Name: Kinabalu Mountain Lodge
Address: Kampung Tinompok, Kundasang, (1KM before Kinabalu National Park), Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, Ranau, Ranau, Ranau, 88670, Malaysia
Rating: 8

Heating

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Non-smoking rooms

Shower/Bathtub

Rooms

Wheelchair Accessible

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Wi-Fi

Internet access

Internet

Garage

Parking

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Kota Kinabalu International Airport

Kinabalu Mountain Lodge

Ranau

Hey 👋🏻 all, absolutely a lovely morning with Donkey head peak of Mt Kinabalu after a great 👍🏻 comfy night rest 💤 😴 here at📍 FLYPOD Kinabalu Mountain Lodge, Kundasang, Sabah. Yes, this lodge is now under the 🆕 management of FLYPOD team

Got to know about this lodge from my stay at FLYPOD Hotel Kota Kinabalu (My hotel review posted here earlier, do check out my profile for it).

Checked in to a Queen room with balcony in this 
FLYPOD Kinabalu Mountain Lodge. My room is with attached bathroom, 🆓 WiFi & fully equipped with all necessity inclusive of electric kettle, cups, toiletries, tissue papers, towels, water heater, fan (Actually no need for air conditioner, it’s absolute chill cozy with its cooling weather). If required, you may request for mosquito repellent, heater, iron & hair dryer from the hotel reception

Yes, my room is well equipped with all the necessity a traveller needs during a short stay. Love the comfy soft pillow & bed 🛏️ for a good night rest 💤😴 

Ohh ya...the 🆓 WiFi here was smooth for me to attend a work Gmeet when I checked in to my room 👍🏻

Love the beautiful green nature of Kundasang valleys view 😍🤩🏞️⛰️🌳🌳🪟 from my room balcony as I got to hear the bird singing early in the morning. Everything absolutely fine for me during my stay here, in fact I just so easily fall asleep during my stay here, it was really nice comfortable 💤😴👍🏻 I'm fully rest & energized 

There is a cosy shared lounge & dining area at the lodge lobby, you may sit outside the lodge too. It's with a restaurant 🍽️ within the lodge to serve hot meals & drinks during your stay here, including steamboat 

Amazing hospitality by FLYPOD team (Included the guard dog, Happy 🐕‍🦺🦴) , love the perfect view of Mt Kinabalu from here, walking distance to Kinabalu Park 🏞️ to enjoy your trail up to the low peak of 4095.2m ⛰️ Still recalled I was with Mesilau trail up & Timpohon trail to receive her colourful certificate many many years ago

Highly recommended 👍🏻 I have engaged FLYPOD personal driver services to from KK city to Papar, Membakut & Kundasang. Reasonable price with great 👍🏻 friendly transport services

Hope my review here is helpful to all. Do check out my blog link on my profile for more of my travel reviews sharing, also a TikTok clip on my awesome lodge stay at here ya :)

Amazing scenic lodge stay with beautiful Kundasang mountain valleys 😍🤩👍🏻🇲🇾💕

I booked 2 rooms based on positive reviews however my experience begs to differ. 
firstly the ensuite room with bathroom. 
Con:There was hair on a pillow and it smelled of hair oil so I suspected they didn’t changed the bedlinen And i had to tip them rm10 and ask them to change everything. 
A poster on the door wrote that toilet paper should not be thrown in the toilet bowl, and only when i ask them where to throw then they provided a dirty rubbish bin. 
Also Only upon request did they provide toilet paper and towels. 
The shelf, toilet bowl, headboard, mirror, basin and a solitary plastic chair were so filthy (see photos) they obviously had not cleaned the room at all. There was rubbish left by previous occupant.
Fungus was growing freely on the ornaments and walls. (See photo) 
Pro: water- heater and pressure is good. 
I am ok with no- frills hotels but i do have certain expectations of cleanliness

Family room no 5 is located in the main building and looks better with its wooden floor and walls but when it rained, there was a leak in the ceiling the whole night . 

View was good but i did not enjoy my stay at all. Will not go back unless they improve on hygiene standard. 

