Sepilok Jungle Resort Sandakan, Sabah. — Hotel in Borneo

Very basic hotel, cannot be described as a resort. The beds and pillows are hard and uncomfortable. The food is awful and expensive compared to eating elsewhere. The staff at reception are either friendly or sulky. Beware that if you buy a trip and it is cancelled due to bad weather there is no refund. They don’t tell you until you ask the question. ||The pool is dirty, cloudy and scum marks along the edges of the water. It needs a good clean. All towels are threadbare. 2x 250ml of water per day supplied per person, the rest you have to buy and it is expensive. There is black mould in our bathroom and was also on our shower head and hose. I had to clean the shower head myself as I didn’t want mouldy showers. ||They do not service the room daily, but you are not informed of that. You have to ask for this at reception. When servicing the room, the bed is not made up and left as you left it. Our fresh towels were left on the bed, no hand towels left for us. They topped up the sachet tea and coffee’s, left two of the small bottles of water than that was it. Desperately poor. ||There were no amenities in the room and no hand soap by the wash basin. There was nowhere to put your luggage except to open it on the floor in a compact size room. There are no wardrobes, just a small hanging space with 3 plastic hangers. There is nowhere to put clothing, so it has to be left in your case. Not ideal. ||The restaurant is not particularly cosy or comfortable and yes, there is a small child belonging to a staff member who runs around yelling. The service staff are very unfriendly and do not acknowledge your presence. Not even a smile or greeting. One could be forgiven to assume that you were inconveniencing them. Breakfast is the worst that I have ever had in a hotel, it’s limited, cold and unappetising with very few choices. ||The rooms and corridors are extremely noisy with children running up and down corridors, people talking very loudly in the tiled corridor and the slamming of room doors. There are some extremely thoughtless and selfish people around. ||The property, in short, needs a lot of money spending on it to bring it up to scratch. Simple things like providing white (non stained and non threadbare) towels would be nice. Proper and thorough cleaning of the bathroom and replacing mouldy shower hoses would be great too. Having a pool man to hand out towels to guests would be a real bonus as there is none of either unless you go into the hut and help yourself from the plastic bag. Having a comfortable sun lounger instead of sitting on bare wooden chairs would be a dream. The pool guy did appear briefly a couple of times but spent his time watching videos on his phone. I think we would all like a job like that!||On the positive side, there is plenty of parking, it is close to the Orang Utan reserve, the sun bear reserve and the discovery centre. ||My advice would be to stay elsewhere (like Sandakan) and get a grab to Sepilok to do what you have to do. You can do it in a day. Our opinion is that the website for this hotel gives a false impression. Not wheelchair or disabled friendly due to...

As alot of others have mentioned this resort is what only can be described as tired. Which is a shame given the potential it could have to be amazing! ||We found it adequate for a short stay if your on a budget, we only had one night here, but probably not great if you are wanting something longer. ||The grounds the place is set in are beautiful, we spotted a kingfisher around the water on a couple of occasions.||The room we had was clean, shower was hot (need to pre heat before use using the switch in the room but we were not told this so had a cold one the first time!), tea coffee provided, things to be improved were bed was very hard, no hair dryer, very dated furniture, bathroom was speckled with mouldy patches and some bits of crap could have been dusted away in the higher areas.||They offer no help to take your suitcases to the room which could be difficult for some people given some of the rooms are fairly far from the main entrance and up several sets of steps in places.||Many of the board walks are very rickety and look like they might be an accident waiting to happen! ||The whole place could do with a good lick of paint at the very least to make it look less tired.||Pool area also tired looking, not really many sun loungers and the ones that were there were quite rickety and some looked broken, no cushions or umbrellas provided which can be hard work with the heat! pool is murky and full of floating bits, the guy at the 'pool bar' just sat on his phone could be making an effort to clean the pool out a bit once in a while?! we heard him say it's cash only at that bar too which could be inconvenient and you cant even charge it to your room. The 'bar' is actually just a drinks cabinet with cans in it so don't expect any nice cocktails etc! ||We didnt eat meals other than breakfast so cant comment on those. ||Some of the areas had a very abandoned feel, like visiting a place that hadn't been inhabited for years, there's old buildings/areas that looked like they were probably something good back in this places hay day but now left to rot.||Overall it's a nice enough place for a night or two on a budget but I feel it's such a shame they have not kept up with the upkeep better to make this place amazing like it could be. We stayed at sepilok nature lodge next door for two nights and if you are looking for something a little more comfortable I would definitely...

We returned to see the orangutans and sun bears after staying at Sepilok Nature Resort a few weeks ago. At that time, we mistakenly entered the address of Sepilok Jungle Resort. We didn’t go in but, upon realising the error, we immediately drove to the correct location. This led us to check out Sepilok Jungle Resort online and discover that their prices were much lower than what we had paid. So, this time, when we arrived by taxi, we decided to stay.

Both resorts are conveniently located near the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. Coincidentally, we had booked a tour the following day on the Kinabatangan River, with the meeting point at The Banana Café, which is part of the resort. Our next accommodation, Bilit Adventure Lodge, was also developed by the same couple behind Sepilok Jungle Resort.

The resort is beautifully situated, surrounded by lush natural beauty. We had the pleasure of meeting the owners, a delightful couple who began building the resort 38 years ago. Their passion for nature and environmental conservation is evident throughout the resort, particularly in its landscaping. Their children now handle the business side of operations, while the couple still manage the landscaping.

The resort features creatively designed suspended walkways that connect the restaurant, rooms, pool, souvenir shop, gym, and spa. The main pool is inviting and well-maintained, with a smaller pool for children. While the gym appeared somewhat dated and we were uncertain about the condition of the equipment, the spa offers massages.

We stayed in a double deluxe room with a balcony, which was clean and adequately spacious. The price was appropriate for the room standard, RM 290 per night.

We couldn't resist joining a night tour, available for RM 25 per person, with a total of nine participants. We saw a Mouse Deer, a pair of Banana Snakes, a Red flying Squirrel and a Black Flying Squirrel.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Sepilok Jungle Resort. While it may not be a five-star establishment, it never claimed to be. What it offers is excellent value: close proximity to local attractions, a clean and safe place to stay, beautiful natural surroundings, and a convenient spot for dining...