Kota Kinabalu: Things To Do

Here are some interesting things to do in the city of Kota Kinabalu, picked up from a hotel brochure. I have only selected only some highlights, and not all activities listed in the brochure. The price listed here is the approximate price at January 2012.

Kinabalu National Park Tour: RM 170 nett per person
0830 Hours depart from hotel to Kinabalu National park. On arrival at Kinabalu National Park, jungle walking with the guide. See the smallest orchid in Borneo and the different vegetations. Lunch at a local restaurant. Visit the Exhibition Hall and Mountain Garden. Afternoon, transfer to hotel in Kota Kinabalu. ETA 1630. (L)

Poring Hot Spring & Kinabalu Park Tour: RM 190 nett Per Person
0730 Hours depart from hotel to Poring Hot spring. Upon arrival, go on a jungle trail via the Canopy Walkway and take a dip in the hot sulphur reservoir. After lunch, proceed to Kinabalu National Park. On arrival at Park, visit the Exhibition Hall and Mountain Garden. Afternoon, transfer to hotel in Kota Kinabalu. ETA 1830. (L)

2D/1N Mt. Kinabalu Climbing Tour: RM 950.00 nett Per Person
Day1: Meet at hotel at 0730 & transfer to Kinabalu Park HQ to register. Later to Timpohan gate to begin trek to a resthouse. Packed lunch provided. Refresh, dinner & overnight at the accomodation. (L&D)

Day 2: Wake up at 0230 hours to climb to the summit. Witness the mystical sunrise at 000 hours. Then return to the resthouse for breakfast & descend to HQ for the certification. After lunch depart to hotel (B&L)

Inclusive of: All tranfers and meals as per itinerary, entrance fees, climbing permit, insurance, certificate, mountain guide and tour guide.

Kiulu White Water River Rafting: RM 170 nett per person
0830 Hours depart from hotel to Kiulu River. On arrival enjoy light refreshment before transferring to the starting point at Pukak or Sukang. After a safety briefing, start rafting down for about 2 hours. The end point is Kiulu Town - an area covering approximately 7-8KM. After changing, enjoy BBQ lunch by the riverside. Then transfer to hotel in KK. ETA 1500 (L)

Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park (Sapi, Mamutik, Manukan Islands): RM55 nett per person per island. Island hopping : RM190 nett per person.

City Hotel to Jetty Schedule: 0935hours, 1135
Jetty to City Hotel: 1455 Hours, 1655 hours

For Island hopping Tour: 0830 Hours pick up from hotel and transfer to jetty for boat ride to manukan Island. Free at leisure on the Island. In the afternoon, boat transfer to Sapi Island for a BBQ lunch and free at leisure. Late afternoon, transfer back to the mainland and return to hotel. ETA 1500 Hours (L)

Please note that I do not guarantee the quality of the tours listed here or the attractions. By listing this sample itineraries and cost I hope to provide travelers to Kota Kinabalu an idea of what they can do, the timing involved and the cost involved, provided by a local tour provider.

Kota Kinabalu: Hotel Promenade

I visited Kota Kinabalu for a family event in CNY. I booked this hotelfairly last minute for the CNY holidays - and obviously my first priority was to get the top rated places on TA - Rasa Ria, Tanjung Aru, and all the resorts. However, they were either fully booked, or extremely overpriced - RM1200 a night in Rasa Ria!!!

This hotel was recommended to me as an alternative as it was closer to town - at first I was apprehensive seeking reviews here, but after coming back from a good 5 day stay at the hotel I have nothing but praises as they charged me only RM 300++ for a Double Deluxe SUITE which included breakfasts and high tea. When was the last time you had high tea for 2 included in your suite stay for RM 300++? Well, this is a first for me. Having the kiasu traits of the typical Malaysian, the more features packaged in my deal, the better. You should be able to book the hotel on their website – I strongly suggest the Double Deluxe Suite.

I requested a corner suite with a sea facing view and it was a very good choice. I had a nice living room area, a big bathroom area with bath and shower, 2 TVs (one in bedroom and another in the living room) and a large king sized bed. The room had all amenities - TV, coffee making facilities, fridge, ironing board and iron, bathrobes, etc. For the iron itself, you have to order it from room service and they will send it to you within 10 minutes. The view was fantastic.

I would suggestion to take only the rooms with Promenade Floor Club privileges - which means rooms on 10-12th floor. This way, you are able to guarantee some standards in terms of the rooms.

What impressed me most was that gym was working properly - it was well equipped, the jacuzzi was working and so was the sauna and steam. Typically what you see at hotels is that one or a few of these facilities are not working. It is actually a gym that is open to membership from outside, so it’s well maintained with personal instructions willing to help you and watching over the gym facilities. If I had any complaints it would be that it closed too soon at 6.30am-9pm.

The pool was fine, if a little small. They also had a few restaurants in the building - a bakery, a chinese restaurant, and if you stay on the Promenade Club floors, you have a mini cafe up on the 11th floor as well. The food we had on the 11^th floor was ok. Breakfast was a little dull but the high tea or they call it (sunset cocktail) was really good as they had tea, coffee, wine, spirits and etc on the house as well as the usual high tea fare. In that case it was extremely value for money. They even had a balcony on the 11^th floor café that you can sit at and enjoy the views of the oceanfront.

The hotel is about 15 minutes away from the Air Asia Kota Kinabalu Terminal. They have a taxi service from the hotel to the airport that costs about RM 30 – in a nice luxurious family van.

I have had no issues with the service there - in fact they were overly nice to me! Based on the reviews I’ve read on other websites I was expecting lots of surliness but I received none of that. Everyone was super smiley and helpful.

I traveled with my family this time and it was nice to go into a hotel with lots more domestic travelers and locals. I don't see many foreign tourists here - so if you are from overseas and would like the company of other travelers I doubt this is the place for that - being a frequent traveler myself. If you are here in KK and would like to be in town, and want to get things done, this is the place for you.

Hotel Details:

www.promenade.com.my