Trips requiring stable accommodation and service standards
The overall stay experience was solid and dependable, making it one of the hotels in Kota Kinabalu worth long-term partnership and recommendation.
Hotel near City Center,Kota Kinabalu81.9% of visitors choose this area
XXiao ling zi2025.12.21
The location is fantastic, very close to Jesselton Point,銘刻旅行社 (Mingke Travel Agency), Gaya Street, and Suria Sabah shopping mall. It's super convenient for shopping and island hopping.
The hotel itself is quite new, with a stylish design and layout, attracting a lot of younger guests.
Breakfast is excellent – plentiful, exquisite, and high-quality. You can even enjoy it on the outdoor terrace with direct sea views, which is a real bonus.
The pool isn't huge; it's a long, narrow shape, but you still get to enjoy the sea view from there.
My only minor complaints are that they don't provide complimentary bottled water that you can take out (only glass bottles for in-room use), and the lobby on the first floor is a bit small.
Hotel near City Center,Kota Kinabalu81.9% of visitors choose this area
AAlbert-G2026.01.08
As a business traveller, I had a solid stay at Marriott Kota Kinabalu. The sunset view over the waterfront is a real highlight. Rooms were clean and comfortable, with great amenities that made work and rest easy. Breakfast was good with plenty of choice. Convenient location and professional service overall. I also manage to do some fishing just at the waterfront.
Very Good
1750 reviews
8.9/10
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8.3/10
Very Good
GGuest User1. Parking car a bit hard to find m
2. The door knob between living room and bed room was broken
3. No hot water at the bath tub. Called maintenance team but no improvement.
4. Sink was clogged but eventually problem solved after maintenance team come over
5. Customer service nice
22020yiwannianAn absolutely fantastic experience, you simply *must* book a sea-view room! Not only do you get an unbeatable ocean vista, but stunning views are everywhere you look. 👍
I forgot my slippers 🩴, so the thoughtful provision of slippers 🩴 was excellent and much appreciated.
The most heartwarming touch: after check-out, they offer a temporary lounge where you can shower, take a bath 🛀, and even use a sauna, complete with hair dryers.
JJeffrey~This is a second stay after the honey moon with my wife as 2 guests 12 years ago. We returned back as a family with kids and everything was still excellent. The resort had been changed from Gayana Eco Resort to Gayana Marine Resort, while there was no more Alu Alu Chinese Restaurant and remained Macac Restaurant and Latitude Bar.
Different from staying Ocean Villa previously, we stayed in Palm Villa for 2 days this time as we targeted for direct access to water with bigger room. Palm Villa was very comfortable and spacious with individual small swimming pool and non-framed ocean view. We loved the room so much. But the water level of my room was much deeper than Ocean Villa which could not stand. However this was particular good for taking a rest if we played kayaking for long time. Some guests were playing kayaking passing the room when we were sunbathing. This was interesting.
The sea was clear and transparent to the rocks, but occasionally saw plastic bag and small rubbish. But overall it was still good for kayaking and snorkeling during my stays.
What made us memorable included the quality of food and drink too. We had meal in all 3 periods from breakfast to dinner for 2 days, the general standard was very high that we experienced from Malay, Western to Chinese dishes. Ragu Pappardelle, Pizza, Chinese fried noodle, Malay Satay, breakfast set were superb. Thumb up for their wide selections of squeezed juice that blended freshly at bar without adding water, I especially loved the rare green apple juice and my kids watermelon. Semi-buffet breakfast also offered self-served orange juicer complimentarily so we could see 3-4 fresh oranges to 1 glass of juice. This was not common during my past experience.
A special highlight was given to staff courteous and patience. All staff crossing or serving us would greet and smile, it contributed a lot to my memorable stay.
AAnonymous UserI didn’t pay much attention to the hotel’s details because I was out scuba diving every day. This hotel is old, so if you’re looking for a super clean and modern feel, this isn’t the place for you. They provide a good breakfast, and the staff even packed it for me since I had to leave early for diving. The location isn’t far from the main center, and there are plenty of shops nearby, which is convenient if you want to buy snacks or grab a quick meal.
TTamieTWaking up at Shangri-La Rasa Ria feels easy. The room is quiet except for the distant sound of waves, steady and familiar, like background music you don’t need to think about. I step onto the balcony with a cup of coffee and let the morning air settle in. The sea looks calm, the sky still pale, and behind the resort the trees are already alive with birds calling to one another.
Nothing feels rushed here. Breakfast can wait. Plans can wait. For a while, it’s just the warmth of the sun starting to rise, sand still cool underfoot, and the simple comfort of being in a place where jungle and ocean meet. It’s the kind of moment that stays with you—not because it’s dramatic, but because it feels quietly right.
AAnonymous UserThis is our family trip to Malaysia, and we have two elders and a baby with us. Considering the check-in time was 3 AM, we booked two days so we could enter early in the morning and rest. Honestly, when you’re traveling with family, you just do whatever is most convenient as long as it’s affordable. The apartment has a great location—literally 15–18 minutes from the airport. All the food spots and supermarkets are within walking distance. It’s just an all-around great package for a first-time visitor to the city.
