Seafest Hotel — Hotel in Sabah

Rooms was spacious, unfortunately the window despite being huge is useless due to overlooking the opposite wing of hotel guest rooms. It supposely tinted so that the guest can open it at day time.

Service - humble advice to F&B department to have courage at least peel of the fruit properly. I've been to many hospitality outlet across Malaysia, yet this is very first time I witness laziness of kitchen personnel to the maximum level. Both day 1 and day 2 dinner, the fruits was served without properly peel-off. Perajin bah kamu staff2 milanial ni buka kulit buah pun bkira betul padahal bukan bnyk pun buah dlm tray tu, mcm mo ndah mo ja served guest. We understand Sabah are among the lowest pay hotel industry and it is reflect in its service severely.

This hotel as on of major player in Semporna hospitality industry has failed in contributing sustainability creed for Semporna and the islands. During my recent trip, none of the area, from mainland Semporna up to many of prestige islands I visit 'free from wastage and water bottles'. Its sad to witnessed even the most prestige resort - the seawater are polluted with bottles, tidbits wastage, plastics in almost of the beaches area. I just wondering does MOTAC/MOTOUR Sabah conduct their enforcement?

Tourists are paying large sum of package just to enjoy the diving, snorkelling, the prestine beaches and Bohey Dulang, unfortunately the price of the package not reflecting the sustainability efforts carried out by the State Government, Tour operators, private, individually, companies that only interest in tourist money.

Being in one of the prestige Island many years back for customer service training unfortunately reflecting the cleanliness & sustainability efforts of the islands beaches area - from Sipadan, Mataking, Bohey Dulang, Gusungan - I can say it is sickening.

Witnessing the coral fish died on your feet while enjoying the beach and seeing the tidbits plastic on the islands and on the strees of Semporna distressing.

While global warming at pandemic level, Semporna citizen & community seem like immuned to land and sea wastages. If this trend continue and zero effort conducted to clean Sipadan, to clean Mataking, to clean Gusungan, to clean Bohey Dulang (just to name a few, Borneo will lost thisgerm and soon water bottles will invading the islands and hindering the efforts for Sipadan Island Turtles conservation progress too.

Industry & Academic Researcher. LSA Academic House -Hospitality & Tourism Research. This feedback is honest review for Seafest Hotel chains & to all tour operators of Islands across Semporna,...

Group check-in for 5 room at 3 pm, 2 rooms not ready yet even though check-in time is 2 pm. If guest wants to check out late, Hotel wants to charge extra, but when Hotel don't have room ready at agreed time, Hotel does not refund/pay back for hours reduced?

One room does not has toilet paper, when asked house keeping for it, was told not available! What the heck? What modern days hotels does not provides toilet paper. My friend called me on my phone and I went to the reception to ask for it.

When I get to my room, luckily I didn't take a shower right away as there were no towels. I went down to reception to ask for it, waited for more than 30 minutes and still house keeping did not deliver towels.

I had to go out with my friends by then, reception said cannot deliver towels to room if guests are not in the room. I just tell her to make sure towels are ready/available when I returns to the hotel!

When checking-in, asked staff at reception for wi-fi, she replied wi-fi is not working. This is the same situation when I stayed at the same Hotel a week ago. Told reception I need the wi-fi (services should be available as advertised) then she called maintenance or tech support to come and help. While at reception, the technician gave me several different passwords to try, without success. Then he asked me to try at my room. I did try, showed connected but I didn't really get to used it at that time as I had to go out. When I returned to my room an hour later, still cannot get connected on the wi-fi on my phone and also on my lap top.

There was also lots of mosquitoes in the room. The week before, I also stayed in the same Hotel with another Group of friends, had the same problem - no towels upon checking-in, no wi-fi and also mosquitoes. My friend who had several online meeting scheduled insist on the wi-fi services and was later transferred to the main Hotel building (the original Seafest old Hotel) where wi-fi was available.

This Hotel fails to deliver the...

I can confidently say that all the issues I encountered during my stay are due to sheer mismanagement. The staff was clearly overworked and understaffed, doing what little they could under the circumstances. Unfortunately, this did not save the overall experience.

The building is in an incredibly run-down state. Starting with the elevators, which are not only unreliable but dangerous—doors slam shut without warning, posing a serious risk, especially to small children. My room was oddly arranged, as if no thought had gone into the furniture placement. The carpet was so old and dusty that it triggered my allergies.

The bed was only 180 cm long—far too short even for me, an average-height European woman. To make matters worse, the room frequently smelled like fish or sewage, likely due to the air conditioning. This made the environment unpleasant and difficult to relax in.

The breakfast was clearly catered to Chinese guests, which is fine, but left little variety for other travelers. Additionally, the seating arrangements were awkward, with only large communal tables available. I am not a morning extrovert, and the idea of making small talk with strangers at breakfast was unappealing.

The pool area was dirty and far from inviting, and the gym didn’t even open until 2:00 PM—hardly convenient. The lounge was completely non-functional during my week-long stay. No staff, no lights, no air conditioning—just a stale, empty room that added to the neglected atmosphere of the hotel.

Service was friendly but overwhelmed. A simple request for a hairdryer took two days to fulfill. With a price point of over €100 per night, this lack of efficiency is completely unacceptable.

This hotel is in desperate need of renovation. The facilities, rooms, and overall management need a serious overhaul to justify even a fraction of the current rates. I cannot recommend staying here in its current condition....