Name: Paganakan Dii Tropical Retreat
Address: Mile 14, Jalan Labuk, Sandakan, Sandakan, Sandakan, 90000, Malaysia
Rating: 9

Air conditioning

Ticket assistance

Garden

Terrace

Reception desk

General

Family room

Rooms

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Dry-cleaning

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Diet menu (on request)

Breakfast

Restaurant

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet access

Internet

Car rental

Transfer services

Transfer

English

Languages Spoken

Tour assistance

Tourist services

Barbecue grill(s)

Fishing

Barbeque

Recreation

Parking

Event facilities

Meeting and presentation facilities

Conference Hall

Business

Darts

Sports

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Extra decontamination measures

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the cottage

Sandakan Airport

Paganakan Dii Tropical Retreat

Sandakan

Amazing place nestled inside the forest. Comfortable beds and clean surroundings with super amazing staffs. Good food served in the in-house restaurant. Reasonably priced. The free shuttle to the Orang Utan Sanctuary is a plus. Connectivity from the main reception to the dorms/chalets when it rains could be a bit of a hassle.

Sabah trip

We really liked this place!
The views from the dining area and rooms are amazing. 

The room was clean and had everything we needed upon arrival. We really enjoyed the outside shower and the mosquito net by the bed was an added value. 

The staff were very nice and helped us when needed. Even when they didn’t understand much english they tried their best to help us as much as possible.

The food was tasty and they had some nice vegetarian options as well. The food always arrived quickly and you can also choose to pre order your food so you’re sure you’ll have it in time when you have somewhere to go. 

The resort is close to the orang utan and sun bear rehabilitation center and the rainforest discovery center. They offer multiple free shuttles a day which is very nice. They also offer transport to the RDC night walk (would recommend!!) 
And it’s also possible to get some private transport to the bus terminal (for example) 

We were happily surprised by seeing some wildlife in the resort! There are a lot of squirrels, snakes and special birds. So make sure to keep an eye out if you want to spot some wildlife while relaxing. 

Lovely stay with amazing views 

We just left this place and it has been a wonderful stay!

Staff accompanied us from the lobby to our room (second furthest one and it's a few minutes walking) to show us how things worked. Only the remote of the AC was missing, but they told us they were looking for it :) It still worked, but you just couldn't regulate the temperature. It sat at 22 degrees (perfect!)

The place offers 3 free shuttles a day to the urang utang center, sunbear center and Rainforest Discovery Center at 9am/2pm/6pm.

They offer a pretty wide variety of food on their menu which you can also pre-order when you want to eat straight away after for example going on the RDC night walk or when you wake up at a specific time in the morning. Breakfast wasn't really all that special, but still you left not hungry and that is the most important.

The view from our room and from the lobby is spectacular beyond words! We snapped some amazing pictures just from our balcony alone!

Side note: the toilet seat really could use a modern upgrade. The plastic is falling apart... 

Side note 2: don't leave any food, even sealed (!), in your room because it WILL get eaten at night by small critters sneaking in your room! Although staff warned this might happen :D

Side note 3: cash only!


Great stay + some general info if you want to visit

This place is just amazing. The accommodation is clean, cozy with everything you need and in a nice calm area. But what really made our stay here unforgettable is the amazing stuff. They helped us with any situation and had always good advise for our plans in the area. Recommended to stay here 100% we would stay there anytime again.

Incredible accommodation

The only nice part was staying in the fringes of the forest. Other parts of our one night stay were lacking somewhat…

The parts which weren’t great:
1. They did not send us our towels. We had checked in to our hut right at the end and they informed that they would send the towels ‘shortly’. The towels never came. We had go to reception twice and they kept saying they they had sent the towels. We waited like > 2 hours and it was not a pleasant walk back and forth to reception. We only got our towels after we insisted on waiting at reception.
2. They make us take off our shoes at reception. This was ok but the single unisex toilet upstairs was absolutely filthy with urine/water on the floor and toilet paper all over the floor. And we had to enter barefoot if we wanted to use this toilet.
3. The one and only restaurant at reception serves food really slow. Be prepared to wait > 1 hour for food. Or… when we ordered, the lady will inform that everything is not available except for fried rice and fried mee. Waited > 1 hour for these too. Worse: other people could order whatever they wanted and their orders arrived much faster.
4. They only accept cash. So strange and so unfriendly.
5. They either have no beer or warm beer.


