This is a good value hotel. No doubt about it.
I stayed at both the Shangri La and this Hyatt.
What you get at the SL is the resort convenience: walk to the beach, a nice pool ( but by far not an above average one, just good enough ), the grounds of a resort for walks, etc.
At the Hyatt, you are in the middle of town. Kota is a charming city, about 500k people so not a village.
The pluses is that you can escape the high pricing at this hotel: plenty of restaurants, convenient stores, laundry places, etc
The room is of high quality, seemingly recently renovated with all the amenities and comfort you would find at other Hyatt locations.
The gym is below average. No view. Small and crowded with machines. No fruits. No Juices. Just a water dispenser with paper cones to help yourself. The machines are fine, still in good shape. I have seen worse. You will spend an hour on the treadmill facing an ugly street. Getting to the gym is quite a labyrinth.
Did not try the on site restaurants. Way too many choices outside to overpay. This is the Ramadan month so there were specials for breaking the fast.
Laundry was a 2-minute walk and by the kilo. Awesome. Cheap.
Cabs right outside. You have to negotiate every single ride at Kota. Cab drivers tend to be loan sharks. Do not expect them to be honest. They simply refuse to use the meter. Hotel rates are usually twice the rate you can negotiate. Rip off.
Some remarks very specific to this location:
1. As the highest Hyatt frequent visitor, I felt absolutely no preferential treatment. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Not a letter of welcome. Not a bottle of water. I got free internet access. This is a service otherwise free at many hotels but not at the Hyatt. They charge 54 RM per night, a major rip off. It is not a 50 MB line either. No upgrade of any kind. I got a view on a parking lot, away from the ocean view. So if you are an elite Hyatt member, do not expect ANY sort of a bonus at this location. They could not care less whether you stayed with Hyatt 100 nights a year or once a decade.
2. This is a not one-week long location. Try a resort for beach activities. You can of course do it all going out and fetching different sea activity services. Not convenient but $ worth it given how cheaper this place is vs. resorts.
3. No turn down service. They just knocked ( I am still in the hotel ) at 9:10 PM to ask if we needed towels, etc. Odd to do it this late. The Do not disturb has not been on for hours.
- Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabalu
- Hyatt Kota Kinabalu
- Kota Kinabalu Hyatt
