We stayed at Gayana for four days at the end of our trip through Borneo's jungle. It was nice to relax after so many emotions. The hotel was really charming, and people very kind. Rooms were clean, and little surprises waited for us everyday (fresh fruits, biscuits, etc). We had a nice time doing snorkelling around the hotel. One point though, the two restaurants of the hotel are quite expensive.

Stayed two nights in the lagoon view room on the 29th Dec.

When we arrived at Jesselton Point, there was no one in the ticket booth in the hall, no signs neither. We seat in the hall and wait for more than an hour with my three years old! It was almost time to board the boat, so I went outside, saw someone wearing Gayana uniform pushing a trolly outside. We finally made to the office close to pier. I complaint, and been told the person in the booth was off that day. A simple sign can help guest easier to find their way.

After a short boat ride, we arrived at the resort. And we've been showed to our room very fast. It's a very basic room, nice and clean huge shower room with nice toiletries.
Down side, two air cons directly blow to bed, quite uncomfortable in the night. Mini bar price is high, soft drink each tin is MYR10 plus tax. If you can buy some drinks bring over to the island can be a lot cheaper.
Good size terrace with two sun beds. The terrace with staircase can directly lead to the water, it's not ideal for very young children at all.

Poolside restaurant serving very nice food, both breakfast and dinner, and price is not ridiculously high as someone reviewed. Life music played at dinner time too. Room service is horrible though, satay extreamly salty, never taste anything that disgusting.

Infinity pool closed at 6pm, nothing to do at night except watch tv. Wifi are not very stable. Two nights are more than enough.

MERC is a great place for children, and very good opportunity for adults to learn different sea creatures, increased our knowledge a lot. My daughter touched different star fish and plant a coral too.

After we gained knowledge from MERC, we went for snorkeling, seeing with our own eyes, giant clam, clown fish( nemo) living in the coral, different sea cucumbers etc. It was a fantastic experience. The guy from diving center even took my husband on a private tour to see shark in the middle. Even my kid was so happy to see so many fish around her. The best thing with this resort would be, you feel safe when you were in the sea, the people from diving center will watch over. Water in the afternoon became murky, morning can be clear. (nothing can compare to the Red sea reverie though)
We did kayak in the sea too. Both renting snorkeling gears and kayak were free.


We had great times here, but from services and other small issues made me feel they are over rated.

It was special and different place. Our room was been over the sea, room was clean and nice. Near restaurant ( our breakfast place) staff was most friendly what i remember in my holliday trips. I recommend that place all couples who needs harmony and silence.

The resort itself is very nice, the grounds kept very well. However, the water was very dirty around the resort, with rubbish (eg plastic bags, used hangbag, chips packets etc) everywhere around the lagoon and underneath the bungalows. We were told it's monsoon season hence the rubbish but it did not look very appearing, given the amount of staffs and price you pay for the room, you could think someone would try to clean it, for this reason we did not swim in the water even though we specially booked a room where we can get directly access to the sea.

The staffs were friendly, however they do not seem very experienced. I cut my foot but no one offered to help, even though they saw I was bleeding. Recommend checking out the MERC, we also went for the jungle trekking which was good, the guide was very friendly and helpful.

The food at the resort was average. The seafood restaurant was nice but food at the resort was very over priced. The prices for mini bar drinks in the room costed more than the Hyatt Regency in KK.

I dont think we will return to this resort, given the price we paid for this place, we have definitely stayed at nicer resort with more personal touch and professional service.