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Very mixed feelings. Rooms are decent (the shower tray is absent, though none of the other surrounding hotels have any either). The dinning area smells horrible (due to it's proximity to the poluted sea and pets), the food is tasteless and cold, the rice was clearly frozen just like all the other meals proposed. The staff (except for the owner of whom I'll touch on later) are wonderfull! Fluent in english, always welcoming and available, they were an absolute treat. The activities are horribly expensive, you'd make your wallet a favour by going to semporana's jetty and negociate a boat ride to the islands for cheap, since you cannot swim in semporna's bay: the water is dirty and there aren't any proper beaches as there is almost no sand on said beaches. The islands as well as the view from the lobby are mesmerizing, but the sea is dirty if in an access of enchantement you are tempted to swim near the hotel. I have seen other reviews talking about the driver being late, these reviews are true: we were left stranded for an hour in Maiga island waiting for the driver.
On a more general note, Semporna is NOT a well suited spot for touristical activities , go to Maldives or Zanzibar instead: these tropical islands offer a better experience far more suited for tourists with higher-than-rustic standards.
In an apparté, i will say a word on the vastly inadapted réaction from the owner on google reviews. The owner has a tendency to negate any poor review they get with their leitmotiv "...baseless...untrue", in a frivolous attempt to dismiss valable criticism. The most striking exemple that comes to my mind is Marina's review where she recalls witnessing an attempt at theft. The owner affirme that its untrue and that they saw nothing on their caméra and security. Having read that we checked the so called "security" and found absolutely no cameras whatsoever to check on security. Don't listen to the owner's input on any...
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We had to cut our stay short due to how uncomfortable and poorly managed this accommodation was.
To begin with, the food was extremely basic – breakfast was cold rice, plain toast, and old eggs. Given the remote location and lack of alternatives, we expected more effort with meals.
We had booked a tour through a separate company online, as the accommodation’s tour prices were far too expensive. They initially agreed to arrange our boat transfer back to Semporna (RM150 return) for a 7:15 AM departure. However, they cancelled the transfer at 11 PM – while we were asleep – and didn’t provide any alternative. We only saw the message at 6 AM, leaving us to scramble and try to find our own transfer. We did find one, but it was too late and we missed our tour entirely.
They simpily provided no activities/ suggestions for the day since we were now stuck. We also couldn't swim – the water beneath our overwater room was full of rubbish, and we later realised that all wastewater from the toilet, sink, and shower went directly into the ocean. That was shocking and unhygienic.
Even the advertised “overwater room” was just an old local home with some minor upgrades – it didn’t feel like a proper resort room at all.
On their website, they also mention a tour around Bum Bum Island. But when we asked if we could simply walk around the island ourselves, the staff looked shocked and said someone would have to be sent with us – meaning we couldn’t even go for a walk freely.
Overall, the experience was disappointing, restrictive, and misrepresented online. We left that same day and found another place to stay, which was thankfully much better. Would not recommend this...
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One of the worst hotel experiences I’ve had. Both rooms had issues : shower problems, ants…
Breakfast was just rice, eggs and sausages ,no fruit unless you asked. The sea was full of garbage, which not entirely the hotel’s fault, but still unpleasant.
Most disturbing: someone tried to break into our room twice in one night. The first time at 2am, I thought it might be monkeys. But at 5am, I clearly saw someone trying to come in through the window. We later found a chair placed under it. I’m still shaken by that experience. Security was asleep, and there was no follow-up. I had seen a review about a similar incident and hoped it was a one-off—it wasn’t. What’s even more unsettling is that they tried twice, almost like they were targeting us, knowing we were leaving...
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