Dayang Resort Semporna — Hotel in Sabah

I’ll start with the negative comments: When i booked a room in Dayang somewhere in January 2025 for my stay in August 2025, i wanted a modern white room which has access from bathroom to the balcony as what have been always adverstised in their social medias e.g. Tiktok. But i didnt get the said room and they said there are 2 types of modern white room i.e modern white room 1.0 which has no access from bathroom to the balcony and modern white room 2.0 which has the said access. Nevertheless, this was never stated in their website for us to choose. I wanted to change room, but they said all have been booked earlier, but when i said i have booked sonce January 2025, the same answer about 1.0 and 2.0 modern white room. If i know there would be 2 types of modern white room and the selection for it, i would definitely choose the 2.0.

When we arrived, the bathroom was wet and the shower gel in the bottle was almost empty. I thought that they have to do housekeeping befor new guests coming in?

Jet ski. We paid RM250 to rent for a jet ski for 30mins. However, unfortunate event happened when our jet ski tumbled upside down for at least 2 - 3 minutes. Other guests that saw the incident helped us. In total, we only played the jet ski for around 10 mins. It was broken unfortunately. Our money for jet ski was absorbed by the resort though we didnt have the chance to play it according to the time of what we paid. We are okay with it. But, they asked us to pay for another rm180 on top of RM250 which we had not fully utilized for reparation and future losses (they said, 6 guests wanted to try the jet ski, so we have to pay for such losses(?)). They also said the total reparation cost is RM300 so they were kind enought to lower it to RM180. This was a bummer since we had great times in Semporna but due to this, we left with some dissapointed feelings. For suggestion to them, maybe they can put a disclaimer that only experienced persons can experience jet ski.

No tv. But they have a screen projector, which we thought, they will aslo provide a projector to us. Nope. It seems that most of the projectors were broken. But i can compromise on this issue.

No life buoy provided in case of emergency. They need to consider this very seriously as it involves the guests’ safety.

Positive comments: Very friendly, polite, attentive and helpful resort staffs. Things were fun with them. I mentioned to one of the staffs named Nura, that i wanted to eat Latok. She bought the latok and served it for me. I enjoyed it very much. The staffs were willing to go extra miles (for certain situations) to ensure that you are satisfied with your stay, which is a very well done to all of them.

The booking arrangement directly with the resort from the the beginning to end was easy; from airport transfer, boat transfer to hotel and activities. The staffs were so helpful and made things less chaotic for us.

Dinner. The dinner was absolutely amazing, delicious and has variety of food. I was so excited for dinner because on the 1st day of our stay, we trully enjoyed our dinner. The dinner on the 2nd and 3rd days were also good and did not dissapoint. This is something that this resort can boast.

The access to ocean. Not many resort has access to ocean, so we appreaciated this a lot. But they could provide a more durable and quality clothes rack or clothes line for us to dry our swmming suit.

Overall (for overall experience) i would give 3 stars. 1.5 for the staffs and 1.5 for the food. (If only the rating for staffs and food only, i would...

Hubby booked the trip for 23-25 Sep as my birthday trip. But the whole trip was deeply disappointing by the Dayang's management.

I'll explain the cons first; On 22nd when we reached tawau to stay for a night, someone (not the admin siti) contacted him that they had overbooked us, and will transfer us to another resort for the first night. Another person contacted me asking for airport transfer details where I'm confused if this is a scam or legit as 2 different individuals have contacted us both. Hubby has paid an additional fee to Dayang for a transfer from tawau hotel and not from the airport. The driver refused to fetch us from the hotel and the someone that WhatsApp my hubby told us to take a GRAB to the airport. Mind you, GRAB is not friendly in Tawau and there will be lots of cancellation. The hotel staff we stayed in then asked a friend to send us to the airport while we paid a fee to the person. Upon reaching the Seafest ferry, the person who contacted me can be reached easier compared to the person who contacted my hubby. Firstly, they should have contacted my hubby and not me as I didn't book or plan this trip. Secondly, we are non-locals who don't have easy access to data, and we did try our best to be contactable via WhatsApp. But their response was very slow and they keep making us wait. A lot of times we thought we have been scammed. When we reached the other resort, we have no idea what time to check out or what to do the next day. After hubby WhatsApp the person, the only reply he got was to check out at 11am, no details on the boat etc. The resort we were sent was huge and there was no WiFi or data signal except for the reception area. Imagine the hours we spent at the reception just to get a reply from Dayang management and not enjoy the night at the resort room. The resort staffs were friendly and they guided us what to do when there's no signal at the room, how to check out, etc. After check out, we were transferred to another jetty (not Seafest). Another confusion but luckily the lady I was liaising with acted fast and sent the boat straight to the jetty we were at and we headed to Dayang. My hubby brought up the inroom dining to the Dayang staff, but he was unsure of it. My hubby has to remind the person (whoever she is) on WhatsApp that he has made payment for dinner. Toilet water runs slow. And there's a funky smell each time we flush. Note that the shower drainage leads to the sea straight. The sea around Dayang was clean on the first day we are there, but there's so many trash in the sea on the second day when we are having bfast.

