Sea View Sandakan Budget & Backpackers Hotel

Very cheap, very basic, we literally had a sleep there with our friends but nothing extra. For that it was just fine. The staff were very grateful and nice though. :)

I stayed in Sandakan only for 1 night and half day. Sea View Sandakan BB Hotel is close to the beach, weekend market and shopping mall area. They have tour to Kinabatangan river pick up from this hotel. The manager is really friendly and funny. She herself made banana pancake for breakfast for guests. The hotel looks not so morden but quite clean.

Very good B&B.

The stuff is very friendly and helpful, and have all the info for trips in the region

Location is very good, but the rest is not. The facilites are old and not very well maintaned, the room was not so clean. But the worst part is the kitchen. Very dirty, we had breakfast included in the room rate, but have not been so brave to try it. We wanted to stay here for two nights, but changed our mind and spent only one and moved to another hotel.

You get what you pay for. But OK budget room, with A/C, wifi didnt really work, pancake for breakfast. You most likely wont meet any traveller there.

Stayed here 2 nights. Room ok, towel & sheets provided but were stained. No wifi for the first day. Only 2 power showers out of the 4 & 1 other wasn't plumbed. Toilet paper provided in 1 set of toilets on 2nd day of stay. Good location.

Reviews for this hostel were okay if not really good. I had paid for two nights so decided to stay both. It was tolerable. No staff at the reception when I arrived, seemed as though I got the receptionist out of bed at 3pm to show me my room. The room was dark and small with 6 beds ( two bunks and a double mattress ). The floor in the room hadn't been swept, there was a used cigarette under my bed, the sheets looked old and used and there was only two room keys for my room.. So I had to share it with two other people? I don't think that is right. There were no lockers inside the room so I kept my locks on my bag. There was not personal reading light or PowerPoint, instead one to share between everyone. The showers weren't clean and didn't have shower heads. There was a pipe sticking out of the wall with only cold water. All of the walls needed fresh paint or cleaning. The communal area had two couches, one was broken. These also didn't look particularly clean. Breakfast was a pancake and coffee- these were both good! I was disappointed by my stay here and the staff didn't seem to care about the place or the customers. I ended up changing to a hostel around the corner that was almost the same price and the complete oposite to this hostel. I'm a backpacker and not usually picky - as I said it was tolerable. Just be warned and know there are better options in Sandakan.

Terrible- nicer again. Dirty and hot and staff were not helpful at all

I am an experienced low budget southeast asia traveler, having stayed at over 50 different locations last year. This place rates very close to the bottom, if not the bottom for value and quality. It was very poorly kept, had mold growing in the bathroom, did not provide either toilet paper, towels, or soap, though after complaining towels and toilet paper was given. We were told breakfast started at 8am, which is late for a hostel, but the next morning we were told 830. All staff were still asleep at 8am when we went to the desk. Eventually breakfast of a plain pancake was provided, but the restaurant area stank so badly we couldn't eat there. Dirty dishes were everywhere. Don't know where the smell was coming from in the place. Certainly don't recommend anyone stay there, regardless of the price or location.

It was awful. Firstly, it was really dirty, ants were everywhere, shower tubes were obstructed, dishes stayed there for two days, the kitchen was unavailable. Secondly, staff wasn't able to help us in order to plan our vacations or to answer to our touristic questions. Finally, the room was really hot, impossible to stay there to sleep and mattress were old and worn out. So, not a place to advise!

Not sure how this place has a decent rating at all. Came to book cheap tours but the prices weren't even as good as what you can find with an agency on the street. Rooms don't look anything like the pictures- all the mattresses are broken and so dirty, room has mould and the dorm room is so unbearably hot. Staff could hardly speak English and needed coercing from all guests to finally try and fix the wifi, which is poor and doesn't reach far. The bathrooms were clean but that was the only good thing. The worst part was the bed bugs, I found and photographed them, both adolescent ones (which are invisible) and adult ones (which are big) and the staff only offered for me to change beds. I think they didn't understand what bed bugs are and kept asking if I meant cockroaches (which there were 2 giant ones in the hallway, the host barely wanted to walk down it)... I ended up walking out in the middle of the night and booking into a hotel down the street. They have no idea about bed bugs I guess... so don't stay here in the near future until they've sorted this problem out. I think there are many other budget options nearby

I wouldn't recommend staying in Sandakan for more time than you need. If you are visiting to see Sepilok, consider staying at Uncle Tan's just near the sanctuaries. They run tours from there too. The women (I think mother and daughter) running the place are lovely and very helpful and attentive. The food is delicious. The man at the front desk is infuriatingly lazy and unwilling to help, but if you get one of the other two they will give you information. The dorm is pretty basic, you pay for what you get, however it has big windows at the end of the room which is nice for letting in light. The location is good, just near the market street where all the other backpackers are.

We are very pleased and enjoyed the tour offered by this accommodation. The staff were extremely kind and helpful and supportive. We are very much appreciated for the help from staff.

It is a place for those who need a place to sleep and on a transit. If you want comfort and luxury, this is not the place.

This place could do with a little renovation, the bathrooms need to be redone, with new tiles and basins etc. It gives a large pancake for breakfast. Staff are obliging and helpful. Located just opposite the central Sandankan market near the harbour Square and surrounded by the waterfront and a new mall and new hotels

Very Nice, The owner are nice and this is the only backpackers serve welcome drinks. And they have the travel company too. Very convinced

We stayed one night in a room twin room. The room didn't have air conditioning and wasn't very comfortable in any other way either. The hotel also looked like it has seen its bests days and the condition wasn't very good. It was still clean and quite basic hostel. The owner of the hotel was very nice and helpful and wanted everyone to have a nice stay. She also made good food but the breakfast was quite a joke. Just one pancake and not even water was included. The location was good and all in all the stay was okey compared to the price.

Staying at Sea View pretty much MADE my visit to Sandakan. (As I've since talked with others who booked other Kinabatangan river tours and didn't see HALF what I did) I do believe I owe my gazillion pics of more than a half dozen wild PIGMY ELEPHANTS to Sea View Backpackers Hotel. The price for my 3 day 2 night trip was far less than other tours, and the owner of Sea View even wrangled me a private room at the lodge for no additional single supplement. The rest of the staff too, was most helpful and friendly. The bountiful dish of deep fried bananas and tea upon arrival is a very nice touch, and the free breakfast crepe with palm sugar syrup and coffee/tea was most welcome (extra crepes, must 1 ringgit!) The Lemon Grass Cafe on the 3rd floor has a host of good eats at most reasonable prices including Anna's divine Pumpkin Curry and her huge desert crepe with Nutella and ice cream is not to be missed!