Quite bad, except for the part about staying in the fringes of the forest

Paganakan Dii was the great escape and reset for my partner and I. This isn't your 5 star resort, this is back to nature and basics in the best possible way. We had a ridge view chalet (a bunk bed and a queen bed - all with mosquito nets) the facilities are simple, but everything works. Open air showering while looking out to the jungle was heaven.. the noises, smells.. I loved it. While it's a bit of a trek to get there (and not idea for any suitcases with wheels), it is well located for exploring Sandakan / sepilok and surrounds. The hosts are lovely and very accommodating, with free shuttles to the orangutans / sun bear sanctuary. A simple breakfast is included (eggs on toast) with coffee / tea. Dinner is available and affordable with a small selection of nice dishes - vegetarian options too. This is a place to shed the stresses of life, get back to the simple things and really connect with what Borneo has to offer.. even if that is a monkey on your roof at night 😁

A true jungle experience 

It's out in the rain forest which is hot and wet so keeping things in perfect order has got to be a challenge. We stayed in the bungalows. Put all of your western expectations on hold and you'll love it. The units are very rustic but comfortable. The bathroom is on an outdoors ( covered) deck. Everything works, but it's a bit home made. On site meals are very good but the range is limited. Staff are lovely. Monkeys rampaging over the roof is challenging, but wherelse can you get that?

Genuine rainforest rustic charm

It’s a jungle retreat, rustic but brilliant. Team are fantastic, super helpful, food is great, showers overlooking the jungle, shuttle service is helpful and the vibe is perfect if you want to get away from hustle and bustle. We’ll definitely stay again.

An amazing jungle retreat

The place would be ok if it was a 10-20 USD a night kind of lodge. But it looks quite in shambles, with garbage everywhere. We just road tripped through Eastern Africa for the last 4 months and we’ve stayed in dodgy places. But now we’re in Malaysia (travelling for a year) and it’s the first time ever we cancel a reservation after arriving, because we feel uncomfortable staying there. It would be ok, at a lower price I guess, but the room / place is not worth the 50-60 USD.

I dont understand the raving reviews…

Basic accommodation but comfortable & clean & with an epic rainforest view. Brilliant semi-outdoor shower overlooking the view. The room features A/C & a ceiling fan.  WiFi is only available at the restaurant area.  There are mosquito nets over the beds, but there weren't that many mosquitoes around the room.  Perhaps it was just the time of year? Bring a few bulldog clips incase there are a few holes in the mosquito net & you'll be fine.  The owners are totally lovely.  Spend some time chatting to their daughter Rose.  She's a delight.  Breakfast is included & it's simple but tasty. The meals are nice, simple, home cooked dishes.  Very tasty & so cheap compared to the other nearby resorts.  We had a meal at the Sepilok Nature Resort.  Didn't find the food to be as good & it was literally 3 times the price.  A 1.5 litre bottle of water at the local service station was 2 ringgit.  At our hotel it is 3 ringgit.  At the Sepilok Nature Resort they will charge you 10.   If you don't have your own car, you will need transport to get around.  You can't walk places from this hotel.  The cost of the in-house taxi service is cheap however.  They only charged us 90 ringgit for the proboscis monkeys & we stayed for 2 feedings.  We had quotes from other transport places of up to 210 ringgit.  The hotel offers 3 free shuttle services each day for feedings at the orangutans, sun bears or the Rainforest Discovery Centre.  If you want to go at any other time, they'll take you or pick you up for just 5 ringgit per person.  They can also help book things like river cruise tours or firefly tours.  You can just chat to them all day long on WhatsApp for any assistance you need.  But you must note that this hotel is cash only.  And the nearest ATM is pretty much back at Sandakan.  I would happily stay here again.

Paganakan Dii Tropical Retreat

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