Red Tomato Hotel

Everything was comfortable and clean, and the facilities were kept up well. The staff were friendly too. I had a really great stay at Red Tomato Hotel in Labuan and would recommend it for a pleasant visit in the area.

Room 202. The location is handy, near shops and restaurants, and about a five-minute walk to the ferry between Brunei and Labuan. You can borrow an iron from reception, and there’s air conditioning and Wi-Fi. EU visitors will need a UK adapter for their electronics. The room itself looked better in the pictures than it was. It’s old and dirty: the carpet was worn and filthy, there were hairs on the floor, and stains on the sheets and blanket. No fridge or hair dryer. There was only half a toilet roll, so I had to ask reception for another, and no shampoo, just a small bar of soap. The bathroom floor was wet because something was leaking, with a noisy pump sound. Street noise carried at night. When I arrived, the entrance was closed and nobody was at reception. I waited 15 minutes for staff to come and let me check in. They took a 30 ringgit deposit at check-in and charged a 10 ringgit fee per night.

The hotel seems fairly new and clean, but noise is a real problem. The rooms have poor sound insulation, and the shower next door was terribly loud. On the third floor it woke me in the middle of the night while I was sleeping. There’s no lift, and it’s in a shoplot style building, so I wouldn’t recommend it for elderly guests.

It was kinda okay for us, though some people seem to have a good experience and others don’t. Just a personal tip: you have to wait for staff to check the room before they return the deposit, so make sure everything’s okay.