Gaya Island Resort

Erna Naresa

Overall beautiful resort but definitely a 3-4 star hotel at best with ample room for improvement when it comes to customer service. Activities: They provide a packed schedule of activities that you can book, although at an additional cost. They do have free activities such as snorkel gear, kayaking, even ferry to their private beach which is nice. There is no need to pay extra for a “guide” for such things as they advertised as can easily be done by yourselves, so do take note. There is not much to do in the evening except have dinner, take a walk around the resort. Rooms: Rooms are beautiful. We took the villa and had a nice scenic view of the waters. Only note is the lack of privacy, sometimes the staff could just come to your front door and see everything happening in the room. NOT IDEAL. Food: Food was ok but the food management was terrible. No room service provided, this is shocking especially since they claim to be 5 star. Staff on day 1 advised us not to order room service as it will be cold, thought this was really odd. Also discovered that if we wanted to order from their lunch menu for dinner, we had to make order way in advance. So basically if u want to eat at the resort, you have to time your meals and plans in advance because you have to make booking for everything. Service: Definitely not 5 star service, more like 3 star. Some examples, call reception many times and nobody answer. Ask for room change at first (we paid for villa with water view and that view was blocked by a tree) and immediately was told not possible because they claim all rooms were booked. Had to check booking.com only to find out that there are rooms available and fight with manager to get a better room - we managed to get a better room in the end. Their attitude overall seem to be saying no to everything at first before trying to help, which is not matching to a 5 star hotel. Location: Beautiful location. You take a 15 minute ferry to reach the resort, thought this was a nice touch. Resort is beach front, facilities are very nice as well. Though bear in mind that the ferry transfer is additional charge.

K S

I spent three nights at this resort and had a great time. We chose the full-board package, which included a few activities. The most impressive part of this resort was the staff — they were so attentive and kind. The location is very convenient, being close to both the airport and the Jesselton Point ferry terminal. If you're traveling with elderly people or kids, this place is a great option to consider. One thing to note: the view from our room (we chose the ocean view) faced Kota Kinabalu, so we could see buildings across the water. Since the island is very close to the city, this can be both a good and bad thing — it's convenient to get to, but the view isn’t as pristine. The activities were enjoyable, though the snorkeling, which was included in the package, was a bit disappointing. Still, we’re easygoing and had fun watching the fish near the jetty. The free activities for the nature walk(the one every morning - one hour) was really informative and the staff who guided us was so passionate and show us a lot of plants and creatures as much as possible. If you're in or near Malaysia and just want to relax without overthinking, I highly recommend this resort.

Born to travel

If you are coming in Kota Kinabalu, Gaya Island is the best place to stay if you like luxury, nature, beach and to be outside of the crowd. However be ready to pay accordingly, the prices in the restaurants are very high and you don’t have other options. Same for activities. Excepting the trash which they are putting big efforts to clean, the island is beautiful, rooms are very nice (specially the ones with the view) and service is good.

Angela Spence

Magical Stay at Gaya Island Resort: Perfect for Families! Our stay at Gaya Island Resort has been nothing short of amazing. Traveling with young kids can be challenging, but this resort struck the perfect balance between adventure, relaxation, and world-class service. From the moment we arrived, Raja, the manager, went above and beyond to make sure we were well taken care of especially as Hilton Platinum members, His warmth and attention to detail made our family feel so welcome. Our room was stunning as it was perched up in the trees with beautiful views, it felt like our own little jungle hideaway. Every detail was thoughtful, luxurious, and comfortable. The Marine Center is a true highlight. It’s not just fun and educational for the kids, it’s doing important work to protect and restore the local ecosystem. We were so impressed by the coral growing efforts and the team’s passion. We also saw so much wildlife - butterflies, monkeys, lizards, horn bill, fish on the amazing house reef, mean monkeys, (haha!) snakes. It was like living in a nature documentary! Yes, the resort faces KK across the water, but what truly surrounds you is lush jungle, calm beaches, and natural beauty. It’s peaceful, serene, and completely unique. And the food was wow! The chef (I can’t remember his name) is truly top-tier. He was so friendly and welcoming and would make whatever you were in mood for. He accommodated picky kids and vegetarians too! The hospitality throughout the resort is outstanding, with every staff member making you feel special. We’ve made incredible memories here and can’t recommend this hotel highly enough a family, or just looking for a special escape into nature.

Evelyn Ng

An absolute beautiful resort with the most friendliest and accommodating staff. We booked Gaya Island Resort for the second part of our holiday to relax and enjoy the beach life. We were taken care of as soon as we stepped into the ferry terminal office. Breakfast buffet was included with our booking and the choices and different cuisines offered was quite impressive. Dinner buffet would be considered reasonably priced if you were working in a country that had a strong dollar but as someone working in Malaysia it was a bit of a pricey price tag to swallow. But the food was top notch and the dessert selection offered each night was a highlight (that mini mango pavlova was 🤤) Beach was quite small at the main part of the resort but the resort does have a private beach about a 5 min ride away and offers a transfer between the two locations. We had a late flight leaving Kota Kinabalu and the staff were really accommodating and allowed us to store our luggage and let us continue to use the beach and pool, and showers until it was time to go. Overall I would love to come back to Gaya Island Resort and would highly recommend it to friends and family.