We flew with Malaysian Airways to Kota Kinabalu via Kuala Lumpur. Following our last experience of Malaysian (economy class) we had vowed not to fly economy with them again. Never say never! We had a brilliant price deal with them - and a very enjoyable trip.

They have moved to Heathow T4 and check-in (we had already checked in and selected seats on line) and security were marvellously painless and fast. Our Bags were checked through to Kota Kinabalu, so no problems there!.

We had booked the 4Deck lounge (poor facilities) and whiled away the time to departure. Boarding was swift and fairly efficient and after a short delay we were off. Once again the overhead reading lights were U/S (3 out of 3 trips on Malaysian economy that they had not worked) but this time the IFE worked and food and service were good. We also had a 4 seat centre bank of seats for the two of us.

Transfer at KLIA was good (immigration transfer to the domestic terminal was fast and efficient) and we were shortly boarding a Malaysian 737 for Kota Kinabalu. We were served breakfast and after a short flight (2 ½ hours) we were disembarking in Kota Kinabalu. Bag pickup was swift, we were met by the Shangri-La limo and following a visit to the ATM (easy to find) were off on the 50 minute trip to the Shangri-La Rasa Ria.

The trip was fairly uninteresting, but it was comforting to notice far less Palm Oil plantations than on the mainland. Entry to the hotel was through the country club golf course. It looked very good, so if you are a golfer - take your clubs.

Shangri-La Rasa Ria. (please see hotel review section).
Our immediate impression of the hotel was of a high standard of hotel, quite well maintained with an open air lobby and many friendly, helpful staff. We had booked directly with Shangri-La and check in (and refreshing drinks and cold towels) was fast and efficient. We had booked a top-floor seaview room and our impression was that of cleanliness, comfort and a stunning view - thoroughly recommended.

There are four restaurants - the Coffee Terrace (where food - breakfast, lunch and dinner -and service were excellent); Tepi Laut - serving lunch and turning into a hawker centre style eatery in the evening (we found the evening food dry and not too exciting); - "Naan" an Indian restaurant, - very good, but Janet had a VERY hot and spicy MILD korma on our second visit; "Kozan" - a teppan-yaki restaurant, which we did not try; and their top-end restaurant "Coast"- where we had a very good meal, but felt the restaurant itself lacked any atmosphere. Being a Malaysian hotel all wines were very expensive. Food was not cheap, but no worse than anticipated. Do not under budget for your stay here. Our most expensive evening meal, with wine, was about £130 for two and the cheapest about £40 with beer and soft drinks.

We visited the orangutan sanctuary (not to be missed) and, softies that we are, sponsored two orangutans, Cinta and Reg. We also took a river trip through the mangroves to a sea gipsy village, which was interesting, but lacked any sort of wildlife - which we thought to be strange. A worthwhile trip nevertheless, which included fresh cocoanut and traditional fried cakes, in a typical house. These trips can be booked in the hotel, where there are 2 or 3 travel companies located near the main shop.

As I have mentioned the beach and sea view was stunning - but beware. The expanse of white sand gets blisteringly hot (too hot for mere flip-flops) and the beach and area between the pool and sand is alive with sand flies - which seemed to take no notice of DEET or Autan repellent. Janet ended up with over 40 bites in 8 days and I must have had about 20!

One other thing to bear in mind is that there are no local shops or restaurants, so getting away from the hotel meant a taxi to Kota Kinabalu town (45 minutes and fairly expensive) or into Tauran village (10 minutes and lacking in restaurants, bars etc). If, like me, you are not a fan of spending all your time in the hotel, you could go "stir crazy" after a few days. The hotel does run a shuttle service (at a charge - 25MYR return) 5 times a day to the Tanjung Aru in Kota Kinabalu, via the main shopping outlets in KK town.

Having said that, there is entertainment in the evening (the main lobby bar has something every night) and the Tepi Laut had an "ethnic" evening with dance and other items, once a week. The sunsets are stunning - worth a view from the "Coast" bar with a cocktail, during their happy hour.

Overall impression of the resort, facilities and staff was extremely good - but I think the 8 nights that we spent there was too long. I would, however, not have missed this part of the trip (and would thoroughly recommend). The Rasa Ria is a great resort, with excellent rooms, service and staff - but is rather remote.

We booked the hotel shuttle service to take us to the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru hotel in KK ( we were surprised that they not only charged us - but actually charged the full return fare!) for the next part of our Borneo break.

Shangri La Tanjung Aru - Kota Kinabalu. (please see hotel review section).
We arrived at the Tanjung Aru at lunch time and were swiftly escorted (to the accompaniment of the mandatory gong) into a very attractive lobby for check-in. Once again this was speedy, friendly and hassle free. We had sea view Club rooms, once again on the top floor, with an excellent view over the grounds and sea to the islands - magnificent!

