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Bilit Rainforest Lodge is located beside the Lower Kinabatangan River in the village of Bilit, approximately 2 hours drive from Sandakan. It is a set of amidst lush tropical forest and offers comfort and peaceful relaxation as well as a base for easy exploration of the incredible diversity of plant, mammal and birds at the Kinabatangan region. All chalets and the restaurant are made from local hardwood material and are designed to blend into the nature giving a unique local native ambience. The rooms are very spacious and comfortable with a minimum of 600 sq.ft. for standard chalets and 800 sq. ft. for VIP permier chalets. A boardwalk connects the jetty, restaurant and all the chalets.
This place was a bit of a shock after staying at a four star international hotel! However once the shock was over we really enjoyed our stay. Yes it is basic but it was clean (I think we were in the most basic), yes you get only a hour a day wifi but seriously if you want to do wildlife then everything should be about the adventure! Ok I did have to shower with a load of ants one morning but it is really funny looking back at it. Major positives for us were the hammocks in front of your room; we spent early afternoons napping in those. We also really liked the food; basic and limited choice but what they did they did well. Really friendly ladies serving us. Also the wildlife really does come to your doorstep. We saw long tail macaques and civet cats among other things. …
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Date of stay: May 2018
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.
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Response from HadleyHo, Guest Relations Manager at Bilit Rainforest Lodge
Responded 19 Jun 2018
Dear Valued Guest, Warmest Greeting from Tropical Gateway Tours! We are glad that you had a memorable stay with us, your review is very much helpful :) however, we will still try our best to improve better in future. Thank you.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Bilit Rainforest Lodge is surprisingly (for its remote location) well appointed. Good air-conditioning was appreciated as were a comfortable bed, complimentary bottled water and a good array of amenities. Missed having a television or a hair dryer but then these are survivable. Disappointing on arrival day the internet was not operating, however it was fixed the next day and able to use a 2 hour quota of free wifi. The breakfast, lunch and dinner all had a reasonable selection of well prepared food, including the stickiest of sticky rice I have experienced anywhere on my travels. All supplemented by good tea, coffee and cool filtered water. The location provides for both river cruises and jungle walks during which you can see a range of animal and bird life — they also get the…
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Date of stay: May 2018
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.
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Response from HadleyHo, Guest Relations Manager at Bilit Rainforest Lodge
Responded 19 May 2018
Dear Michael, Warmest Greeting from Bilit Rainforest Lodge! We are very much appreciate for your valued feedback, we are glad that you’re overall satisfied your stayed with us :) hope that we have the oppurtunity to serve you in future. Thank you.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
The lodge is a very welcoming environment and sensitively done within the rainforest. The lodges themselves are really spacious and have all the emenities and facilities you need. The food is tasty and plentiful with extra afternoon tea/coffee and cakes before heading out on an afternoon river trip. Make sure you take to advice of staff, don't leave anything out on your veranda or there's a chance the next time you see it could be when one of the local population of macaques is wearing it. The river trips morning, afternoon and night ar excellent and the guides so good at spotting the wildlife. We were lucky enough to see 7 of the iconic orangutans over two days, as well as several other primates. We also saw a wide variety of birds, especially kinghfishers at night, and ther…
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Date of stay: April 2018
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.
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Response from HadleyHo, Guest Relations Manager at Bilit Rainforest Lodge
Responded 10 May 2018
Dear Valued Guest, Warmest Greeting from Bilt Rainforest Lodge! We are very much appreciate for your reviews and glad to hear that you’re overall satisfied your stays and river cruises with us. Hope to see you very soon again in your next visit! Thank you.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We spent two nights in this lodge on our pre-booked tour. Altogether the place is really nice, rooms are a bit dark but probably better in this hot climate. Plenty of space in the room, well-working AC and comfortable beds. Bathroom and toilet are seperate rooms and outside the "AC Zone" but that was not really bad just a bit inconventient. The Food was altogether really pretty good. Staff was attentive and helpful. The boat tours were simply great, by sheer luck we even managed to see a clouded Leopard and 3 Orang Utans. What could be improved is the WIFI as the "1 hour a day for complementary WIFI" rule should not be really necessary. We did not really pay for any extra tours as everything was part of our package but we checked and found the prices for the extra tours…
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Date of stay: April 2018
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.
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Response from HadleyHo, Guest Relations Manager at Bilit Rainforest Lodge
Responded 6 May 2018
Dear Valued Guest, Warmest Greeting from Bilit Rainforest Lodge! We are great to hear from you and get to know that you’re satisfied with your stay with us! Hope to see you in your future visit. Thank you.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
My husband and I spent 3 nights here in March 2018. You arrive by boat and are immediately impressed with the warmth from the staff. The location is literally on the river bank, surrounded by lush vegetation. The cabins are on stilts and although basic are spotlessly clean and tidy. We were upgraded to a VIP cabin which we loved. All cabins have air conditioning. We went on 3 river cruises and saw a variety of animals, like monitor lizards, crocodiles, proboscis and macaque monkeys, hornbills, eagles and our favourite spot, a mother orang-utan and her baby! It was such a spectacular moment! The food was excellent and varied! I was very sad to read one very bad review because we didn't experience anything like this! I would highly recommend this for a short stay!
