The Magellan, Sutera Harbour Resort

Our long waited family holiday to KK finally arrived. During our stay in KK, we stayed in two different resorts. The first five nights we spent at the Magellan Sutera Harbour Resort. This was where Jolene and Andrew held their wedding dinner.

The resort is huge, spacious and lovely, with a large open lobby area decorated in dark teak furniture and beautiful tropical orchids. Check-in was a little slow due to some confusion. From that experience, we realised that time moves slower in KK. It took us a while to adjust and slow down our pace, as we were use to rushing from one place to another or one task to another.

We had a room with a beautiful sea view at the Marina Wing. The room was a reasonable size with a large bathroom with bathtub and separate shower area. On closer inspection, the rooms seem dated and in need of refurbishment. There were some stains on the carpet which should have been changed or cleaned up. The TV set was also the CRT version where most hotels have LCDs or other flat screens. The good thing about that it deterred the family from watching too much tv.

The resort had lovely grounds and were separated into three main areas - Magellan, Marina and Country Club plus the third section The Pacific Sutera. There were also four pools for guests to choose from including a 25m lap pool at the Country Club. The Marina Wing is situated closer to the Marina and Country Club, so we usually spent the mornings at the Marina pool with slides and the afternoons at the Magellan pool (tough life!). Staff were friendly, but slow (see there is a trend here). There is a small beach at the Magellan, the sand is quite pebbly and rough. The amazing thing about the beach is the number of fishes that you can see as you wade into knee-deep water. The fishes seem friendly and oblivious to humans. The staff gave my girls some bread to feed the fishes, and it was fun to see the fishes 'jump' to eat the bread.

Our days at the resort started with a scrumptious breakfast buffet at the Five Sails Cafe. There was a wide selection of food to choose from Western to local dishes like nasi lemak, roti canai, fried beehoon and rice porridge. Then it was on to the Marina pool for half the day before heading back to the room for a rest from the hot afternoon sun. After a siesta, it was back to the pool again to cool down and chill out before dinner. The resort had free wi-fi access in the lobby area and sometimes by the pools. I spend much of my time, reading books that I had download onto my Kindle before our travels. Pure bliss..raising the flag sometimes to order cocktails at happy hour. Girls had an awesome time swimming, riding the slides and mucking around in the water. Chris spent most of his time getting a tan. In the evenings, we would spend at the lobby lounge enjoying the music and sea breeze. It was a tough life, I tell you.

There is also a Little Magellan Kids Club, which we did not have time to check out. Girls were happy to be with us all the time. The resort is a family-friendly place for a relaxing holiday. It would be even better once the rooms have been refurbished.

Location:Kota Kinabalu