Q: I’m planning a trip to KK with my gf and her family (6pax). We will be going on the 11th Dec -14th Dec. We’ll be staying at marina court apartments for the 1st & 3rd night. We planned to stay at kundasang or at mesilau on the 2nd night. Do you have any suggestions or tips to recommend? I’m looking for 1 day trip packages to walk around Mt kinabalu park.

Answer by a4trip Kota Kinabalu Travel Guide writer:

Thank you for your email. There are a lot of accommodations in Kundasang, i.e. Zen Garden, Kinabalu Pine, Kinabalu Rose Cabin and even Perkasa Hotel. You can get their information from around the net as they are all quite established. For Mesilau, you only have Mesialu Nature Resort which is run by Sutera Sanctuary Lodges, and it is further away from Kundasang and the altitude is also higher.

I would suggest that you stay in Kundasang as it is nearby Kinabalu Park HQ, if you plan to spend a day trip there, walking the jungle trail. There are a lot of things to see.

Check out the trail map here

Q: Thank you all for all your advice & tips. We have decided to stay at D’villa Dina Lodge for one night. We are for tour groups that can transfer us (6pax) from Marina Court Apartments to D’villa Dina Lodge and have a day tour around Kundasang town, Kinabalu Park, Poring Hot Springs, Rose Garden, Sabah Tea Plantations. I’m not sure whether this plan is possible to complete in one day.

Answer by a4trip Kota Kinabalu Travel Guide writer:

All those places in one day? It is possible if you spend about 15 minutes on each place, as traveling from one place to the other will take some time. It will also be tiring for you to rush to get to all the places in one day. With feedbacks from around travel forum, Poring Hot Spring can be a disappointment. Kinabalu Park HQ is the best place for nature lovers, Kundasang War memorial is best for history lovers and Sabah Tea Garden & Rose garden if you love the flora.

Have a nice journey.

Just to let everyone have a little sneak peak of what’s coming up within the next few weeks. a4tripians are working hard to make sure that more travel guides are going to be released and ready for sale by these coming weeks. So, that means more varieties of travel guides (in terms of different places and different languages) will be available for everyone’s convenience.

So, guidebooks that are currently ready and on sale are:

Cambodia – Siem Reap English Travel Guide

Cambodia – Pnom Penh English Travel Guide

Also, we have just launched our:

Indonesia – Yogyakarta English Travel Guide

Apart from these which are already launched and on sale, we have a few draft travel guides on sale such as:

Cambodia – Siem Reap French Travel Guide (Draft Version)

China – Beijing English Travel Guide (Draft Version)

China – Beijing Chinese Travel Guide (Draft Version)

Of course, there are other travel guides which aren’t ready yet as some of them are still under the proof reading stage. For example:

Cambodia – Siem Reap Japanese Travel Guide
Vietnam – Hanoi English Travel Guide

With all these goodies coming out soon, it looks like Christmas might be arriving a little earlier than expected

Everyone will need a hotel during his or her travel. Some might go for a 5-star hotel and others might look for a lower price hotel. However, I’m pretty sure that travelers are going to look for a ‘good’ hotel for their trip. Now comes the question. What makes a good hotel?

As a market researcher who responsible for her company global projects and Asia North markets, Suzette was given a lot of chances to visit various parts of Asia, Australia and USA. Besides, working abroad also allows her to accumulate her experience in hotel staying.

According to Suzette, a good hotel must contain the following criterias:

• Flexible cancellation policy
• Never make mistake on customer’s details
• Good room service
• Must provide laundry service
• Good range of restaurants around
• Perfect location, easy access to public transportation
• Clean and with complimentary drinking water

When asked about the response of online enquiry for a good hotel, Suzette added, “The hotel must response within 2 hours, otherwise it will be considered as not effective.”

Vera Susanti, the Executive Assistant Manager of a 24 rooms Dusun Jogja Village Inn also send us some feedback regarding good hotel. In Vera’s point of view, a good hotel must be:

• Professional
• Family friendly feel services
• Know its guests more than just their name

She also agreed that the response to online enquiry is very important for hotel industry. “Through online booking, website and email, we can give the clients a better pictures of our service and our actual accommodation,” said Vera.

What do you say? Share with us what makes a good hotel.

Backpacking and self-organized trips are becoming very common these days. Travel guidebooks and online information are contributing a lot to this new traveling trend. One particular format that has been gaining popularity amongst the backpacking communities is the PDF guidebooks, which claims to be more affordable and up to date.
 
Let’s see what travelers have to say about travel guidebooks and their response on guidebooks in PDF format.

Monina from Quezon Province has been referring to Lonely Planet and Virtual Tourist to organize her trips to Bangkok and various destinations in the Philippines.

“I expect a comprehensive coverage of travel destination in a travel guidebook. Besides places of interest, accommodation and transportation, I think local customs, cultural activities and warning about the negative aspects of travel is equally important.” said Monina.
 
When asked about whether or not she might buy a PDF travel guide online, Monina replied, “Yes I will consider buying something like it.”

Another traveler, Aida had been using Virtual Tourist and Lonely Planet in planning her trip itineraries to various parts of Asia and Europe.

“Extensive information on the place I will visit that will make me eager to go, yet will not pre-empt my travel, raise my expectations high, or give me info overload.  With maps and photos, and should include complete address, contact info, cost, places to see, accommodations, dining venues, transportation, services (health, tourism, security, banks), requirements (visa, vaccine), weather, dress code, “peculiar” customs, festivals, peak/low season for travel, etc.” said Aida.

“Yes, I will buy a PDF guidebook if the information are updated and offer insights that I have not found on other travel books or websites yet,” said Aida.

Isa, the “Itchy Feet” from Bataan also send us some feedback regarding travel guidebook. To her, travel guidebook is the most important sources to plan her trip besides internet and recommendations from friends.
 
“A good guidebook must cover interesting details of the place and cater to different interests. It should also contain good tips on food, accommodation, transportation, security and health,” said Isa. She also added. “I will consider buying a PDF guidebook if it fulfills my requirements above.”

Andrea, one of our a4trip traveler has something to share with us.

“I’m from New York, 26 years old, self employed and have lots of hobbies (tennis, dancing, anything outdoors, reading, traveling, etc).

I have been to Singapore, United Kingdom, all over the United States, Aruba, most of the Caribbean Islands, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Netherlands, Belgium, and France. I think that’s it, but I’m not sure. I don’t really have a favorite destination. Each had its own unique experience and loved all of the countries and cities visited.

I’d like to see is if a4trip could add more countries and cities besides just Cambodia. I haven’t had a chance to go through the guide yet, but it looks pretty extensive. Definitely the testimonials of other travelers who have bought your guide does help a lot. That determines whether you are a reliable source or not.”