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Judy L

Offering day tours is nothing else but driving you around in a taxi

2.0 of 5 bubblesReviewed 11 Dec 2023
Jesselton Hotel offers several places of interest. For instance the Kota Kinabalu City Tour. It supposes to show the 7 wonders of Kota Kinabalu. Actually what the hotel does, it hires a taxi driver to drive you to the 7 wonders of the town. The taxi driver is not a tour guide, so information about the so-called wonders you dont get. One of the wonders was closed because it was under construction, another was impossible to visit because of rush hour, the other was nearly closed because it was already late in the afternoon, that was the Sabah Museum. Seeing the sunset, also included, I did that by myself. After an angry phone call the staff apologized and told me that the costs were theirs. Thats a nice suggestion, but my experience is, dont booked a day tour at the hotel desk unless a guarantee is possible to get an experienced tour guide and not only a person who is driving you around, you will be better off with a grab, and much cheaper!
Date of stay: December 2023
Room Tip: Dont arrange your day tours at the hotel desk, it will spare you a lot of disappointments and...
Trip type: Travelled solo
1.0 of 5 bubblesValue
3.0 of 5 bubblesLocation
3.0 of 5 bubblesService
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Reviewed 12 November 2023 via mobile

Stayed at this hotel at the start and end of an Intrepid tour. I had one of the new renovated rooms before tour and whilst the room was on the smaller side it was lovely. I had an old room on the return trip and the room was huge but it is dated and could do with some renovations. I thought the location was excellent and staff were very accommodating. WiFi was pretty good too. A decent budget option in KK!

Date of stay: May 2023
Trip type: Travelled solo
Thank peppyc2016
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.
Reviewed 17 October 2023

The hotel is old. It's old.

I went on a short business trip and booked through a reliable travel platform. After booking, I read online reviews and realised that only some of the rooms were newly refurbished (new wing); my bad. I contacted the hotel via what seemed to be an official website and communicated with them through LINE. They were responsive and asked for my booking reference.

Wow, not bad!

Then someone actually called me via a fixed link, trunk call (not LINE), I repeat, trunk call. Wow again. The well-spoken person told me that since it was my first trip, they would upgrade me to a room in the new wing as my current booking was for the older room. Wow, I'm impressed.

Finally, the day came. I checked in late at night and looked forward to a wow service as I read up about this 'legendary' iconic hotel. Alas, the front office told me 'No such instruction to upgrade me'. Wow.

I thought being a stranger in a new place, I was not going to argue. It's just 2 nights, I shall endure it. It was also getting late. The town is quiet.

I entered the room assigned to me; wow. Old. The door is old with no door latch, just a permanent scar on the door frame of what appeared to be a door latch attached to it once upon a time. The bathroom is old like from the 1970s.

The safe box is a relic (must have stopped working for a long time). The room is dimly lit. I went down to the front office to tell them about the condition of my room and to show them the communication I had with someone supposedly from the hotel. They said 'no upgrade' and by the way, I need to pay for a tourist levy which they'd forgotten to ask me earlier.

The first night, I slept fitfully as I was feeling insecure about the door. The next morning, I tried my luck once again explaining my predicament. They agreed to upgrade me but insisted again that no one from the hotel ever contacted me. I wondered why but they appeared puzzled about the existence of their own hotel website. Anyway, I'm not going to crack my head trying to solve this puzzle.

During my stay, the person on LINE didn't reply to me when I contacted him/her. Strange.

The new room is very new and clean. I was given a small room which was very squeezy. Honestly, I didn't mind since the door can be locked safely and it is bright and not spooky. The safe box albeit new, is messed up; it can lock but can't be unlocked. I compromised by having my travel docs and laptop locked in it until prior to my departure.

So my verdict? If there's a next time, I will think very carefully. I rated this hotel very good on account of the 'service recovery' and new room.

Date of stay: July 2023
  • Trip type: Travelled on business
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
Thank jsbach_sg
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.
Reviewed 17 October 2023

Very tired grubby hotel . Large hotel room, nice friendly staff but room not particularly clean and poor choice of breakfast which was served cold . Bathroom nice size but porcelain stained . Plug sockets mainly not working or unsafe .

Date of stay: October 2023
  • Trip type: Travelled with friends
    • Value
    • Location
    • Service
Thank Nathalie0801
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.
Reviewed 4 October 2023 via mobile

An antique hotel in the city with clean rooms. Mattress was rock solid though, not to my taste, and the bathroom was clean and tidy. Good shower. Reception staff were lovely and helpful, we arrived at ~1pm and check in wasn't till 2pm. We hung about in the lobby, super tired after our travel and were delighted to be given a room by 1.30pm for a much needed nap! The only disappointment was breakfast! It was cold, cold eggs, cold noodles, cold hash browns. Not very nice. If we had had time I would have run to McDonald's for breakfast!

Date of stay: September 2023
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Thank brainy_banana
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.
Reviewed 28 September 2023 via mobile

I would call this place as antique hotel.This hotel operated for very long time.Nice and clean hotel.Friendly staff.Smooth check in and check out.Location of the hotel is very strategic.Overall I would recommend this hotel to everyone.

Date of stay: June 2023
Trip type: Travelled with family
Thank yuva906
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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