加亞島沙灘酒店

I recently stayed at Gayana Marine Resort in Kota Kinabalu, and my experience was far from the luxurious retreat I expected. Upon arrival, the sight of trash washing up to the resort was disheartening, contradicting the high-end image they market. The overall experience fell short of the luxury standard promised, leaving me thoroughly disappointed with my stay. The picturesque setting I anticipated was marred by the unsightly presence of debris, negatively impacting the ambiance of the resort. Despite their claims of being a high-end destination, the reality was quite different. While the potential for a beautiful and upscale experience is evident in the resort's concept, my stay was unfortunately overshadowed by the stark contrast between expectations and reality. I hope this feedback encourages improvements so that future guests can truly enjoy the premium experience they anticipate when choosing Gayana Marine Resort.

We spent 3 nights at Gaya Island Resort and had a great time, I thought I would write a review because there are a few things worth considering before you go. Firstly, the place itself is amazing, the staff are super friendly and caring - probably the most professional I have ever experienced in my many years of travelling. So all in all it was a wonderful stay. The things worth noting are as follows: 1. The sunbeds, I think may have mentioned it and it's worth mentioning again - there are nowhere near enough. When you pay and arm and a leg to stay at a beautiful resort it is annoying that they haven't found a way to add more sunbeds. People get there early, throw on their towels and stay or disappear and the seat is gone for the day. This is a solvable issue and the resort should so something about it. 2. Check in is after 3 - could be later - and it's not flexible, so if you are arriving earlier be prepared to sit around waiting for your room. It would be nice if they could flex a little as waiting hours for a room without your bags is not a joy, but it is what it is. 3. Eating - you are on the resort, so you are eating in one of their restaurants - no other options available. There are a few restaurants so not really a problem (we did the hot pot restaurant and it was great), but good to be aware. By far the most expensive places we ate in Malaysia, but I guess given the quality of the resort it wasn't a surprise and the main restaurant is reasonable enough. 4. Activities - my wife and daughter did the cooking class and loved it, we did the night walk - which was fun and me and my son did the coral garden. The Coral garden was fun and I was lucky to see a big old shark. However there is a large amount of plastic floating on the surface of the water that is quite concerning and makes the whole place not feel so clean. The corals and fish look healthy so may be fine, but be prepared to swim through bottles and crisp bags to see the fish. The local resorts and local authorities should really work together to resolve and you pay the tourist tax, so not sure where that's going, but not to plastic clearance by the look of it. Hope that's helpful. all in all, it's a beautiful place to stay, could just do with a tweak here and there to make it even better

We enjoyed our time at Bungaraya very much. After being in the jungle for 7 days, it was a very welcome bit of luxury and relaxation. We transferred across to Gaya Island whilst the sunset which was very special. It only took about 20 minutes. To disembark the boat, you have to literally climb over the seats to access the jetty which is not ideal. This could be very tricky for anyone with mobility issues. We were met by the manager Karl at the jetty, who gave us a welcome drink and a short tour of the resort by buggy before showing us to our room. Karl was a very attentive manger. He was always about chatting to guests and checking they were enjoying their stay. The grounds are beautiful, with 30 different varieties of Hibiscus. The resort was built with minimal impact on the jungle, with structures being placed between the trees, rather than cutting them down. There are 48 detached villas here but you wouldn’t know it from the water. This means the buildings are quite hidden from the beach, so there are no sea views as such unless you have a pool villa which are low level and in front of the beach. However, these were not very private. The rooms higher up the hill are much more hidden behind the tree canopy. There are very steep hills up to some rooms but there are plenty of buggys to get a lift. There was lots of wildlife around resort. We saw Monitor Lizards, Macaques, Hornbills, lots of butterflies, Geckos, Wild Boar, and Snakes. There were sand flies about at times but they did not bother us too much. It is extremely quiet here. Most days we had the pool area to ourselves. We only saw a handful of other guests throughout the day and at meal times. ROOM Very spacious with a nice large balcony area which had a lounge area and table and chairs. We enjoyed sitting out first thing in the morning with a coffee watching the Hornbills. The bed was large and very comfortable. The air conditioning worked very well. Showers were hot and there were plenty of good sized towels. Toiletries and a small insect repellent was provided. There is no WiFi in the rooms but we were in villa 17 which could pick up the WiFi from the Pantai Grill restaurant. They do offer room service for a 25RM charge but there is no literature in the room advertising this. The menu is on the Echo Resorts app but we were not aware of the app until we went to book Spa treatments. With no WiFi in most rooms I’m not sure how this service would work? RESTAURANTS The Long House Restaurant was closed for refurbishment when we were there unfortunately. We ate at the pool on the first day but service was extremely slow as all the food and most drinks were being brought up by buggy from the Pantai Grill. If we’d have known, we would have just walked to Pantai. The Pantai Grill restaurant was excellent. Very extensive menu, almost too much choice! We enjoyed every meal here. Very flavourful, hot and well presented. There are lots of staff who are so attentive, friendly and