Now, if you’ve followed our travels at all over on Insta or through the posts on this blog, you’ll know that we are usually pretty budget-friendly travellers. But the lure of some truly fabulous hotels in South East Asia meant that we did treat ourselves once or twice! And of all the places we stayed, this has got to be at the top of the list. The Shangri-La Rasa Ria just outside Kota Kinabalu must be the very best family hotel in Borneo (if not the world).
Read on below for our full review – including the very reasonable room rate!
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The price you pay will always remain the same.
Where is Borneo?
Borneo is an island in South East Asia famous for it’s incredible biodiversity and wildlife spotting opportunities. It’s split between two countries – the northern stretch of the island is part of Malaysia whilst the southern part is Indonesian. As well as expanses of jungle it also boasts a ton of amazing white sand beaches and clear blue seas (plus some of the best sunsets in the world!).
How do you get to Borneo?
Most international flights connect through either Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. From there it’s a 2-3hour flight in to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah (the northern Malaysian state in Borneo) or Kuching (in the state of Sarawak to the South). AirAsia fly this route, as do Malaysia Airlines.
Most people opt to visit the state of Sabah if heading to Borneo on a family vacation. The famous Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre is over in Sepilok, there are amazing wildlife watching opportunities and stunning beaches. There’s even diving over towards Semporna in the far East of Sabah.
Once in Borneo you can connect to Sandakan in the East (gateway to Sepilok, the River Kinabatangan and Semporna) via AirAsia.
Why book a family holiday to Borneo?
Borneo is a truly amazing place for a family holiday. It offers so much – huge biodiversity, the opportunity to see wildlife up-close, adventure-based tours, amazing beaches and some fabulous food. Plus it is incredible value for all the stuff you can pack in to one trip. It’s the perfect blend of educational adventure and family chill time.
If you’re considering a family holiday to Borneo then check out our other post here for a suggested two-week itinerary. We’ve even put together a free PDF itinerary that you can download and use to plan your perfect Borneo adventure!
Where is the Shangri-La Rasa Ria?
The Shangri-La Rasa Ria is around a 40-minute drive North from Kota Kinabalu. It’s in a stunning location – it has it’s own beautiful white sand beach, dotted with palm trees. But that’s not all – it also has it’s own nature reserve and spectacular views out over Mount Kinabalu.
The easiest way to get there from Kota Kinabalu is in a Grab taxi. The hotel does also offer a free shuttle bus to/from Kota Kinabalu (although the times are limited).
What makes the Shangri-La Rasa Ria so special?
If you’re looking for the best family hotel in Borneo, then look no further. This is it! There were so many reasons we loved our stay here.
First up – the rooms. Ours was spacious and had everything you could need (including two very comfortable beds). The sliding doors opened up onto a wide balcony with views out over the ocean and the nature reserve.
There are several restaurants, including the one housing the main breakfast/dinner buffet. This has seating inside and out by the pool and the choice of food is HUGE. There’s also a large bar area inside the hotel and right down by the beach – the cocktails at sunset are a real treat.
The pools are beautiful – plus there’s a slide for the kids and giant beanbags to float around on.
The nature reserve is a great way to see some of the flora and fauna of Borneo – we did the night walk and the sunrise hike and both were fabulous experiences. If you get really lucky you might even spot a pangolin!
Plus there are so many activities on offer, every day. Some are free (games on the beach, cultural shows) and others you need to pay for but the list is pretty extensive. Yoga, volleyball, paddleboarding, spa treatments, horse riding, fishing, river cruises, archery, bike rental, jet skis, banana boat rides, kayaking – the list is endless! Or, of course, you can just lounge by the pool.
What really sets the Shangri-La chain apart from other big hotels though is the service. The cleaners would line-up the kids soft toys on their pillows each day. There was a WhatsApp number for you to ask questions or request items for the room (which was always responded to immediately). The staff go out of their way to be friendly and helpful without being overbearing. I’ve stayed in a LOT of hotels around the world (including some very fancy ones in a previous job, pre-kids) and nothing beats the Shangri-La for service.
Why is it the best family hotel in Borneo?
There’s a few added bonuses to the Shangri-La Rasa Ria that make it extra special for a family stay.
One of the things our boys loved the most was access to the nature reserve on site. There’s a fab exhibition centre with loads of information on the flora and fauna of Borneo. And the rangers are incredibly knowledgeable and great with kids! The boys both did the Junior Naturalist safari during our stay – the rangers take them out in to the reserve for a half day and they get to shadow them to see how they protect the wildlife. It was a really immersive educational experience for them both. We also all went on the night walk and spotted snakes, frogs, and even a couple of tarantulas!
