Crystal Hill R, Kundasang, Sabah. — Hotel in Borneo

The view here is spectacular but I can't say the same about this place. Its a horrendous. Let's start with the journey to reach this place, it was bad, really bad. If you're driving a small compact car (ie kancil, myvi etc) don't even think about washing your car before you come here. There are puddles everywhere and some it was so deep our Fortuner was shaking as in we were on our jungle tracking adventure. The road was so bad, you'll wonder how on earth they even manage to open up a lodging there. After you reached and settle with the checking - in (which was surprisingly a pleasant and only pleasant experience there) you have to drive further up to your room which another bad experience. Once you found your unit the horror began, once you enter the room you will be greeted with an overwhelming smells, like a stuffy damp store room smells. When we enter the toilet, it was wet, like really wet! like someone just took a shower there before we went in. The bedding are the worst, the pillows are really dirty and smelly, they even stank my hair (I just washed my hair that morning!). The bed sheet is just plain dirty and somehow sticky. The floor are sticky all throughout the unit and you can even see clumps of hair on the floor (God knows where it come from!). The outside table are sticky and full with dead insects. We tried to change to another room since we saw other rooms are empty, but the receptionist told us that all are fully booked! Feeling defeated, we went back and tried to enjoy ourselves here but after 3 hours (6pm), we realised nobody else staying there. Just us and another 3 staff in one of the unit. It was empty! We can't take it anymore, we went to check-out immedietly and went straight to Kinabalu Pine Resort which the price range was almost same with crystal Hill Place but it was beautiful and clean! The view and experience at this resort are better than what Crystal Hill can offer. To Crystal Hill, how dare you call yourself as heaven on earth! Its a shame, this place has so much potential. I would give it another chance if they could get their 'act' together....

This homestay used to be good a few years back and ever since the lack of maintenance it has gone downhill. It has 2 blocks of building and ours was at the top side. Paid too much for a lack of basic amenities and also poor hygiene at a 3-star-rated homestay. When I raised the issue to the concierge during checkout I was kinda disappointed with the feedback given - “We apologized the room is still under maintenance” which I don't think it is wise to rent out your room given under these circumstances. That just definitely gives a bad impression to your businesses. Here's the breakdown.

Cons: Room smelled old and mold-like, missing TV remote, no instant coffee or tea provided, broken cloth hangers, loose faucet, overgrown grasses which attracted bugs, broken bathroom door that I have to forcefully shut, stained towels, mold on ceiling, and a few roaches present where I felt an RM200ish room ain't worth it. Road condition heading to the homestay is bad (gravel) - no changes from the first visit a few years back, steep hillside, and narrow (single lane) so you have to drive cautiously and look every corner on incoming vehicles plus I don't recommend you take a risk if your car has faulty brake.

Pros: Fresh air with crystal clear superb Akinabalu morning view make sure to wake up early not to miss this chance preferably at 6-7 AM, it's A Quiet Place to stay, cold atmosphere at night around 10-13°C (don't recommend you going commando & shirtless as I did unless you can withstand the cold air).

Given all that I truly hope the business owner takes the initiative to fix the defects listed above. For the sake of business perspectives, it is not a good idea to rent out a room under maintenance. Please prospect guests don't let it ruin your “mi casa su casa” experience right here. And Crystal Hill R. - don’t be...

We booked five nights here. A week in advance, i messaged them on the Agoda app and via email to request an extra bed, I received no reply. On arrival, there was no extra bed provided and they didn’t know about the extra request I had sent to them. We also found the bed sheets were mouldy and had curly hairs on them, the room walls were dirty and lots of dust on the floor. We requested the sheets to be changed, which they did. They then presented a mattress for my son to sleep on. The mattress itself was about 4 inches thick, without padding, and was very dirty and stained. For 5 days, this was not suitable at all. When I asked them for an alternative, they didn’t have any. Initially, they offered a spare mattress from an unoccupied room, but later retracted that offer for no reason, leaving my son to share a bed with his two sisters.

I struck a deal with the owner to stay one night, moe to a different hotel and get a refund for the remaining four nights. To date, I haven’t received a refund and Agoda doen’t have customer services to request this refund. The hotel owner has gone quiet on this issue, so I feel I have to accept a loos for the four nights.

Overall, the staff were very unhelpful and seemed not to care at all, apart from one man, he was lovely. The accommodation is in much worse condition than the photos let on, dirty walls, generally run down vibe. The photos they post showing eating on a veranda over looking the mountain are not representative of the veranda - it’s not got any tables and has broken/old stools to sit on. The pictures of the rooms are nothing like reality. We were very disappointed on first arrival, I wouldn’t...