Dotty6

We are considering a tour to Borneo with a good company who we have travelled with previously. However, on reading reviews the Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse (one of the accommodations used by this company) I am uncertain about what to do as the reviews are rather negative.

Has anyone stayed at this hotel and if so what was it like?

I would be grateful for any input to help me decide.

Kathie

Laurieco stayed there and thought it was a waste of time and money (and I'm being nice about what she said). If you do a search on this board, her report should come up (although the search function seems to be not working well today).

laurieco

My husband and I stayed there for a few nights about 3 years ago. To be honest, it was a waste of time. It's in the middle of nowhere and you have to depend on their tours to see anything and the way the times for the tours are set up, you can only do one thing per day. I was pretty bored when just at the hotel.

Speaking of the hotel, it's billed as luxury in the jungle...it's not. The pool was filthy and I would not even stick my big toe into it. The rooms were okay but lacked some basic amenities found at decent hotels. Also, you must eat at the restaurant at the hotel, which was not great. All in all, I would spend the time in Kuching instead and spend a night or two at Bako National Park, which was wonderful. We didn't spend the night there unfortunately but wish we had instead of at the Batang Ai.

laurieco

Kathie, after I posted I saw your post and had to laugh! You hit the nail on the head.

Dotty6

Thanks laurieco & Kathie - your replies were very helpful and having read similar reports on tripadvisor I am having a rethink of our plans. The only problem is that we are hoping to use The Travel Collection (a subsidiary of Kuoni travel) as we went with them to Sri Lanka last year and found them to be excellent on price and accommodation. They have two tours, one including the Batang Ai along with Hilton Kuching and also another based in Pacific Sutera which is apparently just outside Kota Kinabalu.

I love the sound of the hotel in Kuching but don't want to spend four nights in a not so good hotel, which it appears would be Batang Ai.

Thanks once again for all your help.

Kathie

We traveled independently to Borneo and had a wonderful time. Do read my trip report here from Nov 2005. The highlight of the trip was a stay at the Borneo Rainforest lodge. We also spent a few days in Kota Kinabalu before moving on to Kuching. If you want a hotel outside Kota Kinabalu, the best is the Shangri-La. The Hilton in Kuching is lovely (ask for a club room with a river view).

janev

I also look at Travel Collection holidays - often there are some good deals to interestign places, and then sometimes when you check out trip advisor you can imagine soem of the hotels may not be so good. We went to Sabah and Sarawak in Jan/Feb this year - we did it indepedently and had a great time. The highlight of our stay was seeing the animals along the Kinabatangan. We would also have liked to go to Borneo Rainforest Lodge where Kathy stayed but worried about connections - once there we could see it would have been no problem. Maybe have a look how much to do it yourself/ check Kuoni, years ago you could use one of their packages and then if you wanted to stay on you had to pay somethign like £3 a day extra (as you weren't then using their services) but can then go where you want. I don't know if you can now - it might be worth checking. To my knowledge you can't do this with Travel Collection - I did ask (but that was a few years ago). In Kuching we stayed at Crowne Plaza in a club room - it was fine.

Dotty6

Thanks Kathie & janey for your helpful info. I have been looking at travelling independently (though my husband is a little wary of this!). I have managed to find flights to Kuching at a reasonable price and would like to stay for a few nights at Hilton Kuching. Would we need to hire a car or is it possible to move around on tours etc? How easy would it be to get to the Borneo Rainforest Lodge from there?

Your help is much appreciated.

janev

To get to Borneo Rainforest Lodge from Kuching I think you would have to fly up to Kota Kinabalu and then fly from there to Lahad Datu. I don't think there are direct flights from Kuching to Lahad. I have copied below a bit from what I wrote earlier in the year on our travels:-

Air Asia flight KK to Sandakan was on time & fine. We left one bag at Hyatt & were picked up by Annie Chong and taken to Sepilok Forest Edge Resort http://www.sepilokforestedge.com/
The people who work here are very friendly and helpful and from here was a 10-15 minute walk to Sepilok
Orang-Utan Rebabilitation Center. There were about 15 people here for the 3pm orang-utan feeding time and many orang-utan did come along. It was very nice to see - it didn't feel too crowded or zoo like as many have written - maybe due to this being afternoon? I wonder if folk on day trip from KK usually go to the morning feed time.
The next day we were picked up by Robert Chong and taken to Kinabatangan Jungle Camp - as the name suggests a place on the Kinabatangan River. Accomodation was in simple but clean rooms and we had a great time here. We had 4 trips out by boat and saw lots of wildlife. We especially loved the evening trip when we got very close to different birds asleep on the trees over the river - this was very special. Food was great and Robert Chong the host is great company. Robert lived for quite a time in Canada and speaks perfect English, although his first language is Cantonese. He is a very interestin gguy and explained all the history of the area. For those who love bird watching Robert has an expert knowledge - just to mention we aren't bird knowledgable but it was all a great experience.
www.kinabatangan-jungle-camp.com

Kathie - we did want to go to Borneo Rainforest Lodge too - but were worried about moving between places easily ie. Lahad Datu to Kinabatangan. I think now we could have done it - but we weren't sure when we booked. However, we are really pleased with all that we saw - it was wonderful.

