MALAYSIAlonelyplanet.com MALAYSIA DIRECTORY •• Accommodation
MALAYSIA DIRECTORY
ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation in Malaysia costs slightly more
than elsewhere in Southeast Asia. You’ll pay
more for a place to stay in Malaysian Borneo
than in Peninsular Malaysia, and beach and
island accommodation is generally more expen-
sive than mainland digs. Note also that bed bug
infestations are common in Malaysia.
The cheapest accommodation is found at
hostels and guest houses (or backpackers) that
cluster around tourist hot spots. These places
often book tours and offer laundry services
and transport.
A dorm bed costs anywhere from RM7 to
RM35, fan-only rooms with a shared bath-
room RM17 to RM50, and rooms with air-
con and private bathroom RM40 to RM70.
Bathrooms are often a hand-held shower
with cold water above a toilet. Prices quoted
throughout this chapter are for rooms with
shared bathrooms unless otherwise stated.
In big cities most backpackers are in multi-
storey buildings, while at beaches and smaller
towns accommodation ranges from A-frame
chalets with a fan and private bathroom to
rooms in a private house.
The cheapest hotels are Chinese-run and
usually offer little more than simple rooms
with a bed, a table and chair and a sink.
The showers and toilets (which will some-
times be Asian squat-style) may be down the
corridor. Note that couples can sometimes
economise by asking for a single, since in
Chinese-hotel language ‘single’ means one
double bed, and ‘double’ means two beds.
Don’t think of this as being tight; in Chinese
hotels you can pack as many into the room
as you wish.
Budget hotels can sometimes be noisy as
they’re often on main streets and the walls
rarely reach the ceiling – the top is simply
meshed or barred in, which is great for ven-
tilation but terrible for privacy.
Check-out times are usually 11am or noon
for hostels and guest houses and from around
noon until 3pm for hotels. Cheap Malaysian
hotels generally quote a net price inclusive of
the government tax (5%), but double-check
before checking in.
Many of Malaysia’s national parks have
camping grounds, and permit camping at
nondesignated sites once you are into the
back country. There are also many lonely
stretches of beach through Malaysia, par-
ticularly on the peninsula’s east coast, which
are ideal for camping. Likewise, it is possible
to camp on uninhabited bays on many of
Malaysia’s islands.
Tourism Malaysia (www.tourismmalaysia.gov.my)
and each of the state tourism bodies offer
information about homestay programs op-
erating throughout the country in off-the-
beaten-track kampung (villages). Staying with
a Malaysian family will give you a unique
experience many times removed from the
fast-paced life of the cities and towns.
In Borneo you can stay in longhouses,
communal homes that are the traditional
dwellings of the indigenous peoples of
Borneo; these may contain up to 100 indi-
vidual family ‘apartments’ under one long
roof. These days there are two main types of
longhouse: tourist longhouses and authentic
longhouses. While a visit (or stay overnight)
to a tourist longhouse is easy enough, it’s
unlikely to be of much interest. A visit to an
authentic longhouse can be a magical expe-
rience, but is tricky to arrange and there’s a
very specific etiquette; see p518 for details.ACTIVITIES
Caving
Malaysia’s limestone hills are riddled with
caves. Some are easily accessible and can
be visited without any special equipment
or preparation, while others are strictly for
experienced spelunkers. There are caves on
the peninsula and dotted around Malaysian
Borneo, including one of the world’s premier
caving destinations: Gunung Mulu.Climbing
Sabah’s Mt Kinabalu is an obvious choice for
those interested in mountain climbing, but
it isn’t the only Malaysian mountain worth
climbing. Sarawak’s Gunung Mulu is a chal-
lenging four-day climb, and on the peninsula
there are overnight climbs in Taman Negara
National Park.Cycling
Malaysia’s excellent roads make it one of the
best places in Southeast Asia for bike tour-
ing. The most popular route heads up the
east coast via relatively quiet, flat roads –
Malaysian Borneo and the peninsular interior525