Gaya Island Resort, Kota Kinabalu - an SLH Hotel

The resort is very easy to get to from Kota Kinabalu airport. Using the Grab app makes it convenient to call a car to take you to the Jesselton Point to catch the boat to the resort. The resort is quite beautiful and clean. Reading other reviews, I wasn’t quite sure why several had complaints about the price and food. The food was all excellent - fresh and reasonably priced. We ate at both specialty restaurants as well - Fisherman’s Cove and Omakase - and both were excellent. The breakfast and dinner buffets had a lot of variety to choose from and all the staff were friendly and helpful. The bed was incredibly comfortable and we loved the sea view from our terrace. The bathroom was well-equipped and spacious. The pool was very clean and there were plenty of sun chairs to choose from. The gift shop had many cute items. The spa is beautiful and the massage was amazing! What needs improvement - the bathtub in our villa was a bit dirty with some dead bugs. It’s fantastic that they offer a complimentary boat shuttle to the other bay near the marine center but it’s extremely littered with plastic. I asked the staff for a garbage bag and ended up collecting about 5 kg worth of garbage from the beach and sea. This should be the government policy or authorities responsibility - they need to clean it up and charge fines for littering. Overall, we loved this resort and wanted to stay longer. We definitely recommend staying here. I would like to specifically mention Aileen, Rozana, Nathaniel and Shadar for making our stay memorable and comfortable.

Amazing location, fantastic staff. The house coral reef is great with a lot of fishes.

The Gaya is a beautiful hotel, in a beautiful location and the staff are all lovely. The buffet is quite good with a variety of options. The seafood BBQ is delicious!! You have to book the spa and activities 2-3 days in advance to secure a spot. I recommend booking the spa before arrival. If you are a hungry person the all inclusive option may be best as the food at the pool restaurant is soso (in our opinion). Would be lovely to include a reusable beach bag in the rooms.