5 Ideal Resorts To Stay In Malaysia

Mulu Marriott Resort and Spa, Mulu National Park, Sarawak

Best feature: The Mulu Caves tours

Mulu Marriott Resort and Spa (previously known as the Royal Mulu Resort) is located just a five-minute walk from Gunung Mulu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sarawak Borneo.

It’s the only five-star luxury resort in the entire Mulu region.

The resort offers everything from a banquet hall, Balinese spa and cooking classes to cultural demonstrations.

Activities include rainforest hikes and the awe-inspiring Mulu caves tours.

This resort and its walkways are also built on wooden stilts.

Prices start from RM460 ($106) per night

Mulu Marriott Resort & Spa, Sungai Melinau PO Box 1145, Mulu, Gunung Mulu National Park 98008 Malaysia;

Tabin Wildlife Resort, Lahad Datu, Sabah

Best features: Pygmy elephants and lots of birds

As an exclusive resort inside the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Tabin Wildlife Resort focuses heavily on conservation and environmental practices.

The beauty of the 30-year-old rainforest resort lies with the large number of highly endangered animals living in the reserve, making it one of the premier destinations to see Borneo wildlife in its natural habitat.

Bird watchers will particularly find this place incredible as to date more than 260 species of birds have been spotted around the reserve.

Activities include jungle-trekking, night safari, wildlife-spotting and rainforest education.

Prices start from RM1,750 ($402) twin sharing for 3 days 2 nights

Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Jalan Damai, Kota Kinabalu 88300 Malaysia;

The Datai Langkawi

Best feature: The isolated, peaceful and beautiful — we can go on — nature walks.

If venerable British wildlife broadcaster David Attenborough owned a luxury villa, it might resemble the prestigious Datai Langkawai.

Sitting in the thick rainforest at an isolated area on Langkawi island, the Datai’s 125 rooms and villas offer incredible views of the forest as well as the Andaman Sea.

Having been around for many years, the multiple award winning Datai is no longer a “best-kept-secret” but remains one of Malaysia’s top rainforest resorts, offering world-class service and facilities.

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The Datai’s attention to detail is incomparable.

Guests won’t regret splurging on a Villa Hutan Datai, a 550-square-meter complex away from the main resort ground with individual pavilions for each of the three rooms as well as dining and living areas.

Prices start from RM4,000 ($920) per night

The Datai Langkawi, Jalan Teluk Datai, Langkawi 07000 Malaysia;

Permai Rainforest Resort, Santubong, Sarawak

Best feature: The tree houses. Enough said.

Eco-resort Permai Rainforest Resort sits inside a pristine forest at the foot of the mystical Mount Santubong.

Carefully designed to minimize impact on the natural environment, it’s been offering visitors a unique experience since the 1990s.

Accommodation comes in the form of cabins, single and double story units and the amazing tree house villas.

Permai Rainforest Resort described itself as “undisturbed natural beauty and wonderfully rich biodiversity,” which won’t disappoint nature seekers.

As for nature activities, there’s hiking, flying fox and bird watching. The list goes on.

Prices start from RM350 ($80) per night

Permai Rainforest Resort, Teluk Penyu, Kuching 93050 Malaysia;

Borneo Highlands Resort, Sarawak

Best features: Cool (both temperature and vibe) highland rainforest

An hour’s drive from Sarawak’s capital city Kuching, Borneo Highlands Resort hides in the mountainous highland rainforest, 1,000 meters above sea level.

It’s well known among golfers due to the 18-hole Hornbill Golf Course.

But there are plenty of other activities for just about any visitor.

It’s possible to trek in the cool highland where temperature ranges from 18-25 C all year round to the Kalimantan View Point — with a sight of Indonesia — or simply explore the area to spot montane birds, insects and plants.

The spa is also one-of-a-kind — the only traditional Bidayuh Spa in the world (named for the region’s indigenous tribes).

Prices start from RM200 ($46) per night

Borneo Highlands Resort, Jalan Borneo Heights Padawan, Kuching 94200 Malaysia;

CNN Travel