Name: North Borneo Biostation Resort
Address: Kg. Bak Bak, Mile 7, Kudat, Kudat, Kudat, 89050, Malaysia
Rating: 8

Air conditioning

Smoking areas

Smoke-free property

Security guard

Garden

Terrace

Outdoor furniture

No elevators

Reception desk

General

Non-smoking rooms

Minibar

Shower/Bathtub

Shower

Linens

Rooms

Safe-deposit box

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Restaurant

Bottled water

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet access

Internet

English

Languages Spoken

Bike rental

Recreation

Parking

Parking nearby

Beach/pool towels

Next to the beach

Pool and beach

Windsurfing

Diving

Darts

Cycling

Snorkelling

Sports

First Aid Kit

Beauty and wellness

Playroom

Kids

Pets allowed

Pets

Temperature control for staff

Extra decontamination measures

Temperature control for guests

Personal protection equipment for guests

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the resort

Room amenities

Kudat Airport

North Borneo Biostation Resort

Kudat

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

21-beds

22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

The location of the resort is quite remote but that's what we were looking for. You can ride the bike (if you are in good shape) or take a taxi to the tip of Borneo. We drove with Jenny. She has an old car but it has AC and Jenny is very nice. The bungalows are spacious. Since it was low season we got a unit in the front row. We were disappointed that the "Biostation" does not exist anymore. Access to the ocean in front of the resort is difficult. You need to walk a little bit to have better access. Only the ares in front of the resorts are cleaned up. Overall we spent some nice quiet days at the resort.

Remote location for quiet days

Overall was good. Amenities provided only towels, 2 cups, a small size shampoo, and 2 soaps. Aircond was cool enough and the water heather is quite good too. The door is too hard to lock from the outside and I just remained closed without locking the door. 

We were greeted by 2 new staff, Steve and Dahlia who just got working here for a month. Both are helpful enough to guide us for check-in and really informative. This resorts also offers Kayaking, Scuba diving and snorkeling activities with affordable price (Range RM 150 -300).

The access to the beach is located nearby the office and cafeteria. This resort is facing the Sulu Sea, by means, it is preferable for taking the sunrise picture. Food was good too and cooked by a Muslim chef. It's just, as Muslims, we are not really familiar with dogs where there are 3-5 dogs mingles around the resort and cafeteria. Not being racist or extremist for animals, but, we prefer to keep respect for our religion's sake.

Best scenery, but need upgraded on service

***AS PER MY EMAIL TO THE MANAGER (WHO LEFT 2 DAYS AFTER WE ARRIVED - RESIGNED DUE TO STRESS OF HAVING TO WORK WITH AN OWNER WHO DOESN'T CARE AND REFUSE TO INVEST TO FIX THE CONDITION OF THE CHALETS AND SEVERELY SHORT STAFF - NOT TO MENTIONED UNDER PAID!!***

Sent - 28 Jan 2020, 07:01 

Dear Ozgur,

It was lovely to have finally met you and Bella yesterday evening. 

Unfortunately I could not say the same for our first impressions, our chalets and the evening meal with my family. As the hosts, it was a rather stressful evening for me and John. Not to mention the countless trips back and forth to the restaurant and reception for various reasons. As you know, we are celebrating our engagement with my family... :(

1. Chalets...
A. 17,18 & 19 - A/C units were not cooling the rooms; my brother in-law made the grim discovery of all the filters caked in a thick layer of dust (please see pictures attached). He cleaned the filters and only then the A/C units started functioning properly. The same can't be said for our chalet (3)...the cooling mode of our A/C doesn't work at all and it makes a terrible rattling noise when it's on... 

B. Door locks; chalet 3's front door - the lower latch doesn't work which deemed the double-lock useless as you can just force the door open if you push hard enough... The doors leading to the bathroom is always ajar (held together by an internal latch) not great when you needed to use the toilet and your partner is in the room... 

C. Tatched roof above our shower is damaged and needs repairing. No warning on how hot the water for the shower gets either! 

D. For the rate NBB charges, it is not unreasonable to expect a kettle and some glasses/mugs in the chalets for coffee/tea making... I was mortified when Bella asked my sister to return the mugs to the restaurant as you don't have enough for breakfast service. And to be given a kettle which was broken added to my frustration when I returned it to you and you never visited the chalet to collect the kettle (as offered)... It was another 2 round trips for me to the bar to return the kettle... :(

E. Booking.com listing.... It says bottled water are included in the chalets. I was told this wasn't the case by Bella due to your new 'no single use' plastic policy. Great initiative but this wasn't communicated with your guests and it was not mentioned in the listing. Thank goodness we were prepared with our own water bottles... 

I guess it goes without saying that the overall maintainance of the chalets are not great...but I am sure you know this. :(

2. Cleanliness
Whilst chalet 3 was cleaned to an acceptable standards... The same can't be said for 17, 18 &, 19...there were heavy amounts of cobwebs on the wall and ceilings - which suggests that the chalets are not in use regularly and when they are, deep cleaning are not done for the unsuspecting guests. 

