Rose Guesthouse
3rd Avenue, Block 20 1st Floor conner, Lot 1A & B, Sandakan Malaysia
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#9 of 14 lodges in Sandakan
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HOTEL CLASS
Languages Spoken
English
Property amenities
Paid public parking on-site
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Wifi
Free breakfast
Airport transportation
Non-smoking hotel
Room features
Air conditioning
Room types
Family rooms
Location
70Somewhat walkable
Grade: 70 out of 100
14Restaurantswithin 0.5 km
7Attractionswithin 0.5 km
3rd Avenue, Block 20 1st Floor conner, Lot 1A & B, Sandakan Malaysia
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I had the opportunity to meet Rose and live one of the most wonderful, authentic and rewarding experiences of my life. I visited Sandakan for a couple of days and decided to stay at Roses house. If you really want to live the REAL LOCAL EXPERIENCE, this is the place for you. I stayed at Roses personal house, It is a guesthouse but she lives there!!! She is such and incredible, open and interesting person. I spent hours talking to her, tasting her food and just sharing life experiences. Rose is the perfect host, She will take you around town to see and eat in the most popular places. food markets, swimming pool, etc. which is very convenient because public transportation and options are VERY limited in Sandakan town. The rooms at her house are comfortable and you have AC or Fan option. the neighbourhood is very safe and she can also schedule other trips for you ( Kinabatangan River, Sepilok, etc etc.) My visit to Borneo was INCREDIBLE but other than the things I saw, food I tried, places I vissited and explored... I have to say that having the FULL experience living with Rose and her Family made this trip unforgettable!! THANKS ROSE!!!…
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Date of stay: February 2019Trip type: Travelled solo
Cleanliness
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Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
An alright place to crash for a few days, shared bathroom, clean enough. Very friendly staff. Our aircon room was not well ventilated though, no window. The location is perfect to walk to the fish trading market and restaurants. Its basic and affordable.
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Date of stay: August 2015Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Ants everywhere. An insane amount in the kitchen area. So bad that if you stop moving for a second they are all over you. Also lots in the bathroom area. Witnessed a large rat run across the kitchen/seating area. Living/shared room area unusable due to all the staff sleeping in there. We read positive reviews about the owner, Rose, and booked our stay largely around that only to find out that Rose is rarely there. Staff can be very loud early in the morning. Easily heard through the thin doors/walls. Door locks at night and can be hard to find staff to assist. We have stayed in some really bad/pretty gross places while travelling through SEA-this was the worst. We booked the river tour through this guesthouse. If you plan to do that same, I would avoid Rose's and book directly through the guesthouse you stay at on the tour. Positives: Staff are friendly. Toast and Tea in the morning.…
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Date of stay: June 2015Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
We booked a tour with Rose at very short notice and we couldn't be happier with everything about our day out. Rose herself took us on a day trip around Sandakan, she was friendly, knowledgeable and fun. She made sure we had a great day and went above and beyond, inviting us to share in celebrating Hari Raya which we enjoyed beyond description. While we didn't stay at the Guesthouse itself, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Rose as a tour guide.
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Date of stay: July 2014Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Its just centre of the town Sandakan so Its really convenience location. Owner and worker are so friendly and helpful to talk with. Pretty reasonable as a tidy room with Free Wifi,Breakfast and towel. There are nice little outside space to chat or relax.
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Date of stay: June 2014Trip type: Travelled solo
Rooms
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Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
The guesthouse right in the center of sandakan has very friendly and caring staff. The location is good, it's clean, they have a washing machine and there is even a balcony. Fortunately we stayed there during hari raya and the owner invited us to join her muslim friends during the festivities. We were warmly welcomed and had a really nice evening. It was a great experience.
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Date of stay: August 2014
Value
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Location
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
I was travelling through Southeast Asia with my friends and we ended up at this guesthouse. It was the best guesthouse on our whole journey, because the staff was extremely nice and helpful and the rooms and toilets were clean. All of us enjoyed the stay and once again - the staff at this place is amazing. They can also set up day trips for you if you wanna see Sepilok Orangutans for example. The location of the guesthouse is in the middle of the town, only 2 minutes walk from the sea where most restaurants are situated. If you are going to Sandakan and want a hotel/guesthouse worth the money, Rose Guesthouse is perfect.
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Date of stay: March 2014Trip type: Travelled with friends
Value
Rooms
Location
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Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Response from Sandakan M, Owner at Rose Guesthouse
Responded 23 May 2014
Hi Nicklas J, Thank you for your positive comment about my guesthouse, we are please to inform you that you and your friend are always welcome again and i am happy that you are happy staying with us. Hope you had a wonderful traveling and be safe always last but not least Take care and safe home...... Rose
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Thank you Rose for helping make our holiday to Sabah absolutely fantastic. I loved that you spent so much time to help us arrange our activities (before we left Australia and while we were in Borneo) so that we go got to see all of Sabah's highlights with the time we had. Everything ran so smoothly, on time and without any problems. Was also great that we had the opportunity to spend a day with you as our personal tour guide. Nothing that we asked was too much trouble for you, so very helpful, so very welcoming, it was like meeting up with a friend. I hope to go back to Sabah and to Sandakan very soon. I recommend travellers to Borneo to at least use Rose's tour company services. Service is friendly, super efficient, knowledgable and of course, very good value. Thank you Rose, we hope to see you again one day. Also, thank you for my little present, much appreciated :-)…
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Date of stay: July 2013Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Response from Sandakan M, Owner at Rose Guesthouse
Responded 28 Sept 2013
Hello there Windy!!! Nice to hear from you and thank you so much for the comment. I'm so happy to know that you really enjoy your stay and the tours, it's a pleasure to do anything for you :-) Thank you too for the gift that you brought from Australia :-) it was nice of you though....... Hope to meet up again someday where in Sandakan or in Melbourne. Best wish Rose
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I hit it off well with the entire staff and owner, Rose. The pricing is fine, the location is also good. What gives it the appeal is the welcoming friendliness of the staff. There is a travel/tour agency in the same office, so booking various tours was very convenient. It rained on night when I was there so we all stayed in and had a bar-b-que fish dinner.
