Kota Kinabalu
Information for foreigners going on visa trip to Kota Kinabalu
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Created on: Tuesday 22 August 2006
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Kota Kinabalu city, arrival, how to find a hotel and general information for foreigners going on visa trip from Clark airport Angeles City Philippines to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia by Air Asia.
A visa trip Angeles Clark airport to Kota Kinabalu easily saves you a few hundred US$ compared to a Hong Kong visa trip. A return trip Angeles - Kota Kinabalu - individual travel hence NO package - taxi, hotel, ticket, tipping, all fees included may be around 160-200 US$ per person with one night in Kota Kinabalu.
This is now the second visa trip I made to Kota Kinabalu from Angeles with Air Asia. All went smooth and fine - compared to my earlier visa trips until 2004 to Hong Kong, Kota Kinabalu is of course a far cheaper, faster and much more convenient visa trip destination. This time I cook online at AirAsia.com about a months ahead and got the return e-ticket for some 80 US$. 2 hrs flight. Short taxi transfer fro about 6 US$ to your city hotel. Hotel rates around 20-30 US$ per night. Malaysian visa - a stamp upon arrival at Kota Kinabalu airport, NO advance visa requirements. Other nationals please inquire at your own embassy/consulate in the Philippines or at the Malaysian embassy Manila to make sure you need no advance visa. For my Swiss passport - the airport visa-stamp is good for 3 months - free of charge. I always knew it's good to have a Swiss passport ....!
Kota Kinabalu city map for center area around may city hotels
My preferred city hotel for my annual visa trip out of Philippines is since last year the Hotel Holiday. They have a website - but it failed to work when I needed the address yesterday to call for reservation or to email. Hence I write all here for your convenience.
Hotel Holiday
Lot 1 & 2
Block F
Segama Shopping complex
88811 Kota Kinabalu
Sabah, Malaysia
BTW:
Taxi drivers know the hotel - it is sufficient to say just Hotel Holiday near post office to directly and safely get you to the hotel without long address !!!
Tel: 6088-213 116
FAX: 6088-215 576
eMail: HotelHoliday@hotmail.com
Internet: www.hotelholiday.com.my
Kota Kinabalu city map above shows:
- location of Hotel Holiday - my preferred city hotel for visa trips since 2005
- light green road-blocks are roads within easy walking distance with dozens of reasonable priced city hotels
- light blue road blocks - here you find a few hostels for backpackers as well
- orange marked area - just behind Hotel Holiday lots of shopping and local style restaurant
- Dark blue area on left side of the city map - ocean
- L = Little Italy - an excellent Italian restaurant
- C = Coffee Bean - a nice restaurant for breakfast and coffee
- T = a large parking area with plenty of taxi waiting
- dark green area on far right side of map - forest - just within walking distance as you can see from below pictures
Hotel Holiday Kota Kinabalu - photo taken from near the taxi parking are across the street
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Looking from hotel toward the forest on the right side of above Kota Kinabalu city map
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Looking from across the road toward Little Italy
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Looking in opposite direction past the post office just some 50 meters away from Hotel Holiday
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Little Italy - truly excellent Italian Restaurant just in the corner - ground floor - of Hotel Capital
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Harbor view - the ocean is just some 300-400 meter away
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Harbor view - near Hyatt Hotel
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A blue marlin statue outside Hyatt Hotel in the center of the round-about shown in the city map
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Above photos all within walking distance from Hotel Holiday
Unless you have heavy luggage - once in your hotel there is no need to take taxi or other transportation to reach the places needed for a short visit at Kota Kinabalu. All is within a few hundred meters from the center location of Hotel Holiday or the other hotels nearby.
The longest distance is from the hotel to Little Italy - that's about 500 meter! all else shown is shorter.
Malaysian currency is the Malaysian Ringgit
Here you can calculate exchange rate between Malaysian Ringgit and your currency
Let's start top to bottom step by step
Departure at Clark airport Angeles - Philippines
- To assure I have transportation from and to Clark airport - I prefer to stay at Hotel Swiss Chalet - Angeles city and enjoy Swiss Chalet airport drop off and airport pick up service.
- foreigner with a stay of more than 6 months in the Philippines bring an exit clearance - that's the form with your fingerprints and a photo on it!! You obtain the exit clearance for free at CERTAIN immigration offices in country. all other immigration offices have to send your passport to Manila for processing of your exit clearance - that might take about a week or so and usually costs a fee.
- International departure has a PHP 350 terminal fee
- Check in about 2 hrs before departure is fine.
Air Asia flight Clark to Kota Kinabalu
Air Asia serves snacks and drinks for a fee - you can pay in PHP or Ringgit
- we arrive at Kota Kinabalu Terminal 2 - that is the airport used for Air Asia - Other airlines use a different airport. Remember to tell your taxi driver upon departure that you fly Air Asia - hence you need to go to Terminal 2 - pretty far away from the other airport. Airport terminal 2 is near city and the taxi ride takes may be 10-15 minutes only
- Immigration friendly and rather fast - my passport is Swiss - I get a 3 months free visa for Malaysia at the airport upon arrival. Check with your own embassy for your passport/nationality.
- NO money changer - NO ATM at Kota Kinabalu airport terminal 2
- abundant friendly taxi waiting at airport - fee to Kota Kinabalu center usually 20 Ringgit - with a stop over at a money changer
- If money changer closed - then ask your taxi to bring you to an ATM machine - there are several around and they accept major credit cards such as Master Card, Cirrus, Maestro and some ATM accept even Visa card.
- arriving at hotel - better make advanced reservation - by the end of the day city hotels in the above shown area often are full and hence have a sign at the outside door "full" or "full house" or "occupied" - if you arrive around mid day it should be no problem to get a free hotel room without prior reservation unless you travel weekends or special holidays.
- Check in at your hotel - I chose for the second visa trop now Hotel Holiday. Most city hotels are in the range of US$ 20-30 per night and accept credit cards or cash
- In Kota Kinabalu - hotels, restaurant or shopping - you pay cash local currency Malaysian Ringgit - NO Philippine Peso and NO US$ or other foreign currencies accepted - hence change before you buy or pay credit card where accepted.
Departure from Kota Kinabalu international airport - terminal 2 - by Air Asia
- Check in starts usually 2 hrs before departure and closes 45 minutes before departure
- Hence - take a taxi about 2:30 hrs before departure from your hotel and you are fine
- If you stay at Hotel Holiday - just exit the building, turn right, next corner again right and you see a few taxi waiting right in the back of your hotel. Else see T on the map to find the parking are with plenty of taxi waiting.
- Check in is friendly and fast - queue however is long - smile and be patient.
- Hand luggage security and security check opens by destination - usually about 1 hrs before departure
- Exit immigration is fast and friendly - with a long queue again - smile!
- departure - Air Asia seems to have a reputation for being late - I was late today by some 30 minutes - but up to 2 hrs late seems to happen. smile - you take Air Asia because they are CHEAP !! Air Asia to Kota Kinabalu is by far the cheapest visa trip out of Philippines among all.
- NO airport fee to pay upon departure at Kota Kinabalu
- NO onward ticket needed for foreigner living in the Philippines. That's an interesting point. Last year already I noticed that no one asked for the otherwise mandatory "onward ticket" out of Philippines. This time I took my chance to check in without even having one. NO questions ask about onward ticket - BUT - if you do it, do it at your own risk and responsibility. I went early with plenty of time to buy an out of Philippine one way ticket if needed.
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