Gaya Island Resort

Jiří Brožek

My wife and I used the hotel for 2 nights after our trip through the Bornean jungle. The hotel is proud to be part of the Small Luxury Hotels chain and I have the following notices about it. The hotel is definitely not Small or Luxury. On the contrary, I had the impression of an ordinary holiday beach hotel. I'll tell you what bothered me the most. At the pool gazebos, you have very old, not completely clean and very torn curtains. You should replace these as soon as possible. However, what I consider a disaster - is the cleanliness / impurity of the sea. I was on a "private" beach one day and pulled 20 pieces of old plastic bags and old plastic beaches out of the sea. It's very nice that your staff make various ornaments on the beach with rakes, but it is much more important that they clean the sea from time to time. I definitely cannot recommend your hotel as a MICE organizer at this time. Please work on cleanliness..

Zaza Md Taat

Me and my family (husband and 2 toddlers aged 5 & 3) stayed here for a total of 3 nights in September. Here is my experience: We booked for a canopy villa but somehow was "upgraded" to a Kinabalu villa- while the views are amazing, it is not a really best choice for those with young kids as to travel down to have your meals at the Feast Village takes about 10-15mins travel down. And they only told us of this in person and replied via email about our additional mattress enquiry at the moment when we wanted to check in. Check in time is supposed to be 3pm but we were only given our room at 3:50pm (though they did apologize for the inconvenience and gave us free drinks at the pool bar). Canopy Villa would have been the best choice cos it's the nearest to facilities. No specific reason was provided as to why our room was supposedly "upgraded". There are some positives: 1. The dining staff are kind and accommodating. One time i said i needed the pizza lunch to be ready before 1230pm so that i can bring it to Tavajun Bay and they promptly got it ready and delivered it to me. They were helpful with getting plastic cutleries for my kids at all mealtimes when asked. 2. I love the pool because there is a suitable kids area and a broad pool for adults which faces the sea. Really scenic. Overall, this resort is sometimes a 3.5 star and sometimes a 4 star..it really had potential to be a solid 4 star resort if it had more staff around the premises. The lobby would have only 1 or 2 staff handling both the activities & check in/check out lines so sometimes there's a long delay before ure attended to. This resort is definitely not a 5 star resort. If you're looking for a worthy YTL resort, then do head over instead to Pangkor Laut Resort. Emerald Beach is BREATHTAKINGLY beautiful & the entire resort is more equipped with staff, the entire resort owns the island that Pangkor Laut Resort sits on & the resort aesthetic is more well kept.

Bohui Moon

Absolutely incredible experience. So much to see snorkeling not even 100m off the beach, but try to do it before afternoon, as the tide recedes. What really made it fantastic was the staff. I didn't hear a single no, always kind and quick. We booked the Gayan Bouillabaisse at the Fisherman's Grove about a month out for a birthday. Was disappointed when they emailed me a day before the grove was going to be closed for something else. But they ended up rescheduling the other event just for our dinner, and we got to have an unexpected fully private dinner!

Chiara Bocchio

Rooms were spacious and beautiful. Common areas were ok but not really clean. Breakfast was great, a lot of options. Two things were really disappointing: the 2 restaurants. The fisherman cave is everything but a fine dining restaurant in terms of food, service and location. Also the omakase, even if a bit better with food. Probably better to go for the buffet one or go back to KK. Also, definitely do not recommend the Borneo crafting (it’s just sitting in a AC room making plastic bracelet). Mangrove kayaking instead was a very great experience.

Craig Forrester

Rooms are lovely, really well appointed with lots of space for your clothes and bags. If you are less mobile arrange for a lower room as some are up the hill, they will give you a lift if needed. The food is excellent with a choice of restaurants. The pool is a nice size and there is a gym if you want to stay in shape