Aiman Batang Ai Resort & Retreat

Beautiful outlook and friendly staff but the facility is in major need of refurbishment and msintenance. Many guests as well as us had rooms with problems - airconditioners and/or ceiling fans not working properly or at all. WiFi very unreliable and slow. Facilities not very clean and extremely tired looking. A real pity as we were so looking forward to this part of our trip ☹

Cool place. Three quarters of the hotel has been closed down, but the core is alive and kicking. Stunning views over the lake. The longhouse has spacious rooms. Everything is slightly outdated, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Even though the property is quite old and none is investing to refurbish and give a new spring to the resort, the hardwoods and the local hard workers and doing their best to keep the property accessible and operating. Still worth a visit . Recommended 2 nights

An amazing resort where you can retreat at a place that's very calm and not that many tourists. The staff are to kind and the food taste very good. Our room in the Longhouse was surprisingly very spacious and equiped with everything you need and almost no insects in there at all. The showerpressure surprisingly is the highest I've met so far have in Borneo.

If solace and tranquility is what you seek, stay a minimum of two nights. Sweeping lake side view and cool evenings calms nerves and rejuvenates the soul. A trip to a neighbouring longhouse is a culturally enriching experience.

It feels like its prime was 15 years ago, but the view, location and staff make it worthy of your money. And let's not kid ourselves - if you come to a place like this it's not for a hotel, but the Ibans, their longhouses and the feel of nature that is amazing on Borneo!

Need a lots of works to make this place worth to stay. Nice environment and nice view of Batang ai lake. Takes 4 hrs drive from Kuching city and by ferry 20 minutes. Car need to park on the side of the lake. It's not a car ferry.

No guidance on how to access to the resort. Rumours said by the boat, but the map shows road can access to the resorts. However when we drived to the place few days ago, there is a big gate blocked the road and locked.

This place has so much potential. The location is incredible. It's actually remote, and you have to take a ferry across a gorgeous lake to even reach the resort. If you hate people and you're looking to get away from civilization, this is an excellent choice. The only people you'll have to deal with are the staff, and they're quite nice (but don't speak English very well, if that matters). The rooms themselves could use a little bit of maintenance and some more comfortable beds, but overall are they are adorable. I understand why they wanted to build the structures in the traditional longhouse style of the nearby Iban tribes; it's a nice homage to the local culture. Personally, I think it seems silly to not have the rooms themselves facing the gorgeous lakefront view, but I suppose that ship has sailed. I'm just thankful that the air conditioning is powerful, as it matters around here. The facilities could also use some updating. There are more nails sticking up on the wooden paths than are probably safe, and the food is eminently forgettable (Malaysian options are far better than the rest, understandably), but the pool is nice and pretty much everything is clean and comfortable, if a bit old. If you go on the nature walk, be aware that it's a pretty legit hike, and you walk over a rickety canopy bridge that sent my wife into a complete panic. Great views though, and I think it's worth it if you can deal with the swarms of mosquitoes. The same goes for Picnic Island. The sunset is beautiful from over there (and the sunrise is actually visible), but again, you could actually die of mosquito bites and no one would ever find you. Nothing to worry about though. One of the confusing things about this resort is that usually with a hotel located on a gorgeous lake, the lake itself is part of the draw. Although the views over the water are incredible, you don't seem to be able to use the lake in any way. We were told not to go swimming because there are microbes in the water that we are not immune to as foreigners (although no locals appeared to be swimming either). Evidently the kayaks were "out of order" too, although they just seemed to be stacked up to the side. I'm a bit worried that the lake might be substantially polluted from mining or whatever else. There didn't seem to be many (any) fish, birds, or any other wildlife around the lake, and the edges of the water seemed to coincide with a lot of dead vegetation. Please understand that this is mostly speculation, but it seemed odd to us.