Understated luxury

A hotel in sleepy Kota Kinabalu makes a perfect home away from home.

LOCATION, location, location! This oft-repeated mantra should be kept in mind when trying to decide the location of any business, and, in fact, one’s choice of home. And when you’re on vacation, your hotel is your home, so even then location matters. I was very pleased with my choice of accommodation during my brief stay in Kota Kinabalu recently. The Grand Borneo Hotel may not be situated smack in the centre of town but it has something even better —it’s linked to a mall. What could possibly trump that?

In a city with very few attractions, one runs out of things to do pretty quickly, but shopping in KK? Most are wont to say, Oh, puhleeze. Actually, if you’re on this side of Malaysia, you’ll find that the 1Borneo Hypermall is a pretty chic location for shopping. Even people from Brunei come here to shop. With more than 400 shops to its name, the mall has changed the KK scene. It houses, among other things, pubs, clubs, karaoke outlets, restaurants, movie halls and bowling alleys, so really, anyone would be kept happily occupied here.

Welcoming: The Grand Borneo Hotel in Kota Kinabalu at night. -Picture courtesy of Grand Borneo Hotel.

The hotel itself is no slouch. The Grand Borneo Hotel has 325 rooms, with 43 spread out over two floors in what is called the Borneo Privilege Club. What the privileged guests on these floors get, besides bigger rooms and extra amenities, is personalised check-in and check-out service and access to the club lounge with its private meeting rooms, reading materials, free e-mail, drinks and snacks. And the Club will even handle typing, faxing, taxi and flight bookings and other related requests from guests.

I had the privilege of staying at the Grand Deluxe club room on one of these floors. My first impression? The bed was “giganormous” – you could roll around in it like a gymnast doing a floor routine, if you wanted to! The view I had was of the city and the distant mountains, all of which could be enjoyed while soaking in the standalone “love” tub. There was also a shower room and another toilet for guests in the living area which, incident ly, had its own flat-screen TV (the bedroom also had one). Of course, the room also came with all the facilities that a business traveller requires, including access to broadband. I loved my room! The club lounge is perfect after a tiring day. It’s great to sit down, watch TV, have a beer and munch on snacks as you wind down for the day. Tired of that tub in your room and need more space? Try out their indoor pool. It comes with a bar.

A sample of the breakfast buffet at Soul Out Restaurant.

And if you’re in need of sustenance, there’s their Soul Out Restaurant, the venue for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The buffet breakfast is the usual you get at similar establishments, with a regular selection of Asian and Western dishes. The presentation, though, is far from systematic. Quite confusing, actually. Or why not keep it simple and go ala carte at the Bubble Bar?

Should you need to plan for events – corporate or personal – the hotel has quite a number of function rooms available, including its 1,200-seater Grand Ballroom, one of the largest in KK. If you tire of the hotel and the mall, you can visit the city centre 7km away. Various tours are available; I would recommend those by Vista Lane Tours. The service at the Grand Borneo Hotel on the whole was excellent throughout my stay. Suffice it to say, this hotel and KK won’t fail to satisfy. Really!

GRAND BORNEO HOTEL
Borneo Hypermall
Jalan UMS 88450
Kota Kinabalu
Sabah, Malaysia.

Tel: 60-8852 6888
Fax: 60–8852 6889

E-mail: info@grandborneohotel.com
www.grandborneohotel.com

-s.s.yoga/thestar online.