Le Méridien Kota Kinabalu

As a longtime SPG loyalist and a fan of Le Méridien in particular, this was an obvious choice. I booked two separate stays bookending the mountain trek.

Our arrival at the front entrance of the hotel was greeted by a pair of eager porters happy to bring our bags into the lobby for us.





We walked to the front desk, where we checked in and found out about our upgrade from the sea view room I’d booked to the “newly-renovated deluxe vista room”. It was also “SPG appreciation week”, and as an additional perk, we got… two lollipops. No joke.



Anyway, the room was, indeed, newly renovated, if a little incongruously furnished.






The ocean view was pretty spectacular, too.



It was a shame, then, that the renovations had been done somewhat poorly: the wifi didn’t work in our first room, and in the second room, the bathroom hadn’t quite been finished, with fixtures installed haphazardly and the shower leaking water all over the floor.




Since the prices in Kota Kinabalu are about a third of what they are in Hong Kong, we sprang for the elaborate buffet breakfast every day. It featured a fantastic variety of dishes, both international and local.









The review

This hotel wasn’t without its quirks and problems, but it was really nice overall. The location was super central, the breakfast was great, and the service was top notch. There are other options in Kota Kinabalu, to be sure, but I’d see no reason not to stay here again.