3. Additional requests 
Thank you for the bug sprays and liquid repellent for the rooms... Unfortunately these were not readily available when we checked in and became one of my mission for the evening... I had asked for them via Rita and Adrian (bar) but it wasn't till I see you (2nd time around) they were finally handed over to me. BTW chalet 17 didn't have the adaptor for the liquid repellent... Never received it either. 

Additional bed wasn't placed in 1 of the chalets as requested. Rita didn't seem to know anything about it until I reminded her. I'm just a bit disappointed that I ended up chasing the resort for things which I've been told will be arranged. Not to mentioned the change around of the twin bedrooms/double room situation...

4. Dinner
We had pre-ordered 4x Seafood BBQ with you and promptly sat down at 6:30pm as advised by Adrian... We left the restaurant at around 8:40pm...in the 2 hours and 10 mins we were there here were my observations:

A. I had to ensure that 3 tables put together for us have enough seats and they were reserved for our group (we pre-booked dinner)... 

B. No table service...wasn't told what to expect so me and the rest of the guests ended up bombarding poor Adrian at the bar. 

C. I had asked Adrian if I should pre order a la carte dishes so that they could be served at the same time as the BBQ dishes; I could but was reassured that it's not required as they will be served promptly upon order. That did not happen...in addition to the mistake made with the lamb chop for my niece, which btw was her 18th birthday...she ended up being the last in our group to eat. 

D. We did not receive the chicken wings and coconut pudding as part of the Seafood BBQ menu. When I left the restaurant and told Adrian, he said they were still grilling them!?! 

E. The BBQ menu was served erratically...I had to consistently reassure my family and manage their expectations that other dishes would be arriving soon. Was not a pleasant experience at all for any of us. I begrudgingly ask for the bill to be charge to chalet 3 as neither yourself or Adrian took the courtesy to rectify the bill and were too busy to address my concerns at the time. I have to be honest, I am unwilling to pay the full amount for the experience we had last night...

F. Condiments, sauces, extra cutleries, sharing plates... Etc. We had to keep approaching the kitchen to ask for everything which in turn disrupted your cooks and annoyed everyone. Perhaps a condiments station in the dining area would easily solve this issue? 

G. You are probably short staffed... The dinner experience was chaotic, disorganised and I believe rather stressful for your team and all your other guests too. 

Regretfully I am currently sitting in a lovely spot in front of the chalet writing this email to you which is not my ideal of relaxation. John and I chose this place as we have minimal needs but we do have basic expectations as guests which NBB should have not problem delivering. 

I respectfully request that you review and amend the rates which were charged for the 1 night stay for the 3 chalets and the bill for our dinner last night. I really do not want to approach Booking.com with a full review and to claim compensation through them... :(

Happy to discussed all the points above in person if you wish to do so with John and I. We are still looking forward to the remainder of our stay and for my sister and her partner joining us tomorrow but simply cannot go through the same experience as last night.

I hope you find my observations of constructive nature and my requests reasonable. 

NB. 
1. The owner gave a half-hearted apologies on our departure but basically blamed the managers on the terrible condition of the chalets and lack of staff and services (the managers are divemasters/instructors - they are NOT resort managers). Most managers are only there for 12 months as part of their contract...

2. Ozgur the manager bought us dinner to apologies - OUT OF HIS OWN POCKET!

3. The manager Ozgur & Bella as well as the restaurant supervisor Adrian tried their best to look after our needs. Ozgur and Bella are no longer the managers - they left 2 days into our stay after terminating their contract early (stress of running a run down resort and lack of care from the owner).

4. GREAT LOCATION, PLENTY OF POTENTIAL - SHAME THE OWNER DID NOT WANT TO REINVEST AND TOTALLY WASHES HIS HANDS ON HELPING TO MANAGE THE PROPERTY.

Our stay to celebrate our engagement was ruined...COMPESATION REQUIRED!

A place of a real privacy surrounded by lots of coconut trees everywhere. It feels like you are camping but you are in a house with a blacky black night outside with a strong cold wind from the beautiful sea. Be sure to look at the details of the house carefully. It is so gorgeous. Mad love for the roof and bathroom. Breakfast was okay and the staff are friendly. If only the restaurant is build on the hammock/viewing point for the seaview it would be THE BOMB! Not forgetting the black dog was our bodyguard during our stay here. So loyal and cute! 

Be careful on your journey towards the sea because the sand is so rough, you might hurt your feets without proper shoes. If you wanna do your suntanning, you might be disappointed because the coldness of the sea balances the hotness of the sun. You might not get the tan that you want. 

Few things that could be improved:

1) To provide reusable glass water bottle for environment friendly approach. I know they can provide electric kettle upon request but does it comes with glasses? What happened to providing water bottle and glasses in the room?

2) Cut that freaking grass! Maybe it is my OCD kicking in but my sister agreed that the grass needs to go.  

