The Magellan Sutera Resort — Hotel in Borneo

My family and I all 15 of us book 6 rooms in total at the Magellan Club and so far these are the feedback we are giving :-

1. the staff did not told us to go to the club house to check in. After queuing up for like 30 mins at the front office at the Magellan Lobby, suddenly the FO staff told us to go check in at the club house. We ask her where it is she said "I dont really know how to explain it but its in a road that does not look like a road"...

2. At the Magellan Lobby, the bell men did not even bother to help us with our luggage's instead they all just stand at one corner talking among themselves only when there's foreigners from Korea or some western countries, suddenly all the bell men were proactive to help them. We had to keep calling these bell men for assistance as we had alot of luggage's.

3. At the Magellan Club House the FO Staff told us that he will assist us to book a table for 15 for the Christmas eve dinner and we also book for 5 kids for the pizza making the next day and the staff specifically told us he will ensure to make the booking for us and will confirm with us but none of the booking was made we had to rebook the whole thing at the Little Magellan and at Five Sails.

4. We went to Five Sails to reconfirm our booking for the Christmas Eve Dinner they told us there was a booking for 12 people and we told them its for 15 people... Not 12... So they confirmed for 15 in the morning itself only to still get a table for only 12 pax on the actual night itself.... Keep telling the staff that they are 15 of us and the staff said "yes, they are 15 of you but my booking says 12" and I told him "we have re confirmed this morning that the booking is for 15" and he keep saying "yes I know but my list says only 12"...

5. We went for breakfast and they put us at the Al Fresco instead of the Five Sails and we ask if the buffet breakfast is the same between the two restaurants and they said yes its exactly the same thing only to find out that the Al Fresco have no Noodle Soup station, no tea.. When I ask for tea the staff said " Sorry miss, we dont have tea but you can have Sabah tea only 1 bag"... That is a shock to me... No Roti Canai, the fruits are limited. And yet at the Five Sails, they have all that plus unlimited TEA!

6. I stayed in room 6357.Your bedroom toilets need to be refurbished as the flush sprays out water when I press the flush button and the toilet is leaking. The bathroom looks very old and outdated u need to renovate back if u are charging that high to the guest.

7. Bedrooms are nice and cozy but next time please do an inspection before u let the guest stay. In room 6357 ...The TV remote does not work, the electrical socket next to the bed side does not work too and the sofa bed near the window has stains.

8. Ask the Club house staff where is the bowling alley and theatre he told us to go to the building that has painting of a kid playing sports. We went there and find out that is a function hall... Not the bowling alley or the theatre and than we saw a few banquet staff and we ask them where and they say "sorry, we dont know", Than in the end we went to the Little Magellan and luckily the staff there is more knowledgeable and we are able to find the place.

9. We tried having breakfast one morning at the Magellan Club House and we ordered eggs which took 1 hour 30 minutes to get to our table. And the roti canai we ordered still have not came even at almost 2 hours.. We got tired of waiting we just...

Date of stay: June 2020.

Purpose of stay: Leisure trip.

Our room: Executive Suite King.

Intro: This a beginning (hopefully the last) of a different kind of stay experience as the world still fights Covid-19 pandemic and the country still enforcing Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), it is a strange than usual one.

Pros: As I've been staying at this hotel for a few times, the check-in process was understandably fast. The reception staff was a bit friendlier this time, credit goes to Martina during check-in and Ven during checkout accompanied by their Assistant Manager Colin. The Executive Suite we stayed was extra spacious, we loved the design whereby it has sofa, 2 TVs (1 in bedroom and other 1 at the living room), pantry, and small kitchen! Also included were medium size fridge where we can store much more food and microwave oven to heat food. The suite also has 2 balcony areas (1 in bedroom and other 1 at the living room). The suite's view to the sea was indeed a fantastic feature where we can enjoy the sea view as well as the sunset. We really enjoyed breakfast menu! On the first day, we had breakfast at the hotel temporary main restaurant Al Fresco (Five Sails is closed temporary during CMCO). Second and third day we decided to have our breakfast delivered into our room. IMHO, really enjoyed having breakfast in the room as it was more with privacy and the view from our room is superb too! Sleeping quality is extra quiet and super comfortable! On the second day we get to enjoy a complimentary Daily Cruise which is included in the package of our reservation, truly memorable and unforgettable! The cruise itself was a cruise to remember! On the third day, we had a wonderful time exploring the resort as well as the marina during the evening and get to see a superb sunset! Not many guests around so this is definitely a plus! More privacy and in general the resort was neater and should be manageable compared to normal days with a lot of tourists especially from South Korea, China, Japan etc around.

Cons: Can't fault any!

Feature on this stay: As the SOP for CMCO, all public areas are closed within the resort including the main restaurant of Five Sails and other F&B outlets except the resort's Al Fresco Italian restaurant whereby it replaces Five Sails to serve breakfast and other times daily with strict observation of social distancing. The pool, kids club, spa are also closed. We are entitled for the club lounge access but can't go to the club lounge as it was also closed. We see a reduction of staffs but we observe the resort's operations not really affected at all by this as we found that our stay was great!

Summary: Our stay this time was amazing ever than before, maybe because of the super privacy as not many...

Was attracted by their staycation package, that attraction died immediately at point of arrival. front desk reception exceptionally terrible - borderline rude even.The service was as warm as an ice cube and it seemed they were somehow annoyed i was checking in?? Was told room was not even ready when i arrived at 1.35pm was told to wait till 2.00pm and they informed us that they will call my mobile phone. After about 45mins still did not receive any call as we wandered around the hotel. We had our toddler with us just coming off a long road trip just to be here. I went to the reception and they were clueless... after some ranting got our keycards - somehow they had the great idea of replacing our room with the club suite wing instead of our original executive suite room (the staff member didn't even verbally mention or asked us if we wanted an upgrade). We wanted specifically the balcony - with the sea view instead what we got was an excessively large room and a long walk from the front lobby and other hotel facilities.

Room was dated with old furniture - faded floral pattern sofa sets from the 90's, 4 lamp lights were dead (the bedroom felt like a cave) and despite having a bedroom, 2 toilets, a living room and pantry area plus an over sized dining area - only 2 rubbish bins were provided. The air conditioning thermostat was busted and it was freezing cold despite our efforts to control the temperature. The shower head was busted and water came trickling with barely enough water to properly shower.

Food - the included breakfast was okay, not much choices and variety but nothing to complain about. We had dinner at their al-fresco restaurant, food was decent but the service was just as bad as the front desk service. They were not even aware of their own staycation promotion which entitles inhouse guests a discount. In room service was excellent tho - food was warm and fresh when delivered and their kebabs and shawarmas tasted real good.

All the reviews with 5 stars on customer service and staff friendliness must be from another alternate dimension of this same hotel. Don't waste your time and money - because instead of being welcomed, it seemed that guests are burdens that don't deserve the hotel's time and effort. I paid around approximately USD125 for this room - there are much better resorts/hotels that cost half this amount for double the effort. Take my word for it and book at...