5-Star Hotels in Sabah, Malaysia

Booked here for the last night. The scenery is very nice. It has a different smell on cloudy and sunny days. There is a swimming pool by the sea. You can snorkel and provide masks and snorkels for free. There are many fish. It is the only one on the island. It is very quiet. The room is spacious, but the smell is a bit strong. The water is yellow. Overall, it is good. The service of the staff is satisfactory. There is not much communication. It feels like you live on this island by yourself. You can eat by yourself when it’s time to eat. Maybe this is a vacation? The only very bad thing is that I contacted the hotel by phone and emailed many times before checking in, but I didn’t receive any response. Because I have to take a boat to the island, there is a pier address, but even though I asked the locals, I couldn’t find this address. I tried to contact the resort but didn’t get any response, which led to a long search for the pier on the day of check-in. No one will take the initiative to contact you on the day of check-in.

The hotel is new, recently opened. Rooms are spacious and comfortable. The hotel's strongest point is a comfortable and well-designed pool. Unfortunately, this is the end of the pluses. Breakfast - the choice seems to be large, but everything is focused on the Chinese, so a European / American does not have much to eat. It's good that at least there is an egg station. Front desk procedures - even though the hotel was almost empty, we were told to wait three hours for the room. A deposit of RM 200 per day is charged at check-in - cash only, no card guarantee. When checking out, you have to wait at the front desk until the housekeeping checks if you have stolen anything from the room. If you lose the document confirming the deposit - they will not return your money. Finally, probably the most annoying thing - the card scanning system in the elevators - we sometimes spent long minutes trying to press the floor key in the elevator, usually it ended with asking for help from the reception. This is absolutely unacceptable. There is too much to improve here to be able to say that the hotel is worth the price.

Rooms are clean. Room is nice and spacious. Facilities like the gym and pool are sufficient. Buffet breakfast was as expected as well. Basically a you pay for what you get kind of place. If you’re the type of traveler that likes to enjoy the hotel amenities and just chill there then this is a good place to go to. Has a very nice Chinese seafood restaurant located behind the hotel. Also for supper you could head to the fried chicken fast food restaurant behind the hotel too which is open 24 hours. Parking is free for guests who are staying.

Nice hotel with a very good location. Close to Gaya street where there are many eateries and where the wkend market is located. Next to the iconic round about and the sea front. The hotel may have been look dated, but the rooms looks to have been refurbished since last stayed here. Rooms is spacious and bed is comfortable. No issue with cleanliness. Didn't use any of the facilities as we just stayed a night before heading out to KK park. Good value for money.

Great resort area, well thought out activities and facilities . However, management should include more board games like scrabble etc. Lots of guests during our stay and sometimes we could not get to play games we wanted. I mean it’s easy and simple stuff to have more board games. Otherwise the food was great. The activities were good but pricier. Not a whole lot of participation. A pity. Oh, I should not miss out- the sunsets were picture perfect..

A lovely and amazing hotel located in the middle of the sea. Buffet lunch and dinner are all quite okay, esp the BBQ food during dinner. The hotel was quite full with many local visitors. Didn't manage to go to the Mabul island and snorkelling outside the hotel. Better to check with the agency or hotel in advance. Don't expect too much to do in the hotel, relax and chill is one of the best options. Land transportation was well arranged from airport to the hotel. Be aware that you can get all wet on the speed boat if the weather is no good and the speed is too fast.

The Gaya is a beautiful hotel, in a beautiful location and the staff are all lovely. The buffet is quite good with a variety of options. The seafood BBQ is delicious!! You have to book the spa and activities 2-3 days in advance to secure a spot. I recommend booking the spa before arrival. If you are a hungry person the all inclusive option may be best as the food at the pool restaurant is soso (in our opinion). Would be lovely to include a reusable beach bag in the rooms.

I visited the hotel with my parents, my wife and my daughter. We stayed for four nights, checking in on 3rd May and checked out on the 7th. This is actually my second time visiting this hotel, the first time being 30 years ago, again with my parents. I had great memories as a kid so I was looking forward to this trip. The First night was great, had dinner at Coco Joe's and rested after a long trip. The Second day was fantastic, breakfast and dinner and Cafe Tutu, met a lovely dining lady named Rohana. During the day, we enjoyed the great activities of the Leisure Center. Friendly staff from there made the experience children friendly. And the icing of the dessert - the sunset parade, Jamie loves it. Housekeeping did a surprise heartwarming job, covering the lion doll of my daughter with a little towel on the pillow, very cute and thoughtful move. The Third Day we went out to town so didn't stay much time in the hotel. The Fourth Day, was quite disappointing to be honest. Housekeeping did not arrive in the morning when we were out playing at the pool. I understand as there are many rooms to take care of. We went back to the room to rest between 2-4pm, switch on the ”Do not disturb” button, and somehow housekeeping team arrived so they put a card to say they could not clean as we put up the do not disturb button. Fair enough, but again, there was five hours in the morning which they could clean the room. Leaving the room again at 4pm for activities, I called service center for housekeeping, switched off the ”Do not disturb” button and went out. We returned at 7:45pm, still there was no housekeeping. Frustrated, I called the service center again requesting for housekeeping, they replied they will check and follow up with housekeeping. Half an hour later, still no one turned up. Extremely irritated, I called service center for housekeeping again. This time, housekeeping finally arrived but our whole family were waiting for clean towels to have shower. VERY disappointing with the effecitivness of housekeeping and service center on this incident. On that very same day, I discovered a big crockcroach in the toilet, so I do have a big quetion mark on the housekeeping of this hotel. The day was worsen when we had dinner at Coco Joe's, where we wait for nearly an hour (from 6pm to 6:53pm) before we get all our food served. I did complain it to the manager when he came by, which he did apologise and waived our dining fee. Despite my disgrunt towards the long waiting time of the dishes, I would like to give credit on the manager (I think his name is Mr Kan?) in terms of how he managed the complaint. Overall, the experience is mixed. With friendly staff at leisure center + Cafe Tutu, good food but unreasonably long waiting time at Coco Joe's, and disappointing housekeeping after the heartwarming performance on the second day. The hardware of the hotel is great (view, pool design, restaurant seating) but our experience was mainly affected by the staff. On this ocassions, I would like to give commendation to the following staff: Rohana, Majid (both from Cafe Tutu), all staff from Leisure Centre (especially the two ladies and two gentleman hosting water polo and volleyball respectively), and Kan from Coco Joe's on complaint management. Please keep up on the good work you already have, and work hard on things that requires improvement:)

Enjoyed our stay in this resorts. It’s like a small Malaysian maldives. Perfect service! Thank you manager Karl for everything! Lot of activities all day, such as kayaking, tour to the mangrove jungle, snorkelling, diving or just relax on the pool. Breeze villa very comfy and large. Kids also became a part of saving coral area of Gaya island.

I recently stayed at Le Meridien and was thoroughly impressed by the top-class service. The staff were incredibly friendly and welcoming, making us feel valued from the moment we arrived. Room service was prompt and efficient, arriving without delay whenever we needed it. Additionally, when we arrived hours ahead of schedule, the team graciously accommodated us with an early check-in—3 hours before standard time—which was greatly appreciated. To top it off, the sunset views from your rooftop bar were absolutely breathtaking and made our stay unforgettable. Thank you for a flawless experience—we’ll definitely be returning!