My Suite at the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu

It was certainly a busy weekend for Kota Kinabalu. All the hotel rooms within my company rate were fully booked, hence the travel agent had to put me into a higher category room, in this case - the Suite!

Just to give you a feel, the price for the Suite at Hyatt Regency KK is about the same as the cheapest room at the Grand Hyatt KL. KL is so darn expensive nowadays!

Since I took the last flight out (wanted to maximize my time with the kids), I arrived way past midnight at the hotel. As I walked in, the lady at the check-in counter greeted me with a bright smile. (That's Sabahan hospitality for you!) Her smile got even brighter when I told her my name; they were expecting me and even had a personalized welcome note ready at the counter. Oh the perks of staying at the suite! I casually told her that I was dead tired from my flight in, so she promised that she would be fast. In no time, I had the keys in my hand. I declined concierge help and dragged my luggage up to my room.

The last time I was upgraded at Hyatt was when I was in Singapore. Hence from that experience, I had expected for the room to have a living hall, bathtub and all that. But what welcomed me when I walked in was all that and so much more.

I have uploaded a video of my suite, check it out below:

The Suite covers 89.1 square meters and consists of a bedroom, living area, workstation, dining table for three, mini coffee bar, walk in wardrobe, bathroom with a generous bathtub and rain shower, and also access to the Regency Club for breakfast and evening cocktails.

Very spacious living area. As soon as you walk in, the powder room is immediately on the left (not visible in photo). On the right is the door to the connecting room. Just after the dining area is the entrance to the bedroom.

They provided all kinds of tea and coffee plus 8 bottles of mineral water! On the dining table were a box of cookes, fruits and a welcome note.

King sized bed with a very comfy armchair, both facing a flat screen TV.

Call me a scaredy cat, but I didn't have the guts to open the curtains at 3am to check whether I got the city view or the sea view (reviews say that the view of the South China Sea is simply stunning).

As I mentioned in the video, the walk in wardrobe is absolutely to die for. I can only dream to have the same in my own home! It was such a shame that I was only staying for less than 6 hours... I didn't even have time to unpack and repack! (My chopper check in was at 9am-ish the next day.)

A whole walkway just to hang clothes. *drool*

The view of the walk in wardrobe from both ends. So much storage space, but I didn't even get the chance to hang any piece of clothing in there.

Other than the conventional welcome treats, electronic scales, magnified make up mirror, yoga mat and deluxe bath products, there was one thing that I noted with great interest. Hanging in the wardrobe was your own in-room sarong and kain pelekat!

Certainly a first for me!

Two sinks.

I was already in my pajamas.

The walk-in-wardrobe combined with the bathroom, was even bigger than the bedroom!

Separate rainshower cubicle and toilet. Bath amenities from Portico.

The next morning I got up bright and early, showered and got dressed and had breakfast at the Tanjung Ria Kitchen. The breakfast spread was quite acceptable, but it felt a bit weird to spend so much time on breakfast especially when you're dining alone. Staff was very courteous and attentive and they even made the effort to have a conversation, addressing me by name. (Again, the perks of staying at the suite!!) Staff at the check-out counter were also very friendly, greeting me with smiles and even offering to call me a taxi to the airport. I explained that I needed to go to Terminal 2 (the chopper terminal) but they quickly explained that all flights fly out of Terminal 1. Awwww soooo sweet of them, but no... Terminal 2 please. They looked at each other curiously, and asked whether I was taking an Air Asia flight to Labuan. (Labuan??? But why that assumption?) *giggles* I politely said no, and explained that I was going offshore.

I faced a similar scene in the taxi too. The taxi guy asked me twice whether I was sure that I wanted to go to Terminal 2. Oh my, next time I go offshore I'll probably have to do my hotel check out in coveralls to make things simpler! *chuckles*

Anyway, although the building may not be the newest in the Hyatt fleet, and the room interior does look slightly dated, I certainly had a wonderful experience at the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu and will definitely look forward to my return.