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Date of stay: September 2013
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Response from Sandakan M, Owner at Rose Guesthouse
Responded 28 Sept 2013
Dear James First of all i personally want to thank you for the comment and for staying with us and enjoy your stay. Me and all the staff was very happy to met you and hope someday you will come back to Borneo and visit us. Best regards Rose
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I really don't know how this place has scored so highly previously. We booked a double room with air con for 4 nights via hostelbookers.com and assumed everything was fine. However when we arrived at around 7.30pm we were greeted by confused faces, asking to see our booking confirmation. When I showed it them they looked confused again and told us that our room was not available as the person who was previously in this room had extended his stay and they didn't bother checking the bookings! So we were told to come back tomorrow! After sitting in a bus for 6 hours this is not what you want to hear!This was resolved by the manager asking us to stay at house, and we would be bought back in the morning. We declined this offer and went else where for the night! When we arrived at our new hotel we looked on hostelbookers and it was still showing as having 4 double rooms available for that night, so if this was the case why didn't they put is another room? When we arrived back at the hostel the next day they again told us we had only booked for 2 more nights, and wanted to see my confirmation again when I told them it was for 3 more nights. Seriously the staff here just didn't have a clue. When we finally got into the room we had a double bed and single bed. The bedding was discusting as the pillows were yellow and stained and there was only a tiny thin children's blanket to keep us warm at night on the bed! So we slept in our sleeping bag liners. There were also ants in the room and the door handle was falling off and attached by masking tape! We also had a locker outside the room but the lady gave me a key to some one else's locker which contained a laptop and some other things! So we was a bit sceptical about leaving our things in there then! There were male and female bathrooms and the male bathroom only had one squatting toilet, and the normal toilet was for females only. And only one shower each. The female shower had no hot water for 2 of the days even after switching the hot water plug on (which by the way is right next to the shower so Im surprised no body has ever been electrocuted) Also you only get one roll of toilet roll and it's supposed to last you your whole stay here. I also never saw anyone cleaning them. And again there were ants all over the sink! Breakfast was a few slices of bread and jam. And also tea and coffee (no milk) Nothing to shout home about. We also booked a tour with the front desk and after all that happened during check in we were expecting a nice discount but we only got 10 ringit off! If I were you I wouldn't stay here as there are plenty of nicer places in sandakan!…
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Date of stay: August 2013Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip: Stay some where else
See more room tips
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Helpful
Response from Sandakan M, Owner at Rose Guesthouse
Responded 29 Aug 2013
Dear Steve Thank you so much for your comment. Im so sorry what happen to you. You come late and did not inform us that you are late and we have to sale out the room after 6 pm because your 10% is only for hostel booker fee and we have few times guest cancel without telling us and hostelworld or the guest did not pay us for any cancellation. We try our best to please everybody but its not easy to please everybody with different character. And yet since you already come, i talk to your gf and offer to stay at my house with FREE for 1 night so that can sent you the next day to my guesthouse, do you think any owner want to do that? People always said "What you pay what you get". our place is only a guesthouse, even though is simple but i always make sure its clean and you can always ask if you need some extra things, no harm to ask...... With rm48.00 for 2 person you get a simple breakfast, few slice of bread, jam and coffee / tea and a air-con room, i think this is not to much. if you go to a coffee shop and ask for 1 cup of coffee and few slice of bread and jam, how much it will cost you? Once again im so sorry that you are not happy to stay with us and as usual we try our best to please everybody. Regard Rose
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
LOCATION
MalaysiaSabahSandakan DivisionSandakan
NUMBER OF ROOMS
4
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Frequently Asked Questions about Rose Guesthouse
Which popular attractions are close to Rose Guesthouse?
Nearby attractions include Agnes Newton Keith Home (0.4 km), The Parish of St Michael and All Angels (0.09 km), and Sandakan Heritage Trail (0.5 km).
What are some of the property amenities at Rose Guesthouse?
Some of the more popular amenities offered include free wifi, free breakfast, and airport transportation.
What food & drink options are available at Rose Guesthouse?
Guests can enjoy free breakfast during their stay.
Is parking available at Rose Guesthouse?
Yes, paid public parking on-site is available to guests.
What are some restaurants close to Rose Guesthouse?
Conveniently located restaurants include Balin Roof Garden Bar & Bistro, English Tea House & Restaurant, and San Da Gen Kopitiam.
Does Rose Guesthouse have airport transportation?
Yes, Rose Guesthouse offers airport transportation for guests. We recommend calling ahead to confirm details.
Is Rose Guesthouse located near the city centre?
Yes, it is 0.3 km away from the centre of Sandakan.
Are there any historical sites close to Rose Guesthouse?
Many travellers enjoy visiting Agnes Newton Keith Home (0.4 km).