Dirty and unprepared room

Firstly, this place isn't a luxury resort, and niether does it try to be. The rooms are very spacious and comfortable with their own balcony overlooking the forest covered valley, where you can watch/photograph a good variety of birds right from your room. There is no air con (just a fan), which is fine given the altitude means it gets quite cool (chilly even) during the night. Sleep listening to the sounds of the jungle, and wake to birdsong. The location attracts an incredible variety of interesting moths, which all come to the lights and windows during the night. As a nature lover I found this very fascinating! The driveway is 'interesting' and our little car only got up the last part after a second attempt and proper run up. This added to the sense of adventure! A short drive along the road to the entrance of Mount Kinabalu Park, and not much further to the markets and restaurants of Kundasang. The shared shower area was a little dissapointing as the water was only just off cold, which was a struggle given the cool evenings and mornings (the times you usually want to take a shower). Apart from that I loved it and will happily go back! Very good value for money. The bird photos shown here were taken from our room, the moths all at the lodge, the forest photo from the room and final photo is of the driveway.

Perfect location and value for nature lovers

This hotel has an amazing view but unfortunately it’s the only positive thing about this place. 

First of all it felt like a ghost hotel. We were the only guest at this big place but we quickly learned why people would not like to stay here. Then it felt like the place was managed by teenagers and we have never experienced this bad service before.  

All the employees, who were quite young, were watching televison af lot. The first day the restaurant was dark and closed 40 min. too early and we could here the emplyees watching You-tube videoes in a room next door. We then asked for cup noddles and the employee gave us cofee bags. We then had to go point out the noodles. The evening after the employees were watching a movie in the restaurant and didn’t ask us if we needed anything. Note, there is far to the nearest restaurant. We then asked an employee and got cup noodles. Shortly after we asked for cold water, since the water dispenser only had hot water. She  was listening to music and did’n even bother to take out her earplugs. She rolled her eyes at us for interupting her... doing absolutely nothing? Instead of giving us cold water she gave us a warm coke. In general they were not friendy and did not make us feel welcome, did not even say goodmorning. 

What was even worse was the cleaning. We have traveled the world and has lived at many basic place and this was the most filthy places we have been. Seems like the toilets haven’t been cleaned this the Middle Age and there were at least 1 million dead and living insects and dust all over, also in our room. There were orange spots and black hair on the sheets, dead plants on the balcony and an ashtray full of ciagrettes. The second day of our stay we came back from a walk at 3 pm. and they haven’t cleaned the room even though we asked them to (in the morning), since our room was dirty and costed 40$ without having private toilet. 

Then we asked once more and we waited on the balcony while the employee cleaned the room. Literally 4 minutes after she came out and said ‘it’s done’. She haven’t even changed the bed linen, not even made the bed and of course the room was still dirty. Then we asked her to please clean the room, and she says: aah you want a clean room? Ooh Yes we responded. 8 minutes after she left - the room was still not really clean. 

We laughed hard about this entire situation and stay because it was so absurd but we can’t recommend it to anybody.

OverDirty ghost hotel with the worst service!

Hotel: Kinabalu Mountain Lodge
Dorm C (for 6 pax)
Date: Chk/in- 23/06/2019  Chk/Out- 24/06/2019

Lodgings: The environment was very good. Cooling and quiet. Great for a group of hikers for a night.
We were there to acclimitize ourselves for a night to condition our bodies before travelling to the Kinabalu Park nearby for Mount Kinabalu hike.
However, the roads leading to the lodge were very narrow until the travel agent did not want to fetch us due to the slippery slopes.
The caretaker guy was kind to drive us all the way to the Park entrance. Mary Jane was very friendly and helpful too.

Room: The mattresses and dorm room was good. It's like a capsule and were divided in a way we were not disturbed by our neighbours'snores.
You will need to walk a bit to answer nature's call though. Lots of insects around toilet, shower etc but it did not bother us.

Food: Affordable food can be prepared in the lodge. No need to worry having nothing to eat.

Location: Nearby the Kinabalu Park but still need some transport to reach.

Very serene and quiet; too isolated though.

I realized the reviews are old and incomplete. And with the new management, there are many updates I want to share. The lodge was renovated and fixed up in March 2019.