Off all the cons, there's pros in this trip; Semporna itself is beautiful. Dayang is lucky the beautiful nature overpowers it's management service. The resort we were sent is at Kapalai. The place is beautiful and the staff is always ready to assist. In Dayang, the sea is also clear and it's so much fun to snorkel at Dayang. The sun sets beautifully too. (Only the trash on 2nd day was very disappointing) The room and dinner setup was very pretty. The in-house staff were very prompt and helpful during our 2D1N stay.

Overall, I hope the management can improve and be better for future customers, especially for non-locals. It's not pleasant to have unnecessary anxiety and inconvenience. And Dayang still hasn't approached us to refund any...

Dayang Resort Stay from 6th Oct to 8th Oct 2023 in Challet #2 with my family with 2 kids (7 & 4 yrs old). The water Challet in middle of the ocean was stunning. The natural beauty surroundings with just blue ocean with crystal clear water truly exceptional. The picturesque views of the blue ocean with crystal clear water and real highlight of my stay memorable.

Pro 1.Quick & simple check in, ever ready to offer snookerling gear & letting to try glass kayak was much appreciated Huge balcony with direct access to sea & the resting next we the top highlight. The white deco room was also lovely 3.We wanted to go for island hopping on the day that we want to check in & the arrangement was perfect as the hotel helped to pick up our luggage at Seafeast Jetty as we were picked up for island hopping. On the way back from island hopping we were dropped in the resort & all our luggage were safely sent to the resort. (Staff Aliaa did the show perfect) 4.Electricity & Air-conditioning was available 24hrs with short distribution from time to time understand is on middle of the ocean running on generator. Food was very tasty & well prepared Direct sea access for snookering wonderful (my kids Loved it & we saw start fish & many colourful fish just around our room) The staff we very polite & ever helpful & always taking good care of our needs & safety. To name Alkaisar was very professional is running the show with his team Booking of room , Island hopping arrangement & boat transfer & airport transfer we perfectly arranged by resort . Admin Siti (+60 14-300 7688) did a good job even sometime the respond is a bit slow but the job was done well. Safety contact if you don’t get a respond (+60 13-874 1944) They allowed us to do a drone shoot in the resort & our pilot was a perfect guy (Ayiiiieeeee +60 14-560 7399 highly recommended) The resort feels very safe for a family with young kids

Con Water heater in my room totally did not function the whole 3 days of our stay even after we complained the staff were giving my excuses. Dinner Buffet was very limited in choice & quantity. It was like we had to rush each time the food was toped up. This is something I was totally disappointed, as we are in the middle of the sea and there is no other food quantity need to improved Breakfast & team time menu was very limited ( lucky breakfast egg counter which the staff was willing to prepare without any hesitation) No room turndown service despite staying more than 1 night. (lucky there was a cleaning lady who we ask for help & she helped us) Although my 4yrs old kid is given a free stay but providing a additional towel for her would have appreciated

In summary, the hotel's location on the beautiful Semporna Ocean is its biggest selling point, and it truly is beautiful. However, some improvement in service & dining experience left me with a sense of disappointment. I hope the hotel management can address these issues to provide a more well-rounded and satisfying experience for...