It was easy to sign in at security and get access to the apartment. The elevator is a bit slow because there are many residents in the building, but it’s acceptable. Once we entered the room, the AC was already on—what a breeze to welcome us on arrival. The room was clean, everything tidy. There were even clear instructions in the shower on how to use the water heater, which made things a lot easier. My in-laws took a nice hot shower after a 3-hour flight delay, and it was such a relief.
Later in the day—maybe because of the red-eye flight and the massive delay—the fatigue kicked in. Plus, we’re not used to the humid and hot Malaysian weather. My father-in-law started having a fever. I had Tylenol and other medicines ready in the bag, but we clearly needed a plan B.
I reached out to the owner immediately. My father-in-law was feeling cold even after the fever subsided. The owner contacted his friend in the same building right away and got us an extra blanket.
Plan B was to cancel our driving trip to Mount Kinabalu the next day. Since my father-in-law was sick, having him in the car for a 2–3 hour drive wouldn’t help his rest. And if things got worse while we were up in the mountains, he wouldn’t get the medical attention he needed in the middle of nowhere. It was better to cancel and stay in the city. So naturally, if we could extend the room and let him rest another day, he might recover enough for us to continue the rest of the trip.
Unfortunately, the room was already booked for the next day. The owner told us we could book another room and he’d try to let us check in earlier to make the transition easier.
After we booked the new room, I believe he made some arrangements behind the scenes. He later texted us saying we could stay in the same room tomorrow—no room change needed.
I’m really thankful to such an understanding owner, someone who genuinely cares and makes the effort to help a random visitor like me. I told him I’d write down this positive experience to share with others. Hopefully, it brings him more business.
GGuest UserHotel Review
Positive Points:
1. Air-conditioning was very effective and kept the room comfortable throughout the stay.
2. Great window view – beautiful sea and jetty scenery that adds to the relaxing atmosphere. (see my attached picture)
3. Excellent location – conveniently close to eateries and the jetty, making it easy to get around.
4. Reasonably priced in-house food – offers good value for money for guests who prefer to dine in.
5. Complimentary extra bottled water was provided upon request, which was appreciated.
6. Friendly and helpful staff across all departments – from housekeeping, café, and maintenance to the front desk. Everyone was courteous and attentive.
7. Special mention to the chef – a very kind and gentlemanly person. On our first day, we ordered 6 fried eggs for breakfast, assuming they were included. The chef initially didn’t inform us of the RM2 charge per egg and kindly did not charge us for them. When we later tried to order again, he politely informed us about the charge. We truly appreciated his honesty and kind gesture.
8. very nice grilled meat at the roof cafe (5th floor).The promo price is 5 sticks for rm9.9 . worth to eat!
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Areas for Improvement:
1. Limited breakfast buffet selection – mainly local dishes such as chicken, eggs, vegetables, rice, or noodles. While the food was tasty, there were no options like fresh milk, cereal, or egg station. Fruit choices were also limited to just bananas every day.
2. Window leakage during heavy rain – rainwater entered the room. However, the staff responded promptly and mopped the floor immediately.
3. No robe hooks in the bathroom – makes it inconvenient to hang clothes or towels.
4. Shortage of bath towels – clean towels were only available in the late afternoon after laundry was returned.
5. Extra blanket charge – an additional around rm50-60 was required if requesting one more blanket, which felt a bit expensive.
6. Low water pressure in the shower – the water flow was quite weak, making the shower experience less enjoyable.
7. Housekeeping quality needs improvement – there was sand in the room, and although we informed the staff, it was not cleaned properly even after the feedback.
Extra Tip for Travellers:
There’s no laundry shop in Semporna town, so do remember to bring enough clothes for your stay.
AAngela OoiThe breakfast food was quite tasty, but the variety was a bit limited. Also, even though we stayed at the hotel, we had to pay for parking ourselves. Otherwise, the environment and service were great – a fantastic experience! Plus, the hotel is right in the city center, and you can walk to the largest mall in Sabah.
EE3710****Hyatt never disappoints. Even though the hotel is quite old, it's very well-maintained, and the service is excellent – warm and efficient. The location is superb; you can walk to Jesselton Point and many highly-rated restaurants. Suria Sabah shopping mall is right next door, which is great for shopping. It has nothing but pros; it would be even better if the room furniture could be updated!
GGuest UserEverything was fine. Service, location. Easy access. Free parking. Beautiful sight of room. Except I do feel the size of beds seem smaller than other hotel.
Location is nice. Easy to walk around other places. Near KK plaza & walking distance to waterfront & centrepoint sabah. But do smell market at the parking lot.
Swimming pool cgood. Got both for adult and kids. I do wish more table & seats provided outside of changing room.
Breakfast was worth it. For kids & adults. I would suggest if you could add hot chocolate for drinks as well.
Personally I would like to stay at this hotel next time.
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