This is a nature lodge, and it is a no-frills establishment. The accommodations are clean, but please understand that there are signs of age and are not stain-free. There is no air conditioning (as with most lodging in the area), and it can get cold depending on the weather. Temperature varies from 10C (night) to 20C (day) depending on the time of the year and weather. Extra blankets are available upon request. Expect company of many insects and birds, and a resident shy doggie. I recommend bringing a pair of indoor slippers as the floors can get quite chilly. Staff are extremely helpful and will be around till 10.30pm daily.

Road: Most part of road (potholes etc.) are repaired. We rented a sedan (proton persona) which climbed to the lodge with no problems, even in the rain. But another family with the same model couldn’t climb the last bit, which was awfully steep. We assumed it could be due to the tire threading or the wet weather. 

Mobile Reception: not stable and almost non-existent. On ‘E’ most of the time, occasional low 3G/4G signals. We do our surfing either along the main road or at Kinabalu park HQ.

Food: Breakfast, lunch and dinner is available at regular hours of the day at stipulated times. Note that the serving sizes for noodles and rice can by shared by 2 people. Photos of menu attached. We loved the chicken wings btw.

Hot bathing water: Hot water is now available 24hrs a day (a huge improvement from previous management).

Rooms as per Agoda labels (their main booking platform)

Double en-suite (semi-detached; away from main building-White interior):
I couldn’t find good photos when I booked this room. It is away from the main building (food and reception) but there are umbrellas for you to borrow when required. It is a cozy room but there is a shortage of cupboard/ shelving space, although there are a couple small drawers. Having the toilet en-suite is a big plus when going to the toilet at night (chilly). The toilet is simple and basic. Water pressure is strong!there is only 2 sockets in the room near the bed, so bring a multiplug if you need more outlets. It’s pretty good, definitely easy for luggages. Quiet and away from the main communal areas. (photos)

Double (main building, half floor up and adjacent to communal dining area - photo):
These may get a bit noisy if there are a lot of guests around

Family (main building, top floor): comes with balcony and view. Be prepared to carry luggage up a flight of stairs (photo). 

Japanese (main building, top floor): facing the forest and back of the property. Lower ceiling. Be prepared to carry luggage up a flight of stairs. 

Dormitory (main building, one floor below reception area)

Communal toilets: bath cubicles sorted by rooms, so no hogging during heavy traffic (photos)

We enjoyed our stay, and would like to share our experience so everyone who read this can come prepared and not surprised. It is definitely a place for nature lovers, as it shares the one of the ridge as Kinabalu park HQ and not overly commercialized. We found a trilobite in the back forest and a big millipede! We will definitely come back to stay again if we were to visit the area.



New management! Many improvements.

the entrance road is quite challenging. hilly road and narrow. 
but the place is awesome. we also made barbeque at the outside and cooked at the kitchen.
the toilet is outside the room. overall okay. 
the staffs are friendly. 

GOOD PLACE WITH NICE VIEW

Amazing view with sea and mountain togather. Fishes swim under your knee as your friends. Good time to relax after climbing Kinabalu top in the park with professional tourguide on the long way of over a day

Climbing

Stayed here for a few nights with friends to explore Kinabalu National Park for the weekend and overall I was very impressed with this property. The location and drive to the lodge is absolutely stunning set amongst the cool montane forest that is crawling with birds in the early hours. The rooms were well maintained and very comfortable, the F&B is more on a self-serve basis with basic meals offered by the kitchen. If you have a car there are other restaurants within the surrounding area. Great for a few nights and close to Park HQ gate with easy access! 

Tip: Early morning sunrise from the balcony is a must!

Hidden lodge up in the clouds!

The lodge is basically great, you can get a great view of the mountains from the balconies. However, the road to/from the lodge into the park is a little difficult if you don't get there by car. From the main road it is about 1 km up and down, partly steep. With large backpacks hardly to make. The shuttle service mentioned in the tour guide is not available. You can definitely order a taxi. We walked a part, on departure we had a lot of staff that took us with us. Otherwise the lodge is very well-bathed, but clean. Community cooking is ok, the rooms. However, it is also quite steep. We are almost one morning out of bed at 5:00 am but we have a nice alternative to having our kids have a little breakfast and lunch, but we could have gotten a little extra money in the evening.

Kinabalu Mountain Lodge

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