Top Sandakan Hotels

Interesting city and people, not many visitors. If you are going up the Kinabatangan river, then Borneo Eco Tours provide a really good trip. If you are lucky you''ll get to see the pygmy elephants, which were around at the end of April 2005.

Be sure to allow time to stay at one of the lodges on the Kinabatangen River to see the wildlife!

Outstanding seafood restaurant, Ocean King Seafood Restaurant, 7km outside Sandakan on the front overlooking the sea. A 10 ringit taxi ride and the food was very good. Wildlife Expeditions was the best tour company in our opinion.

Recommend "Ocean King Seafood Restaurant" although found the slogan "we don''t serve pork" quite amusing. Visited Sepilok Orangutans which was OK, but the Gomatong cave and the river cruise were excellent.

My stay in Sabah included accommodation at the Sabah Hotel, more basic accommodation at Kinabalu National Park and a night in the Promenade hotel in Kota Kinabalu. The Sabah Hotel was the best. Self organised excursions included the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary, easily accessible on my own rather than an organised trip (may attention though to opening times which caught me out). Other organised excursions assisted with regards time in the area which was limited. Kinabalu National Park is a must if you are in the area. Fabulous location. If attempting the mountain don''t leave too early as you will have hours at the resthouse where there is nothing to do. Aim to reach the resthouse by late afternoon and enjoy the park first as your legs won''t want to the next day. Much is made of the need for a torch on the mountain, my tip would be a head torch, ideal and allows both hands to be free for the scramble.

Definitely recommend Sepilok and also a cruise on the Kinabantangan River. Wildlife Expeditions are a good company to arrange things through, they are based at the Sabah Hotel.

The hotel is well-located with easy accessibility to Sandakan town and the airport. I made all my tour arrangements (Turtle Islands & Sepilok) with the Wildlife Expedition company, located right in the hotel. I must say that the tours were very well organised with well-trained staff giving you helpful information prior-to as well as during the tour. Sandakan''s the place to be if you want a great holiday " in search of wildlife"!

It is easy to acess city center and uphill observatory also beautiful English Tea House, in fact, you do not need to take taxis all the time, there is a local bus stand only 100M to hotel. Also you can take bus to Sepilok there instead of going to town center bus terminal.

Sandakan is a dirty polluted town filthy with litter. My wife was stared at everywhere we went with rude and indecent comments made wherever we went. This was very uncomfortable as they obviously didn''t realise I understand some bahasa and knew what they were saying. More pallatable is nearby Bandar Indah which is clean and safer. Place definitely worth a visit are the Australian War Memorial and the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary. Sepilok Orang Utan rehab centre is ok but not much different than visiting a zoo. In general I would not recommend Sandakan as a tourist destination. It would be better to visit the attraction on a day trip from Kota Kinabalu.

Used this hotel as a base to go on the Uncle Tan''s River safari and also to visit Turtle Island. Former excellent value the latter quite interesting too. For Turtle Island, book directly with Quest, on the seafront, you will save lots of money. The English Tea House by the look out point, not far from the hotel, is also worth a visit.