Photo Review: Hyatt Regency Kinabalu Malaysia Globalist Suite Upgrade Experience
There are 3 Hyatt properties in Malaysia as of this writing namely the Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur which I have stayed multiple times, Hyatt Regency Kuantan which is still closed for major renovation since 2016 and Hyatt Regency Kinabalu.
Hyatt Regency Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia is the only Hyatt property in East Malaysia. It is an old property.
Hyatt Regency Kinabalu Details
- Location: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
- Loyalty Program: World of Hyatt
- Status: Globalist (Previously known as Diamond) + 1 Globalist Suite Upgrade Certificate
- Room booked: Regency Suite
- Price
- RM646 (~SGD$216) for Standard King Room
- RM1,236 (!SGD$412) for Regency Suite with Sea View
- Redemption
- Category 1 – 5000 points only
- Category 1 – 2500 points + RM227 (~SGD75) for points + cash option. (Updated March 2017)
- Nights: 6 nights
- Payment: We opted for Points + Cash
Hyatt Regency Kinabalu – Location
The hotel was located around 20 minutes from the airport. Catching an Uber or Grab to and from the airport was a breeze. It costed less than RM20 (SGD7). Grab seems to have more ongoing promotion with discount codes in Kota Kinabalu. We used Grab.
There is a good walkway called Todak Waterfront 2 minutes from the hotel for your evening stroll. A seafood market is also located there. In the evening it’s always crowded with people enjoying BBQ shrimp or grilled fish.
Apart from that the touristy street – Gaya Street is within walking distance too.
A 15 minutes slow walk will bring you to a mall with a wide variety of restaurants and a cinema.
Hyatt Regency Kinabalu – Check in
We arrived late that night as we ventured out for dinner before checking into the hotel. We check in around 10pm. It was a quiet hotel.
I considered the check-in smooth although somehow our booking were split into multiple confirmation numbers. The front officers manager assured us that we will have 6 nights in the Regency Suite with Sea View.
We utilized the last Diamond Suite Upgrade before Hyatt’s loyalty changed to World of Hyatt from March 2017.
We were then pointed to a walkway to take a different lift instead of the main lifts to our room. It would be nice if there was somebody who guided us to the lift, we found it after asking another staff on duty.
Hyatt Regency Kinabalu – Regency Suite Sea View
Our room was located at the 4th floor, the highest floor at that section of the building, it was a corner unit. Our room had a separate living room, bedroom and a huge walk in wardrobe.
The fruit platter and welcome cookies we received we nice! We enjoyed it.
We spend quite sometime relaxing on the couch during our stay watching television or eating snacks we bought from stalls close by, it was really comfortable.
Our bedroom was the smallest section of our room consisting a king bed, a couch and a television. We thought it was nice because we had a spacious living room and bathroom, the bedroom was only for sleeping time. There was a window too but we kept it closed because it’s by the road, it could be noisy at times.
The walk in wardrobe with several pieces of huge ceiling to floor mirror was amazing.
While it could be a bit warm during the afternoon, we enjoyed admiring the South China Sea watching speedboats hopped from island to island through our huge window. It is also possible to watch sunset from here too, though we were usually at the lounge during sunset.
Hyatt Regency Kinabalu – Gym & Pool
The pool was located at the same section of our room. It was an open recreational pool with a baby pool connected together, perfect for family pool moment.
It was a nice place to enjoy the afternoon with a book. This is not the lap pool in case you are into serious swimming.
The gym in the other hand was located at the basement floor which was a bit confusing to look for in my opinion. The best way to locate it is to ask the staff.
While it’s an old hotel, the gym was well equipped with anything from weights to bench press and treadmill machines. This is also where the spa is located.
Hyatt Regency Kinabalu – Breakfast
Our stay came with complimentary breakfast where we were offered to enjoy breakfast either at the quiet and private Grand Club Lounge or the Tanjong Ria Kitchen where they served a complete breakfast. We opted to have breakfast at the Tanjong Ria Kitchen.
The variety food served here exceeded our expectation for a Category 1 hotel. We will let the photo to do the explanation:
Depending on the day, sometimes it was crowded with tourists from Korea and China, other time it was pretty peaceful. We were then told this was due to the direct flight frequency from Korea and China. They only have flights coming in on certain days.
Most tourists would go for island hoping they generally have breakfast between 7am to 8.30am based on our observation.
Folks at the Tanjong Ria Kitchen were pretty polite and were always putting a smiley face. This must be the cheerful South East Asia culture. We did enjoyed a few chat with some folks.
Hyatt Regency Kinabalu – Lobby
It’s a huge lobby here at the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu, we took some of the photos and thought it’s nice to share it here too.
Since it’s an old hotel therefore the design was a bit dated. We liked it though!
Bottom line
Long story short – We enjoyed our stay and we have already planned on returning to the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu in June.
- Our Regency Suite was more than comfortable and we were thankful of Hyatt’s arrangement
- Nice pool to dip in
- It’s generous of Hyatt to give us a can of cookies as a welcome gift
- Love the extra bottles of water in the room
- Good selection of food at Tanjon Ria Kitchen breakfast service
- Good location to almost all major tourist spots at Kota Kinabalu
Staffs were all attentive I felt it the moment when I was trying to book my stay with suite upgrade certificate here because the points + case option was not on the website. I called Hyatt Regency Kinabalu and they sorted out for me right away. There were also times when we bumped into some of the hotel staffs that we have interacted with before at different parts of the hotel and were greeted by name, we also remembered their names, a way we showed respect and appreciation. A big shoutout to Ruth, Ka Yee, Shamsuddin and Remy.
The staff there is really the reason we wanted to go back to the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu. This time we promise that we will explore more of Kota Kinabalu like a real tourist.
How was your stay at Hyatt Regency Kinabalu? Tell us about it too.
Location
Address:
Jalan Dato Salleh Sulong, Pusat Bandar Kota Kinabalu, 88991 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Tel: +60 8822 1234
Direct Email: phuketpatong.hyattplace@hyatt.com
Follow us on Instagram – @Cremalogy
Where you get to see our Travel and Foodie experience before we publish a full experience here/
