violetm

Please help ... I’m going round the bend with trip research and am hoping for some advice! We are a couple in our late 30’s with no kids and are planning a trip about 15-18 days in March, which I want to have some sightseeing/touring, some gorgeous relaxing beachtime, and some city shopping at the end.

The thing is we’ve had several fantastic trips to Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Krabi, and Phuket) and are now nervous of going somewhere new in case it doesn’t match up. We’re so tempted by Thailand again (maybe Chiang Rai and Koh Samui this time) but we’re also ready for discovering something new.

As we’ve just moved to Perth, Australia from the UK and Malaysia is now so close it seems a shame not to give it a go. We spent a day in KL on the way here and really liked it. I’ve always wanted to go to Borneo and see the Orangutans. We love pampering boutique beach hotels (within our price range), eating asian food, shopping, markets, arts and crafts and wildlife.

Clubbing, drinking and crazy resorts (ie Patong Beach) are not our thing, and we’re not too bothered about historical buildings, churches, temples etc.

So … I’ve been thinking fly straight to Kota Kinabalu (via KL), 2 nights Shangri La (Tanjung Aru), 2 night trip Borneo Rainforest Lodge (thanks to Kathie’s trip report), then another 2 nights at the Shangri La. Is this long enough? The things that I’ve read in the area which appeal are Turtle Island, Poring Hot Springs, Market in KK. Maybe we would need to allow more time to see Orangutans in case we don’t see any at BRL?

Then we’d like some beach time … I have asked this question in a separate post and thanks for your responses, but I don’t know why - I’m just not struck by what I’ve read/seen photographs of the beaches in Sabah (Am I wrong?) Maybe I’m hankering back to what worked in Thailand (ie a week exploring Chiang Mai and then a week in a beautiful boutique resort on Kata Noi Beach, Phuket). Anyway I feel we want to go somewhere else …

We’ve looked at Langkawi but just keep thinking we might be disappointed and it’s a lot of money to be disappointed. The lovely resorts (Westin or Andaman at a push – Datai, Four Seasons are out of our reach) seem very isolated, and the ones at the busier strip don’t “float my boat”. Also none of the hotel reviews seem to get great reviews on the quality of food.

Then we thought maybe Penang (particularly as you can fly direct from KK there), but people say the beaches aren’t as nice as Langkawi, and although I think Georgetown looks interesting we're really looking for beachtime …

Then I thought about flying to Penang and onto Koh Samui (I know - Thailand again!) but at least we know we’d love it and we’ve never been to Koh Samui … although the flights are several hours apart and we’d end up spending half the day at Penang Airport. And can Firefly be relied upon? Is this mad?

We even thought spend a couple of days in Georgetown and then to Samui (best of both worlds) but am worried the amount of travelling we’d end up doing would be too much for a 15-18 day holiday, and we'd like to come home well rested.

Finally, whatever we do, we want to get back to KL for a few days shopping before flying back to Perth.

ANY Help, advice, suggestions you can throw into the pot would be gratefully received!

Thanks so much ☺

rhkkmk

take a look at the imperial hotel in K/L...

i think your first layout looks quite nice...

Kathie

Going to Malaysia, especially Sabah will be different from going to Thailand. You'll now be much closer to all the SE Asian destinations, so remember, you can go back to Thailand.

I'd really recommend that you focus on one area. If it were me (and it isn't) I'd probably do something like:
2 nights at the beach near KK (Tanjung Aru - is this the one closest to KK? That's the Sh-La you want), 2 nights BRL, back to KK - maybe stay in town for a night or two to explore the town - not a lot there, but a few interesting things. I have to say that after the BRL, we were entirely unimpressed with Kinabalu Park (including Poring). You might want to consider extending your stay at the BRL to 3 nights.

From there I'd go to Kuching, really a charming town. There are places to go nearby that we didn't get to, but we'll be back. Stay in town at the Hilton. If you want more beach time, go to one of the resorts at Damai, about half an hour out of Kuching.

After leaving Sabah, spend a few days in KL.

With this itinerary you'll have two different beach areas, the primary rainforest and two cities in Borneo and KL.

I loved the Georgetown area of Penang, and the E&O is worth the trip by itself, but leave it for another time.

TravelTwiddle

If your going to BRL in Danum valley, island paradise Sipadan-Mabul-Kapalai is just around the corner, east coat Sabah. What not consider them?

violetm

Thanks for all your help. After much umming and aahing I think we're almost there:

2 nights KL
2 nights Borneo - Tanjung Aru
2 nights - Borneo Rainforest Lodge
1 night Borneo - Tanjung Aru
5 nights Langkawi
2 nights KL

We're doing KL twice because we're using Air Asia and I'd rather reduce the amount of connecting flights with them in case of time issues ...

We're happy for 2 trips to KL as we love to shop.

The only things we need to finalise now are which hotels in Langkawi and KL.

Bob - I've looked up the Imperial - is this the Sheraton? If so it looks gorgeous ...

We've been to KL once before - but only for a night and we didn't get beyond the Oriental (which was gorgeous), so ...

we thought we'd like to stay in a couple of different areas - don't see the point in staying in the same hotel both times. As we've stayed at the Oriental we're not bothered about this area this time. Bukit Bintang appeals, and we were considering the Westin? Any thoughts? Or any better ones in this area? Then maybe the Imperial (the Sheraton one) or another hotel in another area which would be good to stay in - any advice would be great.

Langkawi - We'd love the Datai or the Four Seasons but they're out of our price range, so we're considering the Andaman or the Westin which both cost the same, we'd prefer a more couples hotel than families - the fewer kids the better, with a nice beach and good restaurants, so my feeling is the Andaman. I've also been looking at Tanjung Rhu, which is quite a bit more expensive - but is it better than the other, would the extra be worth it or are the others as good?

Thanks, Steph

Ryetee

Westins are consistently good, if a tad commercial: in that sort of price range in KL there aren't really any "bad" hotels. In Langkawi, the Andaman would probably be better for you than the Westin simply because of the fewer kids factor but if the budget will stretch then Tanjung Rhu would be better still.