Gaya Island Resort, Kota Kinabalu - a Small Luxury Hotels of the World

700 reviews

• L

  Leslie

  CH · couple · Oct 2026

  9/10

  Lovely rooms, lovely location, good food, nice staff.

  We recommend booking things like dinners etc. once you arrive directly with the staff there, and confirm it on the day of again. We booked something ahead of our stay and there was a mix up (wrong date). The staff was very nice about it and we could eventually resolve it.

• A

  André

  CH · family_with_children · Oct 2026

  8/10
• M

  Megan

  GB · couple · Oct 2026

  3/10

  If it had been a 3 star package holiday, we would have been quite happy, but given it is marketed and priced as a 5 star

  The Omakase meal was flavoursome, friendly and relaxed, although it didn’t justify the price tag. The room was comfortable and the pool area is nice. We also enjoyed the visit to Tavajun Bay, and the staff there were really helpful.

  Many of the staff needed a lot more training and needed a second member of staff to pass the responsibilities on to, from simply ordering a drink to booking a meal / spa visit. Others were borderline non-responsive. We tried to arrange use of the spa and a meal at the Fisherman’s Cove, both of which were fully booked for the three nights of our stay, despite us trying to book on our first morning - which makes you wonder how far in advance we should be expected to book activities. It seems the activities / facilities either need longer opening hours or more staff as the hotel wasn’t particularly busy. During one example, the spa booking desk was empty, so we asked the lady on the activities desk (a few feet away) if she could help us - she rolled her eyes and sighed through the whole interaction, before ultimately telling us to just come back later, as it essentially wasn’t her job. We arrived in darkness and were pleased with the size of the rooms, as well as the comfort of the beds. However once the sun had arisen the next day, what initially appeared luxurious was revealed to be tired. From the broken shower equipment, to the yellowing plastic cups that drinks are served in in the shared areas. Finally, on our first full day - a group of several dozen ‘influencers’ and their ‘crews’ arrived for an awards event and spent the next few days shrieking on the beach, shouting throughout the resort into their handheld cameras with no mind to who else they were filming or disturbing, and holding up restaurant queues so they could take photos or film themselves. I suspect this group may also have been the reason paying customers were unable to access some of the activities and facilities.

• C

  Carsten

  DK · couple · Oct 2026

  8/10

  Fik ikke udleveret notaer for køb i restaurant og bar så jeg kunne afstemme regning.

• F

  Figurska

  PL · couple · Oct 2026

  9/10

  - Piękne otoczenie - pokoje przestronne - łóżko ogromnie wygodne - wybór pomiędzy plaża przy hotelu, a dzika plaża po drugiej stronie wyspy do której dopływa łódka hotelowa darmowa - przepyszne genialne jedzenie, super smaczne lody na desery - darmowa godzina kajaków