Gaya Island Resort

Michael South

Beautifully located resort on a tropical island. Our huge room, #823, was perfect, with a spectacular view from it's veranda. It was higher up the hill, so may not be suitable for someone with mobility/fitness issues. The food in the 'Feast Village' was very good, and the food in its formal restaurant 'The Fisherman's Cove' was excellent. Staff were, without exception, genuinely friendly and very helpful. Any issues were very quickly dealt with. Enjoyed a wonderful Malay massage at the spa, in a very pretty setting. Only used the private beach which inlvoved a short boat trip, but well worth the effort. Quieter than the hotel beach, which was mainly used by families staying in the resort. Mangrove kayaking was enjoyable and informative. Highly recommended.

Perry Wheeler

Sometimes, five stars is just not enough to do justice to somewhere. Gaya Island Resort is so very close to perfection that it really needs an extra star. The staff are outstanding, nothing is too much trouble and you’re left with the absolute conviction that you are being looked after by a team who are dedicated to making your stay as enjoyable as possible. The food... Well above what I’ve come to expect at similarly rated hotels. While we stayed on a full-board package, we still expected to eat a couple of times in the resort’s two premium restaurants. We didn’t; the food in the ‘Feast Village’ was of such a high standard and there was so much choice that we were never tempted away. This is the gold standard that other 5-star holiday hotels should aspire to. Accommodation… Is well designed, well appointed and blends in with the rainforest-edge natural environment. Each villa is separated into 4 suites, each suite has a large bathroom, office/walk-in robe and bedroom. Your rooms are surrounded by a large veranda with either day beds or sun loungers. We stayed in a ‘Kinabalu’ villa, the main difference between the classes of accommodation appears to be location and view - the incredible view from our villa made the upgrade well worth it. All the usual 5-star features are present (with the odd exception of an iron, although these are available from reception on request). There’s a smart TV that you can use your own streaming accounts on (remember to delete the accounts at the end). Each room also has its own dedicated wifi. Location… Private and secluded. As part of the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, the resort takes conservation very seriously. Protection of the rainforest and marine environment underpins all activities. The resort is constrained by the rainforest on one side and the ocean on the other. There are forest walking paths but guests are strongly advised against venturing out on these without a guide. We did one short guided walk and it was clear how easy it would be to get lost or to fall on the many steep slopes. The fact that we saw two pit vipers and were harassed by a troop of monkeys that didn’t share the resort's welcome for visitors was more than enough to ensure that we followed the advice. The bay is a perfect location for swimming and snorkelling, so good in fact that we never found time to use the resort pool. The resort has a small private beach a little further around the island and there’s a free speedboat shuttle there and back roughly every hour. It’s here that you’ll find another small cafe and the marine conservation centre (well worth a visit!). The downsides… This wouldn’t be a fair review without finding something on the negative side (although it’s not easy), so these are the best I can come up with: Cost. Other reviewers have complained about the price for activities and meals. It’s not cheap but I wasn’t too shocked - pick and choose, a lot of things are quite reasonable, some things are exorbitant. Accessibility. This is not a recommended destination if you have limited mobility. I had no problem keeping up my daily 10,000 step-count just getting around the resort. It’s spread over a wide area and there are a lot of stairs to go up and down. Mosquitos. It’s a rainforest - there will be bugs after your blood. The rooms all have mozzie spray and anti-itch cream. Remember to use repellent and you’re unlikely to have a problem. Additional Charges. There are plenty of warnings, there's even a sign on the check in desk at the pier before you board the boat but it still comes as a surprise to some guests who then insist on giving the poor hotel staff a hard time. You will get hit with Malaysian tourist tax (10myr per day per room) and the National Park fee 35myr for the first night and 25 for each subsequent night, per person). The hotel, by law, has to collect this - Please don’t be that person who takes it out on the staff. We’ll be back!

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.

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.