Gaya Island Resort

Elena van Hasselt

We had a wonderful stay! The rooms are very spacious, big clean pool and nice beach. The service was top. Special thank you to June who took care of us in the Fisherman’s cove restaurant and the manager Rose. Lots of nice touches like free ( plastic free ) water in the whole resort. The food was also good even in the buffet!! Thank you for a lovely time.

Lex Bradshaw-Zanger

5* Prices but 3* Service This is a beautiful place and the rooms are quite well done, but be aware this is not a 5* resort. The service is patchy at best, activities are often overbooked, and the resort needs an overhaul. Restaurants are OK but the buffet feels like a canteen and not a hotel. There is very little in the way of service you would expect from a hotel of this sort and a lot of improvements and training needed. Be aware that there are several additional taxes that will also land on your bill at departure - some related to the nature park and others from the government. All prices also have +16% tax in top. Next time we’ll choose the Shangri-La. At this price point you’d expect more.

Jake Fletcher

The island resort is peaceful and relaxing. We went to the private beach at 10.30am until around 1.40pm and there were never more than 12 people there. The mangrove kayaking excursion was good fun but much shorter than expected. We enjoyed an a decently priced meal for dinner, and breakfast buffet wasn't bad. The room though a little dated was very nice. Unfortunately we had a problem with no hot water. After a cold shower, we called reception and someone came to fix the issue. The next morning the shower was still cold. Another issue was that when it rained, a fair amount of water leaked through the roof into the bathroom. A final irritation was the 300+ ringgit fee that was charged separate to the hotel booking for a 5 minute boat ride to and from the island. There is no reason why this compulsory charge is not already included in the original booking, other than to make it seem as if the hotel rooms are cheaper when you book, only for you to find out on arrival you need to pay an additional amount.

Courtney Rose

Beautiful clean beach with a coral reef just off shore. 3 restaurants, lots of activities throughout the day and the rooms were clean/comfortable. The dessert buffet was outstanding!! Seriously!! If you’re debating between here and the beach bungalows next door (which we also stayed at) choose here!! The prices are much more reasonable and the beach is a huge bonus. The best part was their accommodation to our 2am flight. They let us check out very late (11pm) and organized a private boat back to the mainland for us to get to the airport. I’ve never had a hotel be that accommodating. Thank you so much to all the staff for helping with that.

P GM

The island is quite lovely, but the activities were over subscribed meaning we only got half the experience we anticipated. This was particularly frustrating as guests who booked activities didn't turn up for them. Staff were great, the room was nice though we didn't spend much time there. Food was ok. The private beach was terribly untidy, but it may have been unfortunate timing for us. Service was a bit slow .