I think we have found The Best Hotel in Borneo!! All though we only stayed in a few hotels in Borneo, this was by far the best one we stayed in the whole of Malaysia. If you are planning a holiday to Malaysia and are heading to Borneo, then you need to stay at The Nexus Resort and Spa.
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📍How to get to best hotel in Borneo
About The Nexus Spa and Resort
The Nexus Resort and Spa is located in the Karambunai region of Sabah, Borneo. Karambunai is located 30 km North East of Kota Kinabalu. The resort sits on 65 acres that is surrounded by a beautiful rain-forest, which is over a million years old. This resort backs onto its very own 6km white sand beach. Behind the resort on a clear day you can see Mount Kinabalu in all its glory.
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Unlike most of the other hotels in the Kota Kinabalu area, which are located around the city centre, The Nexus Resort gives you the true Borneo experience. It allows you to feel free and relaxed as you are surrounded by the beautiful nature Borneo has to offer. We spent hours walking through the grounds spotting wildlife and exploring the beach. Often, we saw monkeys, monitor lizards and Spectacled Flowerpecker around the grounds of the resort.
When we arrived at the Nexus Resort, we were lucky enough to be treated with a native welcome dance upon arrival. It was amazing to watch and learn about Borneo’s history. This was a fantastic way to start our stay at this resort. Everything was incredible from the staff and service, to the room and the food!
The resort has over 200 luxury rooms and villas with a selection of sea or garden rooms. We were fortunate enough to stay in the Sea View room. It was incredible when we would come back to the room in the late afternoon and watching the sunset over the sea. Also, at the resort is an enormous golf course which has the backdrop of the jungle and the view of the ocean.
The resort’s best feature, is its world-famous spa, which we can confirm is truly deserving of its impressive title. The treatments we received here were the best we had ever had!
CLICK HERE TO BOOK A ROOM NOW!
How to get to The Best Hotel in Borneo 🚕
When arriving at the Kota Kinabalu airport you will be greeted by one The Nexus Spa and Resort drivers. The driver will be holding a sign with your name (how fancy?!) and will welcome you to Borneo. When we got into the car ready to be transported to the Resort, we were amazed with how clean and spacious the vehicle was. After a short drive through the city and out into the jungle you will follow the road until you reach the resort located on an amazing stretch of coastline.
Rooms at the best hotel in Borneo 🛏
Being a couple that love the sea, we were over whelmed with our view from our Sea View Room. We could relax on our balcony and listen to the waves all night. Our room was very spacious and clean and we got some of the best nights sleep we’ve had in months.
The resort offers several different types of room. There are also a garden view rooms and suite styled villa’s. If you really want that extra bit of luxury, then the resort has 6 Grand and Presidential Suite Villas. Staying in these suites allows you access to The Club Lounge. The Club Floor styled rooms are a lavish accommodation that comes with a superior level of personalised services. This booking will give you access to the club lounge which has the BEST breakfast! Two days in a row, we ate our own body weight in scones for breakfast! For a full list of room types the Nexus Resort offers, click here.
Sunset On The Beach at the best hotel in Borneo ☀️
WIFI
Working as Travel Bloggers have fast reliable Wi-Fi is very important for us. At the Nexus Resort and Spa, the WIFI has you covered from the moment you walk through reception all the way to your room and around the entire resort. This was something that really stood out to us as the resort was huge. We were very impressed with the coverage throughout our stay.
Food 🍣
If you are like us, then food is one of the most important aspects of your holiday. The Nexus Resort and Spa has some of the best food we have ever tried. Spoilt for choice, we had the option of 8 different restaurants to choose from each day. The restaurants vary from traditional Malay food to freshly made stone baked pizzas.
On our first night we ate at the Kingfisher buffet restaurant. The choice of food was unbelievable. There were dishes from every country you could think of, our favourite was the satay chicken. The buffet option was great for Milly as she can be fussy when it comes to onions in her food. She was able to create her own Mongolian Stir-fry with all the ingredients she loved. Having this aspect to dishes we wouldn’t normally have eaten, really pushed us to try more food.
For our second evening we were treated to the best Chinese we have ever eaten!! Normally when we think of Chinese in the UK, we think of heavy greasy takeaway food. In the Nexus Resort, it is completely different! Sitting around the huge round table with a stone turning wheel in the centre we were amazed. All these delicious dishes kept coming to our table and they were divine! The dim sum were out of this world and we would highly recommend visiting this restaurant during your stay. Food is the key to our heart and it is one of the reasons we think that Nexus is the best hotel in Borneo.
The most romantic meal we had was at the Olive restaurant. It felt like just the two of us along eating by candle light and the food was insanely good.
Spa 🧖🏻♀️
Something we look for on a couple’s holiday is relaxing activities we can both enjoy together. Our first impression on walking into the spa was WOW. The design was amazing and the story of the Royal Prince and Princess from the Sultanate of Brunei was as carved into the walls.
We relaxed around the water fountain and waited for our treatments. We were pleasantly surprised to find they had a couple’s massage option which we could take part inside or outside, right on the beach. As we both chose the coffee scrub treatment, which involves showering before your massage treatment, we stayed inside. The treatment could not be faulted, as we both felt extremely relaxed and satisfied after both treatments. Both of us didn’t want this day to end, it was perfect from begging to end.
These are the following awards this spa has under its belt.
Luxury Beach Resort Spa – Country Winner
Best Unique Experience Spa – Country Winner
Luxury Golf Resort Spa – Continent Winner
Do you believe us yet, that it is the best hotel in Borneo?
To read more about Spa Treatments, click here.
Activities 🛶
During our stay at Nexus we took part in several activities together. Our favourite was the Mangrove Kayak River Tour. The driver met us at reception and took us on a short 10-minute drive to the Kinabalu river, which runs along the edge of the resort. Once at the jetty we were met by our local guide John. We had a private tour, which meant we could ask as many questions as we liked and set the day at our own pace. We hoped on the boat and set off to explore in the famous mangroves. As we were sailing along the river we stopped to throw out a few crab traps. We would return here later to see if we were lucky and had caught any.
It wasn’t long until we reached the mangroves and we got in our kayaks. For the next hour we worked our way along the river and through the mangroves. The pair of us learnt a lot about the Borneo eco system and how each plant and animal play their role in it. Finally, we returned to our crab cage and pulled it back into the boat. To our surprise we had been lucky and caught a small one, although too small to keep. We made our way back to the shore where our driver was waiting to take us back to the Resort.
If you are planning your stay at The Nexus Resort, we highly recommend the mangroves Kayaking tour. There is also an option to do a similar tour but at night. On the night tour you take the boat through the mangroves and deep within you can find hundreds of fire flies all around you.
The resort offers lots of other activities such as PT sessions, water sports and jungle treks. Read more about those here.
Summary of The Resort
Overall, we would sum up our time at Nexus Resort as magical. The staff went above and beyond on every detail of our stay. From the moment we arrived the staff were welcoming and helpful. They did anything they could to make our stay comfortable and enjoyable. This kind of feeling is exactly what you want from a luxury resort in Malaysia. The atmosphere around the whole resort was relaxed and such an enjoyable environment to be around. As I like to be active while on holiday and Milly likes to relax, this resort offered the perfect happy medium for both of us.
The whole experience at Nexus was so romantic and even though this resort is huge, sometimes it felt like just the two of us. Which was exactly what we were after while romantic holiday to Borneo. This is why it is the best hotel in Borneo.
BOOK A ROOM 📲
Want to experience this beautiful slice of heaven for yourself? Click here to book a room now!
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Visit their website here.
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