Sabah help required
 

I am about to book 2 weeks in Sabah (hubby, I and 2 kids, 6 & 10) for the end of September. It looks like we will be staying at the Rasa Ria resort. I've got a few quesions, hopefully someone can help!

It looks great, my only concern is the distance from Kota Kinabalu. Has anyone stayed there, and are there plenty of day trips to be done?
We will probably hire a car for a week or so, is driving safe and easy?
Also wondering if the hotel has connecting rooms?
Do we need any injections or medication (malaria)?

Would love to hear from anyone with any info or answers :-) Thankx

I'm headed to Sabah and Sarawak in November, so have done a lot of research on it.

First, in terms of health issues, do read the info at www.cdc.gov/travel. You will, of course, need any routine traveler's vaccines or boosters (such as tetanus, Hep A, typhoid, etc). As far as anti-malarials are concerned, it depends on your itinerary, so read the malaria info carefully. If you are going into the jungles in the interior to do wildlife viewing, you will need anti-malarials. (If you are going into the jungles you'll also need leech socks - do a search here for a previous thread.)

I looked at both of the Shangri-La resorts and got feedback from a number of people (and ultimately, decided not to stay there). Rasa Ria is fairly isolated. You may want to consider splitting your time between Rasa Ria and the closer to KK Shangri-La, the Tanjung Aru. The Tanjung Aru gets better reviews than the Rasa Ria as well.

I just came back from Sabah and had an awesome time there.
Like Kathie said, Rasa Ria is fairly isolated but the hotel itself is in a tropical forest environment with a beach. I didn't stay there (stayed at Nexus Karambunai instead... which is nearby) but did visit the place. It's nice if you're looking for a place amidst nature with 5star facilities. And from their notice boards, it seems like they organise quite a lot of activities for their guests (not sure whether you'll have to pay extra or not). So if you're looking for that kind of experience, I think you'll enjoy it there. Nevertheless, Nexus Karambunai is also nice with a long stretch of white sandy beach. But it has slightly less activities. However, it's not as isolated as Rasa Ria... still about 40 mins drive to town though.
I agree with Kathie about spreading your stay between a place like Rasa Ria and some place nearer to town... it's easier to go to the nearby islands (Manukan, Gayar, Sapi, Mamutik) from the city centre. Shangri-La Tanjung Aru is not really "in" the city... about 20 mins drive... nearer to the airport. I didn't check out their facilities and beach so can't comment. I stayed at the Sutera Harbour resort. They have 2 hotel wings there... Pacific and Magellan. I personally prefer Magellan for its architecture and the staff seemed slightly more friendlier (not that the staff at Pacific weren't.. they were nice too). The beach is nothing compared to Nexus but have wonderful pools. Sutera Harbour sits on a private marina and yacht club, and you can easily get boats to go to the islands from the piers.
While you're in KK, make sure you take a drive to the mountain area (or get a tour) to get you to the Kinabalu Park and Poring Hot Springs. The drive there affords you with wonderful vistas of the valleys and of course Mount Kinabalu. Make sure you try the hot springs and the canopy walk. I did and had a lot of fun walking on tree tops (well... almost tree tops).
I actually stayed overnight in a town called Kundasang (in the mountain area) and my room opened up to the view of Mount Kinabalu (stayed at the Kinabalu Pine Resort.. 2star). The temperature dips at night and it is so calm there. Just a small town which centres around vegetable farming. There are no 5star facilities in Kundasang.. but the star of the attraction there is the view and nature itself. I saw some other hotels in the area but didn't manage to check them out.
The drive from KK to Kundasang is about 2 hrs each way. The drive is easy but be prepared for winding roads (no highways here). The road condition is good with some stretches currently undergoing upgrades.
I think your kids (and you) will enjoy a trip to the islands for snorkelling, to the hot springs, canopy walk, to the Monsopiad house (near KK... a house of a former warrior.. they hang the skulls of his enemies in the house). Oh.. if you are guests of Sutera Harbour, you can also use their clubhouse facility which includes bowling.
For food, i like going to the waterfront in the city... lots of restaurants there. If you're more adventurous, try the food stalls at the night market. They're really cheap and delicious... my personal favourite is the BBQ cuttlefish and ice kacang.
There's a handicraft market next to the nightmarket/waterfront... selling all sorts of things from Borneo and Philippine (you'll see a lot of pearls traded there)

Connecting rooms - yes... but to be safe, make sure you inform your hotel when you book.
Malaria injections - not needed. Malaysia is free from malaria (I'm Malaysian and have not heard of any cases for as long as I remember). But if you're still worried, there's no harm of getting it.

Hope this helps :)

malaysia is NOT free from malaria. it is still endemic in sabah and sarawak. sabah has the more virulent form called falciparum whereas vivax (which doesnt go to the brain and cause cerebral malaria) is more prevalent in sarawak.

we still see a lot of cases in the public hospitals in east malaysia.

the best thing is to be sensible and avoid getting bitten , ie wear long sleeves and pants if you can stand the heat or use insect repellants. the insect repellants work really well for sandflies too as i discovered in mulu.

i dont take malaria propylaxis even when i went to sabah but i think those coming from other parts of the world should.

sorry for the grammatical error. meant to say when i go to sabah, not when i went.

malaria is not the only mosq borne disease here. dengue and jap b encephalitis are other examples. so, really good reasons to avoid being bitten

I've just returned from Sabah also. We stayed at the S.L Tanjung Aru. It's a fantastic resort with excellent facilities. The beach is small but 5 coral islands are 10 mins away on the regular boat service which the hotel runs. These have wonderful beaches and lots of snorkelling aswell as jungle walks. KK is about 10 mins away by taxi and the Waterfront has good value restaurants. By staying near KK it gives easier access to the Klias wetlands where you can see the Proboscis monkeys, the coral islands and the airport if you decide to fly to Sandakan.

We went to the Rasa Ria to see the orangutans which was fantastic as they currently have 7. Lots of other jungle activities were available also but these all have to be pre-booked several days in advance as numbers are limited. I think the Rasa Ria is also slightly closer to Kinabalu park which is about 2 to 3 hour drive from KK, so it may knock 30mins off that journey.

So, I would have a week at each resort to make the most of the jungle activies in the surrounding area at the RR, and then the islands, KK and south Sabah by staying at the TA. We wished we'd done that in the end as travel around Sabah is quite slow and time consuming as the roads are ok but fairly slow moving. FYI, the RR is about one hour by bus to KK.

The TA is slightly more upmarket than the RR which has a more casual feel so you will get a different experience at each hotel. Plus the beach at the RR is huge.

As for malarials, we had to take Malarone, especially if you venture inland. It is expensive but IMO, it's not worth the risk taking a chance on malaria. You shouldn't have any side effects from them either. We were fine.

One other tip, I don't know where you will fly to Sabah from but we came in from Hong Kong and had an amazing view of Kinabalu mountain from the plane as it was a clear day. We sat on the left hand side. Also, go to the handicraft market at KK and check out the frog skin purses! They use the whole frog!

It's a great place and the people are so friendly. The cultural dancing is also really good. It's quite fast paced and the bamboo dance is great. They do a couple of evenings at the Tanjung Aru with a buffet which is well worth it.