Wednesday, April 06, 2016

Vacationista: Shangri-la Rasa Ria Resort and Spa Kota Kinabalu


Knowing Shangri-la Hotels, you’d only expect the best of the best. Unfortunately, we didn’t start out on the right foot.

We had booked at the hotel for our second day in Kota Kinabalu (KK) and they confirmed that we would be picked up by their shuttle bus from Wisma Merdeka at 2:15pm.

Unfortunately, after waiting for 20 minutes and after a call, we found out pick-up was at 4pm.

So we just wasted about 2 hours of waiting, which could have been spent at the resort hotel, but we made up for it by going around the mall.

Right on schedule, the shuttle bus arrived at 4pm and we were finally on our way to the resort.

Immediately upon check-in, we were served welcome drinks then the manager approached us and talked to my sister (I was busy going around the lobby).

The manager offered complimentary shuttle bus pick-up and drop-off (was supposed to pay RM30 per person per way even for checked-in guests so that’s a lot of savings) and after my sister’s inquiry, the manager also offered complimentary late check-out, to make up for the lost time.

So it was all good. Shangri-la can be depended on to make things better. Haha! We even requested to have our room transferred to somewhere nearer the lobby and they obliged.

The room, as always with Shangri-la, was pretty and immaculate. Big, comfy beds, huge restroom and a balcony overlooking the pool and even a part of the ocean.

I like the fact that they have welcome fruits and have now used glass bottles for their waters (yey for the environment!).

There is no time for rest for people like me who want to make the most of vacation time so after a quick change, me and sis went out to explore. Went around the resort and of course, first order of business was checking out the beach front.

OMG. Super huge beach front! 3km long of beach front, in fact. Super gorgeous!

We decided to have dinner at their international buffet. You actually have 5 choices for their in-house restaurants. Aside from the international buffet, you may opt for Italian, Japanese and Indian, all on ala-carte basis, and a Malaysian buffet.

Once in Shangri-la, you won’t be able to walk to a nearby resto since it’s pretty far from ‘civilization’. If you want to go out, you’ll have to take the shuttle, if still available, or a taxi.

The international buffet at Coffee Terrace was about RM150 per person. Unfortunately, I wasn’t impressed by their spread.

You’ll have the usual congees, sushis, steak, Malaysian and Western food, as well as the fruits, salad and dessert bar. 

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