The Nexus Resort – Five Star(ish)?

As the week long half term holiday comes to an end I thought I would do a quick review of the resort where we have just spent a few days.

When making plans for the half term holiday we decided it would be easiest to go somewhere near by and meet the little ‘uns grandparents there. We decided on Kota Kinabalu (KK) in Sabah. Just under a year ago MAS Wings – the Malaysian Airlines Borneo brand – started flying to Brunei, once again connecting Brunei and Kuching (following the cancellation of the route from RBA) and also increasing frequency and competition on the KK route. We were able to book return flights to KK for B$104 for the three of us – which was pretty much all tax!

Flight times were also convenient. The flight is scheduled for just 35 minutes but the off the ground time is much less. With MAS Wings using the ATR-72on this route you get a good view as you mostly remain below the clouds. It was amazing to see just how many areas have been cleared in Brunei for building work. It was also remarkable (and saddening really) to see just how huge the housing complex is that is being constructed between the Mentiri highway and Jalan Muara.

A chunk of cleared greenery.

Further land being cleared by the Muara-Tutong Highway.

An example of the cleared land for building.

A bit more work going on by the highway, just before landing in Brunei. You can see our house if you look carefully!

We were soon in KK and then proceeded to get a taxi coupon at the taxi desk (as required for all taxis from the airport). This is quite a good system as you pay the desk not the driver and the prices are fixed. The Nexus Resort in Karambunai is 30 km from the airport and takes around 40 minutes in a taxi. The taxi costs RM75 for a small taxi but we needed the larger one to the bags we had with us (blame baby not golf clubs!) which cost RM105. We did only pay RM90 for the return from the Nexus though but I think this was because they charged us for a small taxi despite giving us a large one.

Upon arrival at the resort we were fairly efficiently checked in although it would have been nice to have been offered a welcome drink then and there while waiting rather than being given a voucher to claim an orange squash drink at a later time! Once we received our key cards we were driven down to the room which although was only a 5 minute walk from reception was easier to be driven with the bags.

The rooms were lovely, spacious and comfortable. The bathroom was big with shower and a bath and plenty of space for things. The bed was comfy and there was a largish couch and a desk. There was also a big balcony with table and chairs that overlooked the pond by the room. All very picturesque as you can see from the photo’s.

Looking back from the balcony. Clean and roomy with traditional Borneo decoration.

Sink, cabinet and shelving. Clean and modern.

Spacious bathroom with a big bath.

Separate shower section.

Desk area.

Very spacious balcony area.

We were in Borneo Deluxe rooms, a quick walk to the sea and white sandy beach and also to the pool.

Clean, white sandy beach.

View to the sea.

The reason for the title of this blog post is I wanted to highlight some of the excellent things about this resort but also some of the things I do not think are up to scratch with (a) the price paid and (b) the image the resort portray of themselves. The positives first. The grounds are magnificent. Plenty of areas to walk around, surrounded my greenery and ponds. You can see plenty of wildlife, especially on the attached golf course. The pool is big and well cleaned. There is a shade sail over the shallow kids pool and there are three other sections of the swimming pool that are deeper. There is an in pool bar although we didn’t really use this and it didn’t seem to be regularly staffed. The golf course attached to the resort was excellent and very well kept. It is expensive unless you are a resident of Brunei, Malaysia or Singapore in which case it is very reasonable.

Right, the not so positives. Breakfast was included in our rate but for a place that charges 5* prices the breakfast was at best 3* (generous). Coffee was usually warm not hot, choices were heavily Asian based and the food was not kept hot. I am not naive to think there should not be Asian food on the menu in an Asian hotel – in fact I quite like Asian food – but there should be a good selection of world foods in any 5* resort restaurant. A good coffee can make such a big difference. The breakfast restaurant was very crowded and staff did not seem to have much care and attention towards guests.

Beyond the breakfast I thought the staff were polite but not that clued up. Communication was an issue and problems weren’t easily solved. An example being the high tea we were due to have in the lobby lounge. Ordered at around 5pm it was still not with us by 6pm so we had to leave and go back to the room as it was the little ‘uns bath time then bed time. We (eventually) arranged to get the food sent to the room but once it finally arrived there were no plates or cutlery! I should add that it was nice food, and quite well presented, just a shame that we couldn’t enjoy it as planned. To their credit, they eventually apologised properly and it was not billed to us.

The resort had 5 or 6 restaurants / eateries on site but it wasn’t until the penultimate day of our stay we found one we thought was suitable for our needs. The location of this restaurant was good, on the beach front, and the menu was mainly Italian. It was well priced and food quality was good although was in line with the common Asian problem of sweetening all western sauces.

I don’t mean for this post to be a rant about the resort, it comes more from a frustration of seeing how much potential the places has given the location and facilities yet let down by customer service and food option not being 5*. As readers of my last post will now, it’s the little things that make a big difference in quality in hotels. Had there been a few more simple yet quality items (such as decent coffee) available at breakfast then the experience would have been a whole lot more enjoyable.

The resort did have a shuttle bus service every 2 hours to and from KK which also stopped at 1Borneo. We utilized this twice during our stay and it worked out quite well. The charge is RM24 per return journey and it takes a little longer than a taxi – around 1 hour into KK. It was good to have it on offer though and was useful. I managed to get a game of golf one afternoon on the attached course. There was plenty of wildlife on and around the course.

Enjoying the island life!

Spot the beautiful kingfisher.

Picturesque course.

Trying hard not to create too many divots!

It was still a good place to relax and I am pleased we gave it a chance I think in conclusion though I would try out some of the competition before going back.