Kinabatangan Wildlife Lodge - Hostel

This accommodation deserves the best reviews only! Wildlife Lodge was a definite highlight of our trip! Siti was a great host, Rowana and other staff were always there to help us, and the kitchen staff was 5 stars, making us the most delicious meals for breakfast and dinner! Mr. Irphan and Mr. Kai were the most professional and attentive guides, who ensured we enjoyed our stay on their off time and during spectacular boat cruises! Our family enjoyed our 3 days stay there so much we hope to come back someday soon:)

On booking KWL, it was one of the more expensive places we booked on our trip. The river boat cruises were good and we managed to see quite a lot of wildlife. We also did the batik painting which was a lovely activity to do, particularly on a rainy day. The staff are lovely and extremely accommodating. One criticism is the cost and qualify of the food. For each lunch and dinner there is a set fee of 35RM per person for quite a limited buffet. We are vegetarian so that meant eating mainly just plain rice and cabbage at points. For Malaysia, I think that is quite a high price for a very limited meal. So unfortunately we felt it wasn't very good value for money.

Staff were lovely and food was good considering the price. 7min walk to jetty for river cruise and lodge has lots of trees where you can watch the Macaque Monkeys play, plenty of birds and butterflies. River cruises offered early morning and then in afternoon. Unfortunately these were not well organised and three out of four cruises there were too many people for the boat. Getting this all sorted out took time away from cruise which was disappointing. Our boat also broke down on one cruise - our driver was amazing - pulling out a screwdriver and eventually fixing (but we really did t get much opportunity to look for Orangutan or Elephant as we spent so much time fixing the boat). On my last morning no-one showed up for morning cruise - we had to wake the staff and unfortunately I missed out as I needed to leave for the airport. Rooms are large and basic with good AC. Unfortunately common area not screened (and no AC). Food is basic and good for the price - caters for western taste and isn’t hot at all - is quite bland. There is a cat that is often in the common area and many feral dogs hanging around common area and also the accommodation. Do not book transfers through hotel. On my return to Sandakan they substituted the car I had booked for a much smaller car and tried to charge me RM300 when other guests had paid RM160 the day before for similar ride from Grab. They didn’t tell me until I was about to get into my car — that someone else was going in the car I had booked and I had to go in smaller one. (Even though I confirmed with reception the afternoon beforehand and confirmed directly with the driver that morning). I felt they were taking advantage of me as a solo female traveler which was really disappointing. During my stay I was asked to move from good seat on the boat to accommodate others on a couple of occasions - I never got to sit at the front. For every meal for three days I was placed in the corner with no airflow or ceiling fan. My experience was that the lodge prioritises families and couples and I wouldn’t recommend for solo female traveller. I think it’s worth paying extra to stay somewhere with reliable boats and river cruises. It’s a long way to come to miss out! Really disappointed :(

This lodge set back from the river at the start of town but still next to leafy jungle. Some very nice chalet double rooms but the family rooms are long-house style with the thin wooden walls and flooring making them very noisy and can hear every word and footstep of your neighbours. Staff friendly and food adequate. The river tour guides (the whole reason you come here) were fantastic. Young and enthusiastic, they were positively delighted in showing and explaining everything = wildlife viewing was the main reason for our whole borneo trip so we stayed 3 days (rather than usual 2 days) and in the 3 afternoon and 2 morning tours got to see the full Borneo Big Five! Thanks for efforts of the staff and the guides.

great place to stay for your borneo wildlife experience. run by lovely people, who are always there to help you. they helped me arrange my airport pickup and drop from sandakan airport. obviously you can do all the river cruises, night safari and other activities by the lodge. our guide for these cruise cairo, was excellent. was able to check all the bucket list animals during my 4 cruises. cons- there was nothing, but if i have to pick something i would say the food menu is very limited (not much variety), wifi only in the lobby.

I was not aware when I booked that the lodge is not on the river. It is a 10 to 15 minute walk along a road to the boat. The place has loads of dogs which scare off the wildlife so you’d be lucky to see anything around the lodge. On the first night there literally wasn’t enough food for the guests although after that the food really was plentiful and very good I liked the choice of activities and loved the batik painting which I did with a really lovely member of staff but I forgot her name. Our guide Aslan was good and was positive and helped us find plenty of wildlife. Unfortunately he made several personal comments about my age and made me feel very uncomfortable. I think he’s just young but it was very unprofessional and just generally strange The staff really were lovely and friendly though Also there were no drinks and snacks available so that was a shame and the lodge must have missed out on a lot of money I ended up leaving a day early as I just didn’t like it there that much

We stayed at the Property for 02 Nights for Proper Wildlife Experience and It was crazy good. The Rooms are clean and Spacious. We are Vegetarians and it was not a problem anywhere. Please do guide them about the food and they will do the best possible and it will not be disappointing. About the Wildlife, Where to start. Aslan was our guide for all the cruises and also special Elephant Cruise and We saw all Big 5 in just one cruise. He is very passionate and dedicated about wildlife. We also saw Slow Loris which is very Rare. All thanks to Aslan. His English is very good and is very wity as well. Same goes for the ladies at the lodge. The smile made our day. Not to ignore Irfan which took us for the night walk. The reception lady is very helpful. Thanks to the team for our amazing stay. Thanks to Madona who helped me coordinate everything since starting :)

It‘s a nice lodge with friendly people, good food and good guides. They arrange everything you need to see there, though it‘s not really rainforest you will see. Anyway, the river cruises are fun even if you don‘t see much animals. I had great luck to see Orang Utan and elephants. If you go there or anywhere else I highly recommend to go with Eddie Nazreen. He‘s really a nice guy and good driver with a clean car. He can help you with anything you need and can help you with things you don‘t eben think about. He gave me a waterproof bag and raincoats that I really needed. He even had a rubber band in his bag, when I needed one. He is also very educated and it‘s fun talking to him and get his Point of views. Contact: +601171171178, borneowildnature@gmail.com

We had a very lovely experience, the rooms were excellent. The people working at the lodge were kind and friendly. Thank you to Siti as our host and Aslan as our guide on the river. We enjoyed the activities and spotting wildlife. We did the river cruise a number of times, and we saw huge crocodiles, hornbills, kingfishers, proboscis monkeys, and maccques (long and short-tailed). In between activities, there isn't a whole lot to do, but we enjoyed napping and reading. The food got better during our stay, the staff kindly catered for us as vegetarians, although more food could be available, what we did have was good. The WiFi could be much better and would help guests with forward planning.