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Date of stay: March 2018
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.
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Response from HadleyHo, Guest Relations Manager at Bilit Rainforest Lodge
Responded 5 Apr 2018
Dear SJGillett, Warmest Greeting from Bilit Rainforest Lodge! We are very much appreciated for your valued reviews! It’s our pleasure for making your stay memorable. We would delighted to see you in future again :) Thank you.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I cannot agree with a previous review when they said this place was a dump. It is in the middle of a jungle and whilst it could be improved upon, the surroundings and river trips were spectacular. On our morning cruise, we were lucky enough to have Jimi, the Manager, with us and he was informative and delightful company, our boatman has incredible eyes and could spot baby crocodiles (about 30cm long) on the side of the bank. They were very happy to pull the boat close to the banks for better viewing and seem to enjoy our excitement when birds and monkeys appeared. We loved it. Definitely one crossed off the bucket list, and a big thank you to all the staff who only wanted to make our stay as easy as possible. Thank you Jimi and all staff, we had fun dancing in the Malay…
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Date of stay: March 2018
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.
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Response from HadleyHo, Guest Relations Manager at Bilit Rainforest Lodge
Responded 19 Mar 2018
Dear Valued Guest, Warmest greeting from Bilit Rainforest Lodge! Appreciate for your good review, and we are happy that you’re enjoy your stay and journey with us! We will try our best to improve in every aspect for guests satisfaction. Thank you.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Having spent one night at a fabulous lodge on the same river, we opted to move on to what we thought was another according to reviews on Trip Advisor. We were in disbelief. On arrival we were horrified. In a lush jungle environ, this Lodge was on barren soil. Our reportedly most deluxe cabin/villa was sadly dark with badly stained plywood walls, and on entry 90 plus degrees in sweltering heat as no one had been instructed to turn on the AC. Our "deluxe" lodging looked out on rebars for a future and similar accommodation. Not a pretty view. Amenities were in very short supply. Everything had to be requested: fan, soap, hairdryer, etc. The food was VERY LIMITED and AWFUL, and ignored my husband's pre- advised garlic allergy. The river guides talked loudly to one…
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Date of stay: February 2018
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.
We spent 2 nights here. It is right on the river among the trees. The wooden cottages are on stilts and are comfortable and clean. I was personally so pleased to be away from the temptations of TV and wifi access. I enjoyed being in the natural surroundings with only birds and the happy voices of children to listen to. I could unwind and read a book on the hammock between river trips. The food was wonderful - fresh and varied. The staff were really friendly and all seemed authentically happy - that permeated throughout the place. They demonstrated warm hospitality. I loved the cruises on the river to seek wildlife. We saw so many wonderful birds, different monkeys and even a wild orangutang. The boat captain has eagle eyes and the guides were knowledgeable and shared…
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Date of stay: February 2018
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.
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Response from HadleyHo, Guest Relations Manager at Bilit Rainforest Lodge
Responded 27 Feb 2018
Dear Valued Guest, Warmest Greeting from Bilit Rainforest Lodge! We are very much appreciated for your valued review. That's our pleasure to provide such facilities and services, however, we will keep on improvement. Thank you and we are delighted to see you in future if possible! Best regards, Hadley
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Just spent two nights in this lodge and have some amazing memories of wildlife river tours, where our captain had a very trained eye for spotting the orangutans and various birds and monkeys. We were given a guide called Tan who was with us throughout our journey and was very funny and informative and made our stay very special. The lodges were very spacious and food was wonderful all staff were very accommodating. We were a party of 6 which included 2 children . Would defiantly recommend this place but not nessesary to take city tour.
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Date of stay: February 2018
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.
1 Helpful vote
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Response from HadleyHo, Guest Relations Manager at Bilit Rainforest Lodge
Responded 27 Feb 2018
Dear Karen, Warmest Greeting from Bilit Rainforest Lodge! We appreciate for your valued review. We are glad that you enjoyed you stays with us, Mr. Tan will be happy to hear that too :) Thanks & best regards, Hadley
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We stayed at Bilit Rainforest Lodge for 2 nights as part of an Amazing Borneo tour. This review is for the lodge alone. There was a short boat ride to reach the lodge, which is situated on the riverside and very convenient to access by boat. Check-in was easy and our luggage taken directly to our rooms. The dining area is clean and spacious and the buffet food is varied and plentiful, everything I could ask for in a rainforest lodge. The A/C recreation room was great, with a TV that includes HBO and Fox channels, table tennis and darts board, all of which we utilised a fair bit during our down-time. Staff were also helpful although there was a minor issue of us paying the tourism tax at check-in and there being no record of this, and being asked to pay it again at check-out. …
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Date of stay: January 2018
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.
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Response from HadleyHo, Guest Relations Manager at Bilit Rainforest Lodge
Responded 14 Jan 2018
Dear Nalia, Warmest Greeting from Tropical Gateway Tours! We are very much appreciate for your valued reviews towards our lodge! We are glad that you were overall satisfied. As for the inconveniences, we are sincerely apology for its happened. We will definitely take note of it and will try our best to improve as soon as possible. We are delighted to serve you once again for your next visit to Sabah! Thank you.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.