Nak Hotel

We planned to stay at Nak Hotel for its rooftop restaurant, but the parking situation made us leave and switch hotels. The small open lot next to the hotel, which is open to hotel guests, felt scary and unsafe for me and my friends. Filipinos were sitting by the entrance asking for tips. When we didn’t give any, they wouldn’t let us leave and bothered our vehicle. They were asking for at least RM50, not just a few ringgit. What a ridiculous place. I wouldn’t feel safe parking there.

The rooftop was the highlight, for both the view and the food. We had a seafood platter and lamb shank, and the cocktails were great too. Probably had too many of those! 🥂 There’s also a cafe next door that’s part of the hotel, and its food was really good. You can book tours directly below at reception. We really enjoyed our stay. The rooms were clean and big, and the bed was very comfortable. We’ll definitely stay again the next time we come to Sandakan. #borneo #goodeats #nakhotel

The bathroom floor was partly covered in water from a broken toilet supply line, and the door lock didn’t work. The safe had been locked by the previous guest. Staff didn’t have the master key and didn’t know how to override its security code. Since I was there on a Friday, they told me to wait until Monday for the manager. There wasn’t any soap in the bathroom either. When I asked for another room, they offered me a downgrade. I was told you get what you pay for, but it was off season and the hotel has eight floors, so it’s hard to believe there wasn’t another room of similar or better quality.

I was travelling in Asia for five months, changing hotels about every four days, and this was the worst one I stayed in. I only lasted two nights because the cleanliness was a deal breaker, and I couldn’t bring myself to spend more money there. I left to find another hotel, which had better food, cost less, was much cleaner, had more facilities, a working TV and phone, a lock box and luggage rack, more space, windows that opened properly, and colder air conditioning. I stayed because I had a horrible fever and needed to rest. The room smelled strongly of mold when I arrived. The window latches were broken, but after ten minutes I managed to open them with a tool I made from bobby pins. The sills were covered in pigeon poop, hardly healthy air. It looked like the room hadn’t been cleaned in a long time: the bath mat had clumps of dust, there were long, thick black hairs everywhere, the sheets had yellow stains with food stuck to them, and the blinds were dusty enough to be movie props. During those two nights, light brown liquid started oozing up through the floor, getting on my feet and staining the bed. On the second day, the key stopped working by itself. The TV wasn’t connected to anything, and the phone wasn’t plugged in. The hallways were lined with black, oily fingerprints, which I’d also seen mentioned in another review. It was obvious as they led me to my room that cleaning wasn’t a priority. It wasn’t all bad, but I won’t bother listing the positives because the dirt was enough to put me off. NAK hotel badly needs renovation, or at least someone with a sponge and a bucket of hot water, instead of another bellhop or whatever their hiring sign says. It was pretty funny seeing someone open doors and push lift buttons for guests while the room itself was a sty. I suppose there must be some good rooms, otherwise I don’t know why anyone would leave a positive review.