We were driven back to Sandakan from here and then picked up the afternoon MAS flight (the timing of this fit better than the Air Asia flight) back to KK and onto the Hyatt.

Just to mention all taxis from KK airpoty to the city have a fixed rate of 20 ringgit - so its no hassle.

Kathie

Dotty, If you want local tours, you can easily book them in Kuching. There are lots of small local agencies you can book with. I would not book ahead - you'll pay much more and won't meet your guide ahead of time.

To get to the Borneo Rainforest Lodge, as Jane says, you'd have to fly to Kota Kinabalu and then on to Lahad Datu. At the BRL, you have a naturalist/guide with you at all times when you are out on the trails.

It is easy to make your own arrangements in Sarawak and Sabah. English is widely spoken and prices are reasonable.

Dotty, what is your husband concerned about in terms of traveling independently?

Dotty6

Thanks once again janey & Kathie. We normally do try to "do our own thing" rather than tours as we find this much more flexible. However, not having been to Asia I think my husband was uncertain as to how easy it would be to move around and see as much as possible. I spent ages, with the help of Fodorites, last year planning our trip to Yellowstone but having been to the US several times this did not seem at all daunting. I have passed on to him the helpful comments from yourself and the others on Fodors and I think that he has now been reassured that we would have no problem in going it alone. I am avidly reading the trip reports to see if I can put together an interesting itinerary.

Kind regards

Dotty6

We are now looking at staying for the whole time in Kuching but maybe visiting Bako National Park and finishing off for a few days at Damai Beach. Is this "do-able" and would there be any difficulty with transport?

Thanks

janev

No its not difficult to get to Baku, there are local buses and then you gat a boat or you can take a tour. We didn't go to Baku as but I have read a lot about it and I belive that although it may be nice to stay overnight the accomodation is very basic.
We rented a car and drove to Damai -other than the yummy seafood we ate at a restaurant there we didn't see anything special though. There are a number of hotels in the Damai area though I believe. I think its also fairly easy to get buses to there too.
We also took a tour - it started in the afternoon and took us to Damai area from where we got on a boat (just us and a large party of dutch tourists) to see fire flies and try to catch a glimpse of the Irrawaddy dolphin. No dolphin to be seen - but the fireflies were nice! It was a pleasant evening.
How long do you plan to stay in Kuching? We found Kuching and the surrounds pleasant, but Sabah has much to look at.

Kathie

I agree. As Jane says, you can take local transport (buses) or you can hire a car and driver. Damai is a pleasant beach resort area. There are some superlative seafood places, but you'd need a local to guide you to the best!

janev

Kathie - or in our case we followed a local who was taking in an English family he knew & had worked with! They coincidentally arrived just after us and we asked if this was a good place.

Dotty6

janey & Kathie - your input is much appreciated. We are not sure how long to stay in Kuching. I have been trying to base our itinerary loosely on that of the tour company (though missing out the Batang Ai bit!). We will have about 14 - 16 days and I am not sure just how to make the most of our time. We felt that flying to Sabah would use up valuable time and I have not looked into airfares or timing between Sabah & Sarawak.

I do feel reassured now that we will be able to get about using local transport or tours and we have definitely decided not to bother with the tour company but will work something out based on your recommendations.

Many thanks.

Kathie

jane, sounds like you were smart to follow a local!

Dotty, if you have 12 to 14 days on the ground, I'd definitely go to Sabah as well. The flight between Kuching and Kota Kinabalu is about an hour. Malaysian Air has a number of flights each day. A few days at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge (a short hop from Kota Kinabalu) would be unforgettable.

janev

If you do consider going to Sabah you can also look at Air Asia flights as they are cheaper then MAS.
If you stay so long in Kuching to be honest I think you will be bored. If you stay a week at Damai - if you enjoy sunbathing I guess is possible, but from what we saw I think you would just be stuck to the hotel. It seems things are very spread out down there and maybe you'd only have the hotel to eat in etc.

shelleyk

Could someone tell me if this area is decent (weatherwise) for a 2 week vacation in Jan., Feb. or March, or is it too rainy?

Dotty6

Thanks again janey & Kathie. We are not really beach lovers and I was only contemplating a few days at Damai as a break from the city. However, on your recommendations I think we may be better using the time to go to Sabah. I have looked at the flights and the prices seem remarkably cheap! I have just got to get my head around all the timings etc!

Regards, Dot