I'm staying at Damai Beach 2-3 times a year since 5 years. It is probably the best place to stay if you're looking for a classic resort near Kuching. Nothing fancy but fantastic location, good amenities and reasonably priced. If you really want value for money (which does not mean cheap, yeah) you may settle it for one Baruk bungalow on the hilltop. It offers 180° view on the sea, monkeys entertainment and access to your -almost private- swimming pool. The black head on Damai's nose is the food especially the buffet-type breakfast. Since it became locally managed a couple of years ago, food quality standards have gone down with pastries not so fresh and tasty; no fresh juices and terribly sweet (if you didn't know you had decayed teeth, now you will); etc... Overall, Damai Beach could do much better with better maintenance and a bit less "laisser-faire"

This is probably the best placed resort in the Santubong area. The strategic location sees the resort flanked by the sea and the mountain, the view is surreal.

There are wide selection of room types at this resort. There are pool views, hillviews, beach chalets and hilltop rooms and suites. The hilltop accommodation, while having great views, is rather inconvenient, needing van shuttle to go to and fro the other amenities. Due to the spread, there are 2 pools, one near the lobby and the other at the hilltop. The view from the hilltop pool is fantastic, overlooking the South China Sea and Santubong mountain.

There are many interesting nooks and corners in this resort. However, it is really dated and in desperate need of major renovation and some attention to detail.

The staff, while amazingly slow to respond, are really friendly. They could be better trained. The food we had were not overly exciting.

We tried the spa and again, the service was very friendly. However, this has to be the most worst spa treatment we have received. The treatments were akin to the DIY treatments done at home - those ministrations should never be called massages and facials.

Overall, the resort gives a satisfactory holiday. However, I have the feeling that this resort has the potential to be a fantastic holiday destination if the place is spruced up and the services improved.

I would have picked three and a half if it had been available. I stayed here with my partner for two nights in January during the midweek. It was pretty quiet, but I was told by a local friend that it gets packed at weekends with locals. We stayed in a seaview deluxe room. The first room they gave us had no safe, the aircon was not working and there was a large hole in the carpet. We asked to be moved and they found us another room without too much fuss. The place could perhaps do with a bit of updating, but overall I thought it had a positive atmosphere. The gym, however, looked dire. The staff were mostly friendly and keen to please. Both pools were good and the hilltop one was particularly lovely with great views. Unfortunately, while we were there the monsoon was affecting the seas (which were very rough) and the beach was closed throughout.

We arrived on a Wednesday, and had the feeling that we had the place to ourselves, told be a staff member that occupancy was around 15% but it would increase to about 60% on the weekend. The staff were fantastic friendly and genuine, the breakfast was good a mix of western and eastern foods, and lots of fruit. The clifftop pool has a magnificent view of the ocean. The Damai beachfront was the first resort built in the area so they grabbed the prime piece of real estate, they had a great hill with superb views the Puri resort in contrast is built on flat land. We had a look at Puri it seemed even more deserted and not sure that the extra price is justified.