Outward Vacay: Semporna Garden Hotel

Another Semporna hotel that I would like to review before I started with my continuous KK posts (again) is this place that me and hubby dearest went to just last week. It was around Valentine's Day so both of us were feeling a bit giddy and decided to drive to Semporna and stay for the night. 

We'd noticed this green coloured hotel (and its yellowish twin just beside it) at the back of the newly finished Kapalai Township way before it had opened (they're right at the back of Petronas gas station). It was fully booked everywhere else during said time and we'd also barely managed to get a twin room at the hotel as we'd decided to be 'adventurous' and just do walk in (and trust me when I say that as an ISFJ it drove me a bit crazy). All I can say is that since it is a relatively new hotel, it would be obvious that the room will also be clean even if it is a tad small-sized. Wall sockets were also abundant and the water pressure was also among the best that I've experienced in this town. 

Now comes a few somewhat negative things that I think I need to addressed as well. For one, the receptionists blatantly favors foreign tourists rather than local ones. We were told to wait until 3.00pm for our check in (which we had no problem with even though we had to wait over an hour for said time). So when the time came, the female receptionist personally hand a couple of foreign tourists their room key right in front of us (mind you, said tourists came later than us) and literally just either ignored or totally forgot about us sitting there while continued to arranged rooms for another group of foreign tourists. Sad that things like this still happened nowadays. And it was telling that the hotel was probably in a rush to opened that they didn't even hooked up the tv channels yet (yup, not even a blurred channel was available). Plus, while the hotel has a lot of free parkings nearby, location wise it is actually a bit far from the main town area and jetty. 

Type - Deluxe Twin Room

Room - 4/5 (relatively new and clean, with acceptable view) 

Price - 4/5 (above average even with no tv channels) 

Service - 2/5 (I'm sorry but I have to be fair based on my personal experience) 

Decor - 3/5 (nothing too outstanding but is better than other smaller hotels that I've been to) 

Facilities - 4/5 (parkings were abundant and there's even a shower area for patrons should they needed them right at the back) 

Location - 4/5 (they're at a quiet area at the back of Kapalai Township & quite hidden from immediate views) 

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Semporna Hot Soto (Semporna FoodieVenture #15)

As me and my hubby had gotten older (ehem), we discovered that we have become somewhat lazy when it comes to walking around. And it was a personal achievement (in our part) when we managed to walked to the nearest Semporna seafront town area from our hotel. We were not exactly hungry during the time so we forgo all those heavy seafood restaurants and chose this one instead (they're right in the middle of the seafood restaurants row facing the sea). I've tried their namesake dish (the Chicken Soto to be exact) and it was quite good. My hubby went for the nearby Chicken Burger and some fries and he said that it was just ordinary. I've also drank their Mango Dragonfruit ice blended drink and it was nice. We can't exactly see anything during the night (in terms of the view) but it was still a chill environment for us. 

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Outward Vacay: Lighthouse Hotel Semporna

First of all, Merry Christmas everyone! And OMG in my hectic mind, I totally forgot to post my November short trip to Semporna (yes, again). But this time I had a valid reason; it was to celebrate yours truly's birthday. So me and my hubby decided to splurge a bit and went to this brand spanking new hotel at Jalan Kastam, right in front of the locally viraled hangout place Kalapa and walkable to the nearby Seafest area. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my room was already prettily decorated as I made my way into it. Such a thoughtful gesture on behalf of the hotel as I've made no such request upon booking. The room was also spacious and with very nice view of the town area & the sea with cute freebies snacks. And despite worrying about the very limited parking, the receptionists proposed that we leave our car keys with them for a valet parking type of service. Good for them for actively trying to pleased their guests. 

But with new hotel comes the pending 'improvements'. For one they really should make sure that their swimming pool on the top floor are up and running since it was obvious that the area was still under construction (during my stay) even though they did let guests swim in the weirdly designed pool. Also our modernly designed bathroom/shower had low pressured water that they might need to look into. But I see potential in this hotel; if only they can maybe lowered down their pricing a bit since it was probably one of the priciest I've seen (and been) in Semporna. 

Type - Superior King Room

Room - 5/5 (very satisfied with everything) 

Price - 4/5 (again, a tiny bit of reduction would be nice) 

Service - 5/5 (staff were friendly and nice throughout) 

Decor - 5/5 (birthday decor - need I say more?) 

Facilities - 4/5 (hoping for said improvements to be implemented) 

Location - 5/5 (very walkable to everywhere & fantastic views of the sea) 

** So here are some views of the hotel... 

... and inside the room

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Outward Vacay: Wings Hotel Semporna

Wow I didn't even realized that I haven't posted anything for almost 2 months now. I blame my lack of entries on my seemingly endless workload and equally continuous health issues (yup, aging sure is fun 🙄). 

But here's an accommodation entry on my somewhat recent day trip to Semporna. Me and my husband wanted to try something different this time around and go for a hotel that was not located on the main road. This classic aerial themed boutique hotel is located at Jalan Seri Melor Tinagayan, right beside a Bataras Hypermarket branch. Their location might be a bit further off the main road (hence why their pricing was on the cheaper side as compared to other accommodations within the tiny district).

The room that we had was quite spacious for the price, reasonably cleaned and came with an equally spacious private balcony; perfect for someone who loves people watching like me. The slight downside for our room however was the very limited tv channels (seems to be a thing here in Semporna) and the water heater not working at all as we had to make our showers with cold water only. But the hotel itself has numerous facilities to attract patrons to their hotel, what with the really cute (but slow as hell) single elevator (similar to that of Vista Hotel), free parkings, attached self service laundry and Insta-worthy sitting deck on the top floor of the hotel. Heck, they even have their own line of merchandises as souvenirs, which was quite impressive for such a small hotel. 

Type - Standard King Room

Room - 4/5 (would be better if the water heater was fixed)

Price - 5/5 (like I've said, their cheaper than most of the other accommodations in Semporna)

Service - 4/5 (okay la.. at least the reception staff were courteous)

Decor - 4/5 (decent although has definitely seen better days)

Facilities - 4/5 (as mentioned above)

Location - 4/5 (a bit out of the main town area but still very self sufficient) 

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Terowong Street (Semporna FoodieVenture #14)

We were looking for a place to have dinner when a friend suggested this place to us. Although I have passed by the area a couple of times during my other previous trips to Semporna, I never thought that the place would actually be so vibrant. Located at Kg Cina Pekan (right beside the still-in-development building next to Green World Hotel), this night market actually comprises of 3 main sections; the clothing stalls, food stalls and entertainment stalls which includes a haunted house (yes... a haunted house). 

Me and my husband pretty much circle the food area several times (just to ogle at everything) before deciding to order from a stall which sells various local cuisine. We ordered their fancy name dishes such as Nasi Goreng Shanghai and Nasi Goreng Samurai. But alas, fancy names doesn't necessarily translate to fancy taste as both dishes were just so-so in my opinion. We were also enticed by a Luk-luk stall (you know, that snacks-on-a-stick type of finger food) and a chocolate ice-cream stall but again, both 'appetizers and dessert' were just okay at best. Nevertheless we still enjoy the overall vibe of the place, since it feels really lively without being overly crowded.

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