If you can drag the kids away from the awesome pool and slides, there’s a fab family games room with table football, pool, giant jenga, chess and a range of board games.
There’s a big playground out by the edge of the beach for the kids to burn off all the ice-cream.
There’s a family cinema room that shows a different film each day for the kids. You can even book out one of the karaoke rooms for a bit of singing!
And then there’s just all the little child-friendly touches around the hotel. The kids section at breakfast. The giant chess set by the pool. The daily craft activities and kids games on the beach (all free to join). Water gun battles! It really is a dream place to stay with little ones.
How much does it cost for a family stay at the Shangri-La Rasa Ria?
In April 2024 we paid £120 a night for a room for two adults and two children. Our room had a kingsize bed on one level, then a slightly lower level to the room by the sliding doors to the balcony that also had a double sofa bed for the kids. There was loads of space! There are also interconnecting rooms for bigger families.
This rate included the AMAZING Shangri-La breakfast each morning. And it is a feast! There’s breakfast food from all over the world – and more. The kids loved the pancakes, waffles and the ice-cream bar, but there’s also a big kids section with mini versions of their favourites. Plus, there is even a whole wall of donuts.
You can choose to upgrade to an all-inclusive rate. If you’re able to splash the cash then this is a great option, as the food at lunch and dinner is equally as delicious (and plentiful!).
Whilst this was one of the most expensive places we stayed (not quite the most expensive – hello, Singapore!) it was still absolutely amazing value. I don’t think you’d find this level of luxury and service anywhere else in the world for the price.
How can you save money on a stay at the Shangri-La?
There are a few tricks to saving some cash if you want to squeeze a stay at the Shangri-La Rasa Ria on to your world travels. We saved our Tesco Clubcard points for a couple of years before we headed off from the UK then swapped them for hotels.com points (they were 3x the value at that point, this has now reduced to 2x the value). As the Shangri-La hotels in South East Asia are on the hotels.com platform you can use the vouchers towards a stay (which is exactly what we did!).
Whilst the all-inclusive packages do make for a fab, relaxing holiday you can save cash by going room/breakfast only. The breakfast is so enormous that we found that we didn’t need lunch at all during our stay. We’d stocked up on crisps/snacks etc before we arrived and these covered us during the day.
In the evenings we opted to order in via the Grab app – there’s loads of choice on there and it’s always really affordable.
And instead of using the incredibly expensive in-house laundry service, we found a local launderette who collected/dropped off our laundry the same day and cost just £3.50.
Whilst this might be the best family hotel in Borneo, you can still make it more affordable with some of this tricks!
Is Borneo safe for a family holiday with kids?
We spent several weeks in Borneo with the kids and at no point did we feel unsafe at all. The people were incredibly open and welcoming.
It’s always important though to check government travel advice for any planned trip. There have been issues with kidnappings and piracy off the coast of Semporna in the far east of Sabah (which is where most divers head to). For this reason we didn’t visit this area, although travel advice changes all the time so just do your research first if you are planning a trip to this region.
What else is there to see and do in Borneo?
Borneo was one of our favourite destinations with the kids. There is just so much wildlife and nature to see! Check out our suggested itinerary for a two-week family holiday to Borneo here.
Don’t miss a trip to the River Kinabatangan – this was one of the absolute highlights of our family gap year and you can read all about our stay here.
The Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Sepilok is world famous and for good reason. It’s a real bucketlist experience seeing these amazing animals up close in the semi-wild.
If you’re visiting Sepilok then you can also check out the Rainforest Discovery Centre and it’s canopy walks and fascinating night tours. We got to see Flying Squirrels leaping between the trees!
Just over the road from the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre you can see the sunbears at Borneo Sunbear Conservation Centre.
And if you want to get a better understanding of the history of Borneo, then a visit to the Sabah State Museum in Kota Kinabalu makes for a really interesting experience. You can also visit the memorial park in Sandakan to learn about what happened in Borneo during the Second World War.
Shangri-La Rasa Ria – the verdict
This was probably our favourite place that we stayed during our whole family gap year. And definitely somewhere we’d love to go back to one day! It’s not cheap on a backpacker budget but for a family holiday it is incredible value. If you’re looking for the best family hotel in Borneo, then this is it!
Planning a family adventure to Borneo?
If you’re planning a dream family holiday to Borneo with kids, then check out some of our other posts below for inspiration, tips and reviews.
