The LUMA Hotel - A Member of Design Hotels — Hotel in Borneo

Boutique Beauty designed with love

This is clearly not a cookie-cutter belonging to a big hotel chain. Though it is part of Marriott Bonvoy, this property truly justifies (and deserves) its membership in the elite DESIGN HOTELs club! As the title of the review states, it has been very obviously designed, architected, and built by folks who love style and class! The design-inspired owners have tastefully converted a former office building into a fresh, vibrant space that highlights natural elements. The lobby smells like a wonderful spa and almost makes you feel like you are in a jungle paradise, thanks to the infused patches of greenery. To add to it, the spiral staircase made from local Sabahan wood stands in the lobby like a great tree.

The owners have not cut corners or spared any expenses when it comes to the decor. Things like the Jewel-toned sofa and the lovely collection of local art make the common areas a delightful place to hang out. And the Rooms are no different either - everything from the golden sanitary ware in the green-tiled bathroom to the artfully crafted wooden fittings ooze charm and character!

The hotel has taken a unique approach of outsourcing the facilities/amenities(Cafe, Gym, etc.) to other partners. This kind of works well as allowing partners who are experts in running these does up the bar and quality levels. But at the same time, it Has some downside as you have to pay for all these separately and cannot earn or redeem Bonvoy points for these! Something I was OK with, but others might not be.

DINE + DRINK: Though not too fancy, the hotel’s F & B outlets are good enough for you to chill indoors without having to step out. There’s JOJO Gastrobar for modern Asian cuisine and creative cocktails, FLOW Coffee by leading local coffee roaster Crack Inc., HONDE for traditional Japanese, and FISH MARKET for casual Chinese hotpot.

ROOM: We stayed in Room 810, so this review is based on that; SIZE: This was one of the very few pain points we faced, especially as we were on a longer stay for a week. There was not enough space to STORE stuff in the room. It lacks closets, cupboards, or even simple drawers to store your items! Might be ok for a solo traveler with just a carry-on baggage. Not enough at all for other types of travelers! Something the management should think about. At least put a simple cupboard!; VIEW: Sweet view of the greenery and cityscape, and the colorful Airplanes constantly flying over them and landing in the nearby airport!; AIR-CON: Perfectly functioning cooler that helped in setting the perfect room temperature; BED: Comfortable bed that played the expected part of putting us to sleep; BATHROOM: Good sized bathroom with a Stand-in shower, and a secondary BATHTUB seemed interesting given how much crammed for space they were!; TOILETRIES: Lovely Spa quality Toiletries

FACILITIES: They don't have a Swimming pool like most other properties in this area do. But the awesome Fitness center more than makes up for it. Though run by an external partner, the ABSOLUTE Boutique gym attached to the hotel brings the ‘boutique’ concept to a fitness center and is as stylish and sexy as the rest of the hotel. Great for a full-on workout as it comes loaded with state-of-the-art machines, and a good range of free weights/kettle bells by the HOIST brand.

SERVICE: Friendly staff that took care of all our needs with a smile and made us feel pampered and well taken care of. Special Shout-out to the General Manager MICHELLE MA for enhancing our stay and spending a lot of time with us to collect detailed feedback on how to evolve and improve it more to take it to the next level! Kudos to her!

HOW WIRED YOU WILL BE: Free Medium Speed Wi-Fi(~ 40 Mbps) that works well all over the property, and the speed is good! The PHILIPS brand Television in the room was a kind of oddity as it was quite old school and didn't match the rest of the digitally advanced and funky elements of the room. Something they can certainly look into upgrading to maintain the upscale...

We booked this hotel for a night stay with a child. When we first arrived, I was quite confused as we planned to park in front of the lobby but was told to communicate with the person at "Concierge", however the staff was not there.

As for the parking, customers need to pay for their own parking, and choices were in front of the lobby (RM30/day) or at the gloomy basement in which need to be shared with the other shoplot visitors and residents of nearby condominium at a rate of RM15/day. As for basement parking, ticket should be paid at the basement itself. It would be better if customers can validate the ticket at the lobby because we paid for the room as well.

