Ranau Holidays from AU$1,832

Absolutely lovely resort - the resort is beautiful and feels like paradise. The staff are all amazing, great service everywhere. The restaurants are reasonably priced (a bit more expensive than the mainland but seems reasonable given the location) and all the meals we had were really nice - we stayed for a week and had tried most dishes by the end , there isn’t a huge variety and only a few Malaysian options. Our room was up a steep hill but you can ask for a ride up on the buggy if you don’t fancy the walk. Everything does close up quite early (last order for a drink 10pm) but can see why as we were always the only people still around at this time - everyone seems to disappear about 8:30 so it can feel a bit of a weird atmosphere if you’re an evening person. There are lots of biting insects around so do take some decent insect repellent as the oil the resort provides didn’t seem effective at all. They light insight repellent coils outside each villa in the evening - it would be good if the resort could add these at the bar area at the Pantai restaurant too. A few things. The rooms just aren’t insect proof at all - eg there’s gaps in the door so we got bitten a lot. Each day we had to brush ants off our bed. When we first arrived there was a large number of ants (dead and alive) on the bed. We stayed for a week and the bedding wasn’t changed at all during this time, which was surprising especially as I had a couple insect bites which left a bit of blood on the bedding.

Unfortunately, our stay at The Aru was disappointing. Cleaning was never completed on time, and when the apartment was cleaned, items were regularly missed or left undone. The overhead shower did not work, and we also experienced problems with the hot water. Communication from the staff was poor, with little effort made to keep us updated or resolve the issues. The service felt very cold and unwelcoming. The property has potential, but the maintenance, housekeeping and customer service need significant improvement.

Great location. The apartment was very clean and had everything we needed for our stay. Would highly recommend.