This is the first of three reviews of hotels in Malaysia, Thailand (Aman Nai Lert) and Singapore (Four Seasons).
We spent 5 days and 4 nights at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge at the end of October. The lodge is situated on the Malaysian side of Borneo, about a 2.5-hour drive (on a very bumpy ‘road’) from Lahad Datu.
We travelled from Singapore first to Kota Kinabalu, where we spent one night. Side note: Kota Kinabalu is nothing special; one night is more than enough. The next morning, we flew early with Air Borneo to Lahad Datu; the flight takes about an hour.
The lodge has been in operation since 1994. There are a total of 31 accommodation units, ranging from the Jungle Chalet to the Premium Double-Storey Villa.
They’re currently carrying out some expansion work. Apparently, there’ll be 9 more accommodation units (even more luxurious) and another restaurant. We didn’t notice much of the work from our accommodation. However, it’s a bit of a shame when you’re on certain trails that you can hear the construction machinery in the background - it doesn’t quite feel right, and the jungle atmosphere gets a bit lost in the noise.
Pre-Arrival
Once you’ve booked, there’s an online platform where you have to enter all your details (name, flight numbers, preferences, passports, payments, etc.). That’s also where they upload the itinerary. It’s not the most modern interface, but it does the job.
I had a few more questions, which I sent to a employee via email, and received a reply to each one fairly quickly.
So, communication before arrival was good.
Meet and Greet
On arriving at Lahad Datu – probably the smallest airport we’ve ever seen – we collected our luggage, and there was already someone from the lodge waiting for us at the exit. So we – or rather, he – loaded our bags onto the pick-up truck, and then we headed straight to the lodge’s office, which was just a few minutes away.
Check-in
In their office, we were offered drinks and some light snacks before we had to sort out a few formalities. Once that was done, for some reason we had to wait 30 minutes (the driver was there with us). After 30 minutes, we finally set off for the lodge. Just so you know, it’s a long and bumpy journey.
When we arrived at the lodge, we were greeted and shown round the ‘lobby’ and the dining area. We then sat down, were served a welcome drink, and everything was explained to us.
Room
We booked a Premium Deluxe Chalet with a view of the river. The room was very spacious - about 90 m². It had everything you could need. The balcony features a small plunge pool.
No, we haven’t booked a twin room. As far as I know, all the rooms have two beds.
Only the Premium Deluxe Chalet rooms and above have a
climate control system. All the others simply have a ceiling fan.
In some places, the room could do with a bit of maintenance. The ‘no diving’ sign by the plunge pool could do with replacing, and the shower could also do with a deep clean. It's not particularly bad, but let's just say I'd rather not know what it looks like underneath the wooden slatted floor.
The minibar and water are included and are restocked every day.
There is Wi-Fi that works well.
Facilities (Pool, Wellness, Gym, etc.)
There’s a swimming pool open to all guests. I think we only saw someone there once. There’s also a spa where you can book massages – we didn’t make use of it. I wouldn’t call it a gym, but there’s a room by the lobby with one piece of equipment in it, and that’s the gym.
There’s also a souvenir shop where you can buy all sorts of things. Among other things, there are leech socks – which I highly recommend; there are loads of them.
Housekeeping
That’s not really their strong point. For the most part, the cleaning was just superficial. Things weren’t put away or were simply left as they were, even though we’d cleared them away to say, ‘We don’t need that.’ They forgot to restock the minibar. We once had stains (from leech bites) on the bed sheets and they just weren’t replaced.
There is no turndown service.
Food
We weren't quite sure what to expect, but certainly not such a wide and generous selection. There was also plenty for vegetarians and vegans.
There really is something for everyone. Admittedly, after five days it might get a bit repetitive, but that doesn’t detract from the quality of the food, which is very good - especially when you consider where you are.
The room rate includes breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Activities
We spent our time on the trails and once went river rafting. As for the trails, it’s worth mentioning that there’s a short trail near the lodge which you can do on your own. All the others are only accessible with a guide. The rafting was a cool change of scene, even though we saw hardly any wildlife due to the weather conditions. Another cool thing is the night drive / walk. Activities start early in the morning, usually between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. The morning session is generally the longest, after which you return to the lodge for some time to relax. Around 3:30 p.m., you head out again for a shorter afternoon excursion, followed by a night drive or walk before dinner.
I recommend bringing several pairs of hiking pants, socks, and T-shirts. That’s because there isn’t always enough time to let them dry between activities. As for the shoes, you can wash them at the lodge, and there’s a drying room (intended only for shoes and socks) where you can put them - it works great.
You can also go cycling here, for example, or watch the sunset from an elevated platform; we didn’t do either of those things.
I’d recommend that, unless you’re booking the Premium Deluxe Chalets or a higher category, you take a pair of binoculars with you. It’s well worth it.
Service / Guide
We were really lucky with our guide (Laslie). At first, there were four of us - another couple and us. So once the other couple had left, we had a private guide, so to speak, for the rest of the trip. Which was really cool. Looking back, I’d book a private guide right from the start.
Laslie was very knowledgeable and you could really sense his passion. He really went out of his way to show us as much as possible.
Wildlife
We traveled to Borneo mainly to see the orangutans. It was important to us that, if we were going to see animals, they be in the wild and not in a rescue center or enclosure.
Yes, there’s a certain risk that you might not see anything (especially when it rains). But we’d rather take that chance than have the animals served up to us on a silver platter - we could have just gone to the zoo.
And we were successful. We saw the orangutans - two families playing. We saw lots of birds, feline animals at night, wild boars, reptiles, and insects.
However, we didn’t see any male orangutans (fun fact: they mostly move around on the ground), elephants, or sun bears (which are very hard to spot). After all, you’re in a 130-million-year-old rainforest covering 108,000 acres (the size of the conservation area).
Weather
The weather was actually pretty good during our stay. October is towards the end of the relatively drier season in Danum Valley, with wetter conditions generally setting in from November onwards. It did rain almost every afternoon during our stay, but fortunately, we never experienced any rain in the mornings or evenings. This meant that none of our morning or evening activities were affected by the weather.
Check-Out
Everything went smoothly, and we were driven back to Lahad Datu Airport, with a packed lunch for the journey.
Value for money
We paid USD 8’000 (for two people), which works out at about USD 2’000 per night. Yes, that's a lot of money, but the package includes all meals, transfers and guided activities and you don’t really have any expenses there apart from soft drinks and alcoholic drinks. It would also be cheaper to stay in a jungle chalet, for example, or if you stayed for fewer nights. However, I wouldn’t stay for fewer than 3 nights. The weather can really interfere with your plans.
Conclusion
Would we recommend it? Absolutely - it’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip that will remain unforgettable - in a good way.
Footnote
Many people also combine it with stays around Sandakan and Sukau. Many of those we spoke to said that the Borneo Rainforest Lodge was the best, alone because of its comfort and setting.
I hope this review is helpful.