There was no bellman service, although the staffs saw us with big luggage. We had to carry them ourselves to the room. The lift were quite small to fit in more than 4 people with luggage, and the security was quite loose as visitors can go to whichever floor they wanted to without the need of access card. The way to the rooms were quite complicated, just like a maze.

As for the room, I think it really need more improvement. In terms of design, it might suit designer hotel but as for practicality, we faced some difficulties as there were no space for wardrobe, and only a railing to hang clothes were available. The space between toilet and bed is small that we had to take turns to pass through. The kitchenette was too small as well, and might be dangerous for small children as they can simply pull the wire connected to the kettle. Tea and coffee provided was great though. Sadly, haven't had the chance to utilize the coffee machine. Mineral water were also provided. However, there were no ironing utilities provided. TV channels were also limited, and there was limited space between the tv and the bed.

The beds were great and comfortable that we slept the night peacefully, although we can still hear noisy vehicles on the side roads.

View was acceptable, as we have a private hospital in front of the hotel. There were also sights of landing airplanes which excites us. One thing is that it's facing sunset, thus the evenings might be a little too hot that it dampens the coolness of air conditioner, although it was set at 16'c.

Toilet was small, combining the vanity place with the toilet itself. The hairdryer was not functioning at all. The bathrobe smelt like old damp cloth. But the amenities were great and complete. Shower was great as well.

And finally, breakfast at Jojo Restaurant. There were not much space for breakfast, and we chose to sit outside for a view but sadly, it was too noisy we can't even listen to the music being played. For main menu, we need to order a la carte beforehand, and the choices were very limited. They did not provide us with baby chairs too. The only buffet choice we had was the sourdough bread, toast and cold croissants. Coffee and tea section wasn't great too. For a 4 star hotel? Nope. its like a 3 star level choice of breakfast. Or less

Please take my comment into consideration. I will not recommend this hotel to my family members and friends unless improvement had been...

I stayed at The LUMA Hotel - A Member of Design Hotels recently and unfortunately it was not a pleasant experience.||Firstly, the check-in process was frustrating. The receptionist seemed new and was unsure about Marriott Bonvoy member benefits. I had to wait for another staff member to assist with basic questions. Although this hotel is part of the Design Hotels brand, I honestly could not see or feel the so-called design elements. It felt rather average, and nothing like the exaggerated reviews online.||The Wi-Fi was consistently slow, which made basic usage inconvenient. As a Marriott Bonvoy member, I was given a room upgrade, welcome fruit and 1,000 points, but breakfast was not included. These are standard benefits, not something special. They are expected from any Marriott property, so I did not see this as something generous or exceptional.||A major concern was the bathroom. The toiletries were placed in unlocked bulk dispensers, which raised hygiene concerns for me. I could not be certain that no one had tampered with them. While I am not saying someone did, the fact that they can be easily opened made me feel uncomfortable using them.||The gym was also disappointing. It seemed to be shared with non-guests. There were personal names on many lockers, which is something you usually see in monthly-subscription gyms. It was crowded, water bottles were left all over the place and there was no obvious drinking water facility. Either it was not provided or it was poorly signposted.||Many Marriott members have commented that this hotel is not very welcoming to loyal guests. I share that opinion. It is unclear why Marriott chose to include this property in its portfolio. I also do not understand how the hotel was recognised by the Michelin Guide.||The hotel is located in the city centre and within walking distance to nearby shopping centres. There is a filtered water dispenser in the hotel, and guests can refill the bottle from their room. But if you enjoy the sound of planes roaring overhead and traffic blaring from the main road just outside, then congratulations, you’re in for a full day of non-stop noise.||If you use Grab, the driver has to circle around the building to reach the entrance, which is oddly placed at the back.||This was my first stay at Luma Hotel and, based on this experience, it will also be my last. I will never come back to...