Kinabatangan Wetlands Resort — Hotel in Borneo

Having traveled to over 130 countries and stayed in countless eco-lodges, boutique hotels, and luxury stays, I can confidently say that Kinabatangan Wetlands Resort (KWR) is one of the very best experiences I’ve ever had. From the moment we arrived, everything about this jungle retreat felt special — the combination of comfort, accessibility, nature immersion, and incredibly warm staff made it unforgettable.||||The Lodge & Rooms||The resort itself is tucked deep in the Lower Kinabatangan Floodplains, one of the richest ecosystems in Borneo. The accommodations strike the perfect balance between comfort and jungle authenticity. Rooms are spacious, beautifully designed with wooden interiors, air conditioning, private hot showers, and large verandas where you can sit and listen to the sounds of the rainforest. It’s remarkable how the resort blends sustainability and comfort — you feel connected to nature without sacrificing the little luxuries that make a stay relaxing.||||Immersion in the Jungle||One of the highlights of KWR is its 1.5km raised boardwalk that cuts right into the dense rainforest. This allows you to safely and comfortably penetrate the jungle without worrying about mud, leeches, or getting dirty. We spent hours wandering along it, spotting wildlife, listening to the symphony of the forest, and feeling completely surrounded by pristine wilderness.||||Accessibility||A huge plus for us: the resort is fully accessible. We traveled with my dad, who uses a wheelchair, and were amazed at how seamless everything was. The staff went above and beyond to ensure he could enjoy every activity — from the boat rides to exploring the boardwalk. Many lodges in remote jungles aren’t designed with accessibility in mind, so this was truly impressive and deeply appreciated.||||The People||The heart of KWR is without a doubt its people. Everyone we met was kind, attentive, and genuinely passionate about making our stay memorable.|| • A special shout out to Sheng, who handled our booking over WhatsApp with incredible efficiency. She patiently helped us organize our family trip, answered questions instantly, and made us feel reassured even before arriving.|| • Our guide, Junior, deserves endless thanks. His dedication to spotting wildlife was remarkable — he never stopped scanning the jungle canopy and riverbanks, sharing his vast knowledge of Borneo’s biodiversity along the way. His enthusiasm was infectious, and thanks to him, we learned so much.|| • Our boat captain also deserves praise — his skill navigating narrow, winding waterways was awe-inspiring, and he always managed to get us into the perfect position to observe wildlife without disturbing it.||||Wildlife Encounters||This is where KWR shines the brightest. In just a few days, we were lucky enough to spot:|| • Wild orangutans swinging through the trees|| • Hornbills flying overhead with their unmistakable wingbeats|| • Several rare kingfishers, flashing brilliant colors along the river|| • And even the elusive frogmouth bird, a once-in-a-lifetime sighting!||||Every outing felt like an adventure, and the thrill of spotting these creatures in their natural habitat was unmatched.||||Final Thoughts||Kinabatangan Wetlands Resort is not just another lodge — it’s a carefully crafted experience that allows you to immerse yourself in Borneo’s biodiversity while enjoying comfort, accessibility, and warm hospitality. It’s rare to find a place that delivers so much to so many different types of travelers: wildlife enthusiasts, families, adventurers, and even those with accessibility needs.||||For me, this stands as one of the best resorts I’ve ever stayed at worldwide, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. If you are considering visiting Borneo, make sure KWR is at the top of your list — you will leave with memories that...

Positiv: The remote location is really fascinating. You are in the middle of nowhere. Very nice Boardwalk to the accomodation and also a 1,5 km roundwalk boat activities you can see mostly birds like kingfisher, crocs, monkey (proboscis, silver leaf, orang utans, macaques Transport is good organised (punctual pickup and drop off) Charlets are quite large with a good aircon, good showers, clean stuff is frendly, guide is speaking a very good english

Negativ: High Price | Around 250 Dollar per night per Person (all inclusive - Transport, meals, activities). Simple food (It is not the extraordenery food you get served. For Instance mostly prawn, chicken, whitebred/omlet/potato wedges. You have just a very sweet "Orange" juice which is also the welcome Drink (not very creativ), even one of the worst welcome drinks i got the whole 4 weeks i am travelling. Service Mindset Last day they served us breakfast earlier, because of leaving. And they didn't ask us what we want to eat. They put each of us a plate with egg, sausage and beans even if nobody of us liked the sausages and 2 of 3 don't like eggs. So i think it was thrown away, really sad and made me grumpy. They always gave us a wet towel after each trip, this could be a nice add on but nowerdays not really climat frindly especially if there is a sink few meters behind No Transparity Additional Service Tax +8 % The Package-Price on the Website is without tax, not good and tricky Not even a Coffeemachine Elephants are mostly unreachable -Beachvolleyballnet is a bad joke, tabletennisplate/racket not in a good condition rooms are old fashioned (not really for junger Generation) but for sure question of Taste the Highlight (ironical) was the last day, they offered us a Trip to the elephants with a local fisherman from Sukkau to bilit for 450 MYR for a view hours. I guess this would be the monthly income for the fisherman (this is a good idea to crawl tourists)

Overall: The Price is in my opinion much to high for what you really get. They don't wanna overthink there daily rotine. When they really want to survive, they need a other mindset, especially for europeans. For example: Serving fresh pressed Orange juice or having a good Coffee or at least better cakes (the fake oreo were discusting). Figguring out what vegan means... Talking with people what wildlife they would love to see and try to make wishes come true (example Elefants: we knew where they were, but they told us say don't go so far, instead of trying to do it. After that Trip i figgured out that the elephants were on the riverbank near bilit. So the guide has not a good communication with others or he thought of saving galons... Unfortunatelly really sad. I wouldn't do it twice. If the concepte is for one-time tourists,...

We really enjoyed our time at KWR. The river cruises and seeing the Proboscis monkeys in the wild, along with the birdlife, (kingfishers, heron, owls, hornbills and others) snakes in the trees, silver leaf monkeys, small & large crocodiles and the jungle in general was excellent.

JR was a fantastic guide and in unison with his fantastic boat driver / wildlife spotter Jalot, ensured that we never missed any wildlife and would stop for as long as we wanted to observe them as JR explained how they live, eat, breed and interact in their environment.

Exploring downriver and upstream into the side creeks and oxbows we discovered lots about the area and its animals.

We didn't see the pygmy elephants as they move in and out of this area with the seasons, but we saw several orangutan nests and a tour group the day before saw a mother and baby. So they are there.

Thats the luck of the draw and the joy of wildlife spotting.

We also bought some local river prawns and had the chef cook them as part of our evening meal as we like to try local / new foods. They are quite large prawns so don't get too many. 500grams between 2 is enough.

Resort wise it's a little lacking at present for a high end resort but still quite luxurious and private.

The lacking is primarily due to COVID issues of buildings staying empty for awhile, getting their customer numbers back up, and it's harder to find enough good staff but I'm sure they will get back there eventually.

BBC TV and National Geographic film crews and others have all stayed here to film the wildlife in the past which is a good indication of why it is where it is.

Yes it's expensive but you hear nothing but the jungle while you're there.

We spent about 6 hours on the water doing our wildlife excursions and it's a 1.5hr boat ride at 60km/hr boat speeds to get there which all costs money when everything has to come in via boat.

The pricing includes airport / hotel pickup and drop off, plus all food, lodgings and tours with alcoholic and soft drinks being extra.

The trip itinerary is a bit out of date as the village walk doesn't happen due to risks to the village and ourselves since Covid happened so it probably needs to be reviewed to avoid comments like...