Shangri-la Rasa Ria Resort Kota Kinabalu Reviews

rasa ria, it was real resting! Guest Rating: 4.7

we went to kota kinabalu just because of rasa ria. its natural setting fronting beautiful sea and little orangutan reserve was quite attractive to us. and we are totally satisfied with what they provided for us. when we arrived, 2 musical players started performing malaysian music with something like xylophone and welcame us. food was also good, and lots of local cusine made it superb. dont miss the food stall style buffet at dinner! i super-loved lotties there. the best area we liked is pool area. there were enough shade around the pool and all kinds of tropical trees were planted. we liked the sunbed there, too. the only con about the pool is that water slide is so small. we spent most of our time around the pool. for my husband, catamaran sailing was the best part. even though we didnt know how to sail it, a very experienced staff in the marine ectivies center called himself as 'captain' and owing to his kindness, we could sail away until i shouted out 'came back!' :) it was thrilling was we enjoyed the whole view of the resort. i can say all staffs there was very gentle and nice!!

lovely garden, spacious room, birds singing everywhere, cool sea breeze, perfect pool area with good food and smiling staffs! everything we expected from vacation was there. we loved orangutan watching and it was one of the best moments in that resort. their so to speak 'natural slap stick comedy' gave us a big laugh. such a friendly and cute creature they were! night folk dance of the staffs(especially bamboo dance was good!) was pretty good. free activities such as catamaran sailing, cooking class was provided by the resort, and it was good also. if i come back to kota kinabaly again, definately i'll come back to rasa ria.

too far from down town. with this far location, the resort could keep its serene calm aura, but it is still a fact that rasa ria is 45 minutes far from down town. there are not that much serious cons. small cons i found: about cooking class, the cooking demo table was too high so we couldnt see much what's going in the pot. and also, the staff was grabbing not only food ingredient but enrollment sheet and pencil by turns. also i can't miss commenting on the music of coast. very modern interior, very nice table setting. but the music was poooooor. cynically sounding electronic music never match with romantic dinner. after that meaningless music, a band was on the stage and their jazz... i didnt expect too much but they make too many mistakes.

• Travel tip : when you ride from down town, the taxi fee is about 70~80 ringit, but when you comes back to down town, it becomes 90 ringits and the taxi driver tells you the it's official price showing a document. what can we say? roman's rule. you can use free internet in the room(online), and lobby/pool area(wifi). watch out for mosquitos! kotakinabalu mosquitos are famous for being gentle, but mosquitos are mosquitos. we couldnt hear them or see them, but they are everywhere. :( bring mosquito repellent and dont forget put them on after sunset!

Disappointment!!! Guest Rating: 2.7

Hmm..We read all those amazing comments before decided to choose this hotel. So far, this has been around 2-3 stars hotel. They gave us a room which smells like a wet dog and after long waiting we got new one. It was okay but the room key didn´t work...it had to be changed two times and after that the whole lock replaced. Once we were trying to open our door, old woman stopped and say " hi, we have two rooms and we have also problems with the room keys". If you really like the service where the very young, shine and smiling girls follow you everywhere, choose this hotel. We didn't like it, they just smiled if you tried to ask something. We have been travelling around the world, various hotels and we will not give this kind of comments if we dont't have to. What can I say... here is lot of activities, prices are quite okay and you can see the monkeys but....no, I would say: choose another hotel. Have a nice trip anyway.

Food, swimming pools, and orangutans.

Rooms, service.

• Sightseeing/Attractions Tip : Orangutans, better resort nearby NEXUS!!

Rasa Ria Resort Hotel, Kota Kinabalu Guest Rating: 4.7

Nature reserve next to the hotel well worth a visit.

• Hotel Feature Tip : Go on the Sea Gipsy cruise. Informative and near to the hotel.

School Holiday Resort? Guest Rating: 3.7

Should you wish to spend an enjoyable relaxing holiday and you have two or more small children this is the place for you. If you don't wish to be surrounded by screaming children and have meals in a school canteen atmosphere avoid this hotel.

• Travel tip :

Shangri-la Rasa Ria Resort Kota Guest Rating: 3.5

I believe that this hotel is helpful for family user with 8~15 years old children.

Bornean hospitality at its best Guest Rating: 4.7

That we had to wait 15 minutes for our room to be made ready upon our arrival was the only slight against a marvellous two days spent at the Shangri-la Rasa Ria Resort, Kota Kinabalu. The hotel lobby sets a good tone for the resort at large. While not particularly stylish in presentation, its open-plan approach and day-long subtle traditional music makes for a very calm and relaxing atmosphere. Service at the Rasa Ria is probably exactly as seasoned visitors to luxury hotels would expect, but if you're treating yourselves as we were, the genuine warmth that greets your every request is simply delightful, with lots of little appreciative touches everywhere, such as daily weather forecast to help you plan ahead. Indeed, the Rasa Ria would seem like the perfect place to treat yourself, set as it is on a magnificent beach with the rainforest just a stone's throw away. We opted for a standard garden room, which being on the ground floor had the added bonus of easy access to the garden (and beach) from the sliding window. Furnishings were functional rather than breathtaking, but the bed was very comfortable. There are several choices of eateries at the resort, and the food was in general very palatable, though do expect quite a large addition to your bill as without taking a taxi to Kota Kinabalu (and why would you want to do that, frankly) it soon adds up. We might have been fortunate with our timing, or it might simply be the design and capacity of the resort that it never felt busy or clustered during our stay. We made full use of the hotel facilities, including free sessions of tennis, table tennis, bicycle riding, body board surfing and even games of petanque and golf putting. Perfect for keeping a young couple busy. Additionally we paid for horse riding - they have a great beach for it. Having all this at our disposal really made the stay, and actually made the isolation of the resort even more attractive. I certainly hope to return at some point in the future.

• Hotel Feature Tip : If you're visiting Borneo the chances are you'll have 'seeing Orangutangs' high on your list of priorities. As a unique attachment for a resort, the Rasa Ria has its own reserve where twice daily you can book for Orangutang feeding. So instead of travelling all the way to the dedicated reserve at Sepilok you can remain within the comfort of this excellent resort to see this wonderful creature and be back on the beach within the hour. Superb.

Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort Guest Rating: 4.7

The best beach resort we have ever stayed at!

• Sightseeing/Attractions Tip : The proximity of the Resort to the Orangutan sanctuary was an added, fantastic bonus!

The perfect resort Guest Rating: 4.8

None