The grounds at the Tanjung Aru seemed smaller than at the Rasa Ria, but were extremely well kept, with flowers, shrubs and pools, absolutely laden with fish. They even had a small 9 hole pitch and putt course. There is a small private beach (much smaller than the advertising pictures would suggest), where there is a torch lighting ceremony about 15 minutes before sunset every evening. As with the Rasa Ria, the sunsets are stunning.

There are four restaurants; "Café Tatu"- a coffee shop (adequate but not up to Rasa Ria standard); "Coco Joes" - lunch and evening barbeque with a wonderful view (unfortunately, despite an excellent steak here, I am still waiting for my vegetables); "Shang Palace" - Chinese food and apparently very good and reasonably priced which we never tried; and "Peppino's - Italian restaurant which we couldn't get enough of! Food, ambience and service were second to none. In addition to the excellent standard a la carte menu, this restaurant had chef's specials (good value and great quality) and a gourmet special evening with free wine tasting (we both got a little squiffy!).

Breakfast was taken in the club lounge and was a full breakfast, if required, rather than the usual continental or buffet meals that are sometimes provided in club facilities. I would recommend the club upgrade here as, in addition to the excellent breakfast (beef bacon though!), soft drinks are free and available through the day, cakes are served between 2 and 4 pm and wine, other drinks and canapés are served between 5 and 7 pm (noting like a couple of G and Ts to set you up for the evening.
The "canapé" selection was so large and varied that it appeared that many people ate all they could between 5 and 7, saving the cost of an evening meal. Perhaps not the object of the exercise! As food and drink prices here were on a par with Rasa Ria, this was understandable. Our evening meals, once again with wine or beer and soft drinks, ranged (2 persons) from about £138 to £45.

We ate in Kota Kinabalu twice, once in a banana leaf restaurant - Jothys - (just over £6 for two) where my meal was excellent but Janet's was rather dry, and a Malaysian Restaurant - Sri Melacca - which was heavily frequented by local people, which would have been far better if we had been part of a larger group. (about £8 for 2). I would recommend neither restaurant, nor Kota Kinabalu town - which is spread out and which offers only 2nd or 3rd rate shopping. The town is a mixture of old, run-down buildings and concrete structures. It was neither atmospherically "local" nor a modern town. The favoured shopping Mall was Centre Point / Warisan Square - but these did nothing for either Janet or me. The trip, by taxi, to KK town from the hotel is approx 15MYR.

We took a river trip (Klias river) to see the Probiscus monkeys, fireflies and other wildlife, which included a typical Malaysian evening meal. The trip did what it said on the tin but very little more (gosh I must sound negative). It is a 2 hour journey each way, followed by refreshments, a 1 hour river trip, dinner and another short 20 minute river trip to see the fireflies in the evening.

Unfortunately we were with an untypically large group. This meant a coach, rather than a mini bus for the 2 hour trip each way, a very full boat, where people nearest the wildlife would stand up, so that those not so well placed had obstructed views. This was no problem with the fireflies in the evening, but did cause some problems with the wildlife through the day. The dinner was adequate and Janet enjoyed hers. I opted for chicken curry which appeared very tasty, but I soon discovered that the chicken was uncooked and still bloody.

There is no way, given our personal experience, that I can recommend this trip - however, to be fair, others from both the Rasa Ria and the Tanjung Aru, who were with smaller groups, enjoyed the trip - apart from the journey there and back, which is even longer from the Rasa Ria.

Boat trips to the islands, for relaxation, are available from the hotel jetty as are other water facilities and, unfortunately, jet skis (although very few people used them).

Overall a first rate hotel, great rooms and food and very good staff and service.

After 8 days of relaxation at the Tanjung Aru, it was off to the Airport for a long flog back to UK via KL. We opted for the early morning (0605) flight and a final word of warning. We booked the hotel transport, which was less hassle than relying on a taxi. Firstly we were charged double the rate quoted (early morning - out of hours) and were told that we needed to be at the airport 2 hrs before our flight. We arrived at 0405 on the dot, only to find that check in didn't open until 1 ½ hours prior to the flight (0435) and that security didn't open until 0500 - as there are no facilities open in the terminal, we could have done with the extra hour in bed!

Nevertheless, a good flight to KL with a light breakfast served. Spicy, but hot and welcome! Bags checked all the way through so a simple and quick jaunt through departure facilities (including immigration) at KLIA, a short wait for our LHR flight - immediate boarding and then - joy of joys all facilities, including lighting, in full working order. We had 3 seats between the two of us, food was very good, service very attentive and by far the best flight ever on Malaysian long haul. Result!

We landed 15 minutes late, but it was almost another hour until our baggage arrived (following lengthy and slow queues at T4 immigration). Back to the grey drizzle that is UK.

Overall - a good, enjoyable and interesting trip with excellent hotels. Thoroughly recommended as a one-off, but entirely unsure if we would repeat the visit. We would happily stay at either hotel for a short break - but I believe that this will be a one off.

Peter