3) How about having a paid/free service for the guests to enjoy coconut drink from the coconut trees? Such a waste of delicious resources if you let it become brown. It looks so tempting for me to climb and pluck it. Except I don't have a ladder and a large heavy knife.

Note: In case of unlucky day, there might be falling coconut leave on your rooftop. We experienced it and phew that was crazy loud and scary! 



The triple S: Sea-Sun-Sand

Our stay at North Borneo Biostation was in October, when it was relatively quiet. The staff was very friendly and helpful and helped us to arrange activities. We especially liked the diving experience with Bella. She is a very good teacher, very patient and helped me to overcome my fears. She takes the time you need for it and is not in a hurry. The underwater world is amazing, with so many fish and we saw turtles as well!

If you have plenty of time in Borneo we would recommend to explore the tip of Borneo: snorkling and diving is lots of fun. The tip itself is beautiful (but not the main highlight of Borneo, compared to all other beautiful things you can explore in Borneo), we also went to secret beach were we literally had the beach for ourselves and saw one of the most amazing sunsets we had ever seen.

The NBB resort has a beautiful location, close to the beach. The rooms were clean, but there are many insects. We were happy that we brought our mosquito net along.

Fantastic underwater world

Our initial plan was to just stay at the resort, laze and enjoy the beach for a couple of days. On a whim, we decided to try snorkelling and that turned out to be one of the best decisions we could have made. It was our first time snorkelling and given that I am not a very confident swimmer I was very apprehensive. A big shout out to our instructor Bella for ensuring that we felt safe and for her patience, we truly appreciate it! It opened up a whole new world for us and was an experience that we will never forget. I would any day recommend Bella and the dive centre here for first-timers and of course for experienced persons too. The underwater world here is unbelievable to boot. We were also happy to see the big bag that is kept on the boat to collect plastic that is washed ashore onto any island everytime the boat is anchored.

Cottages and restaurant - the location is very beautiful, the beach is private and fairly clean. The beach is not a typical sandy beach but has a lot of very interesting rock formations that are pretty intriguing. The chalets are spacious but could do with a little more maintenance(the bathroom locks were not working properly). The staff at the restaurant make up for any minor inconveniences. They are extremely friendly and accommodative. We did notice that they get really tense when the owner is around for dinner though!. Food was expensive but pretty tasty.

Unforgettable snorkeling experience

We wasn't staying in North Borneo Biostation Resort, but we went where for diving and snorkeling. It was really great experience! We took "discover scuba diving" program ,
and our instructor Bella made our first step into the diving world so exiting and inspiring! I was with my 10 years old son, and I appreciate how safe and secure we both felt during the entire process. She was so patient and attentive! And the underwater world of North Borneo is very rich and beautiful!

Diving and snorkeling with Bella

This place has an amazing location on the beach in a remote place. On the whole we enjoyed our stay. The main problem here is understaffing and long waits for food in the restaurant.  The chalets need a little more maintenance. Door locks did not quite work, air conditioning unit was not quite functioning properly, one of the lights in the chalet was not functioning. Staff here are very nice and welcoming but so overworked. It looks like they do several jobs at once - as waiters, maintenance people and cooks. As a result the wait for food is so long and chalets could do with more care. The morning and day chef was much better than the evening chef. The food portions were small in the evening. It took forever for food to arrive, particularly at dinner time. We came here in the hope that the bio station was still in place and we'd be able to learn about its work. However it does not  exist any more. The owner was around but he never welcomed us. He occasionally ate in the restaurant in the evening. and was served rather quicker than us, lingering hungry at our tables. Laundry service here was very expensive, and the washed clothes were not folded or ironed. Our chalet was never cleaned during our 5-night stay.

Great location but needs improvement

Positive:
If you are looking for a quiet time-out this is the perfect place to be.
Spacious and very clean bungalows with sea view and a small balcony. The beach in front of the biostation is very clean (as they pick up the trash), compared to the beach next to the biostation.

Besides the facilities itself, the best thing there was the diving course we did. Besides that, they also offer snorkeling and kanu trips. Even though our booking was super spontaneous, Bella (the dive instructor) found time for us to accomplish the course we wanted to do. She is a brilliant instructor and you will learn a lot during the sessions with her. Besides, she will also help you with getting around the area and pointing out nice places to go (but don't expect too much to do around the area). 

The food in the restaurant is quite good and they even have a vegan menu (try the tempeh!). If they don't show it to you, ask for it! 

Negative:
Some of the service staff were a bit slow on the uptake and they were unflexible when ordering food with special requests due to dietary restrictions.

Great for relaxing on the beach and diving

We had a lovely time here in June, we stayed 2 nights and went on a snorkelling tour which I highly recommend! The cabin was very nice and clean. It was quite and laid back.We had a great time here and would highly recommend staying here. Thank you Bella and Ozzy for being such lovely hosts!

North Borneo Biostation Resort

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