Stayed here for 3 nights with family. Ideally located, close to shops, restaurants, night market etc. Staff were friendly, welcoming and helpful. They helped arrange car hire for us at good rates.

Room was clean, spacious and comfortable. We had a room overlooking the street but had no problems with noise.

Would recommend as a good, low-mid price hotel.

After spending a night somewhere not very nice, I looked at around 10 hotels in central KK. This was the best by far. Clean, modern rooms, convenient location, helpful staff. Extremely good value. They have a variety of rooms some of which are more spacious than others, so you might want to ask to see few.

We (myself, wife, 8- & 5-year old boy) stayed at 1 City Hotel from 12-Aug (Fri) to 14-Aug-2011 (Sun) for 2 nights, in a family room at 3rd floor (end of corridor).

It was our first trip to Kota Kinabalu & I spent quite a lot of time in choosing the right hotel within our budget & expectations. Well, we did not regret & turned out it was a right choice!!

Pros:

1. Location
- Just ~15min from airport to hotel by taxi.
- Don't be deceived by any map because it is indeed very near to seaside, Gaya street, etc.
- In the centre of KK but not as noisy & busy like hotels at Gaya Street.
- All are well within walking distance & trust me, when my 2 young boys can walk, adults can surely walk!

2. Hotel
- Hotel interior is clean/neat from reception to rooms.
- Floors are not carpeted hence no musty smell like others.
- Decorations are moderate to make you feel alright.
- The lift to 3rd floor is a plus after a long tiring walk.

3. Room
- Room is not carpeted but very clean, can walk with bare foot.
- Our family room is reasonably big for kids to play around.
- 1 queen size bed & 1 single bed with 6 pillows with clean bed sheets.
- LCD TV with sufficient Astro channels to hook ourselves in the room.
- Kettle, dryer, safety box, & enough sockets to charge our hand phones/iPod/camera.
- 1 coffee table & 2 chairs for tea break.
- Toilet is big, nice & clean; the shower area actually takes up half of the toilet with big shower head with consistent water temperature.

4. Service
- Contacted hotel for more hotel info via their website. Very fast response & informative (thanks to Diana from their customer service??)
- Booked the room via their website, & check-in took 1 minute!!
- Receptionist, especially Sandra & one handsome chap. Never failed to pay 100% full attention to your requests. There was one time I called up Sandra from Wildlife Park to request the taxi for early leaving back to hotel; she then actually called me back to ensure we got in the taxi; nice touch, Sandra!!
- Housekeeping staff was helpful with smiling face even though it was their fasting month.
- Overall the hotel staff had demonstrated a personal touch to all hotel guests, and honestly not many hotels could have great people in their crews.

Cons (minor imperfection from getting full score 100%):

1. When we first entered the room, we were welcomed by a crawling cockroach. Hunted it down & killed it. That was the only one we saw during our entire stay (hopefully it was the only one).
2. The high tech room key cards didn't work all the time. Need to go to reception to have it re-programmed??
3. The toilet bowl flush buttons in our room were very hard to press. My boys always need ed me to flush for them all the time, at the end my thumb got numb.. :-(

Suffice to say, it was still a memorable stay & value-for-money. I love to recommend to those with children to give this hotel a try.

Good job, 1 City Hotel.
Thanks!!

Yoong NC

My partner and I stayed 3 nights in their standard king room. Booked and paid directly to the hotel during reservation. Arrived at hotel around 3pm, lobby was ok, clean with sofas and water for guests.

Check in was super fast, within 5 secs! Took lift to our room at 2nd floor, room was pleasantly nice: king bed, single sofa with coffee table, flat LCD TV on wall, wardrobe, safe, window, 2 complimentary bottled water, kettle with 2 cups (must ask for complimentary Sabah tea from reception), writing desk, bedside lamps with socket and light controls, 2 pairs of slippers, quiet AC. Toilet was clean with separate standing hot/cold shower (good rain shower!) with basic amenities. Breakfast not included, just the way we like it. Free unlimited wifi in room!

Overall, the room was very comfortable, not noisy, heart of KK, surely value for money (RM98/night). Just wish that the staff was more friendly :)