Foodaholic Tawau: Outward Vacay: Horizon Hotel

After trying out the new floor at the Klagan Hotel for a few days and were pretty satisfied, me and my partner decided to do our usual hotel-hopping activity and had our eyes set on going to a hotel that is situated right in the heart of Gaya Street, the Horizon Hotel. Mind you, one of the main reasons for our choice was the fact that they have a swimming pool and it’s been ages since we’ve been to one (poor us).

But before I get ahead of myself, there’s one thing that really bothered me about the hotel’s policy. During check in, the receptionist was very adamant for both of us to show our IDs. Although this might not be such a big deal, it does make you feel as if you’re being interrogated and made both of us feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. I have been to many hotels before (big and small) and this is the first time that I’ve encountered such situation. Anyway, we were given a room that was on the highest floor of the hotel and the view was fantastic. Granted, we did get a view of the city but I personally enjoy people-watching so that was actually a plus for me. The spacious room looks modern and sleek but has this manly vibe to it with the almost all black concept (which also made the room looked darker than it was suppose to). And although I do love the slightly higher floor inside the showers, it does annoy me that the faucet actually came off of the handle every time we wanted to use it. Clearly a more thorough maintenance should be done here as the room does look its age. The breakfast was free (more on that later) as well as their parking (again, please have your ticket stamp at the counter before you leave). And yes, we did enjoy their pool even though it might be smaller in size and with limited seats available around the area. Kudos to the pool staff for their friendly and attentive manner.

So I’m rating them…

Type – Superior Room

Room – 4/5 (I reckon that the hotel’s former interior designer must be a male)

Price – 4/5 (still can be considered affordable, although it’s on the high end side)

Service – 4/5 (the staff were very patient & understanding)

Décor – 3/5 (again… obvious ‘male’ touches everywhere but what’s up with the horse décor near the reception area though?)

Facilities – 4/5 (they do provide facilities akin to any 4 star hotels)

Location – 5/5 (they’re the definition of central – the infamous Gaya Street starts at their doorstep, like literally)