The LUMA Hotel is a really nice boutique hotel in the heart of Kota Kinabalu, in Sabah on Malaysian Borneo. The stylish and modern hotel is part of the Marriott boutique group — and it shows. The name “LUMA” means home in the Bajau language, which perfectly reflects what this hotel stands for: a warm and welcoming place for travelers. The hotel is located on Sutera Avenue, a large complex with lots of restaurants on the ground and first floors (many with al fresco seating). It’s an ideal base for a few days of exploring the vibrant city of Kota Kinabalu.
From the moment we arrived, we were struck by how beautiful the hotel looks. The lobby has cozy couches in warm shades of green and orange, along with rotating artwork by local artists and playlists curated by musicians from Sabah.
You can book a room starting at around €60 per night, including breakfast — that’s for the most basic room (which is already very nice). The hotel doesn’t have a pool, but it does have a gym. Honestly, it feels like a 5-star hotel in every other way. We found the best price on Booking.com, but it’s always a good idea to compare a few hotel sites.
Gorgeous rooms
The hotel has 115 rooms, cleverly designed to reflect the calmness of nature, with lots of greenery and natural materials. You can choose from several room types, ranging from standard to luxury suites: Fern Cosy, Grass Standard, Emerald Original, Palm Marvellous (a spacious room with extra privacy thanks to large glass bricks), Eden Deluxe, Family Extraordinary, and Green Luxury Family.
We stayed in the Palm Marvellous, and it was honestly amazing. Funny enough, the room didn’t have windows — instead, it had a huge wall made of glass bricks with light behind it (in daylight color). Very clever, and probably better than a dull city view anyway.
When we returned to The LUMA Hotel after our jungle adventure, we got a free upgrade to the Eden Deluxe room. That one was great too, but we still really liked the Palm Marvellous room we had earlier.
The room was affordable, included a solid breakfast, and was beautifully decorated — especially the stunning bathroom. It also had a large TV, safe, minibar (including a coffee machine with pods), and a big bathtub with a separate shower.
Flow Café
Flow Café is the coffee shop connected to the lobby. This trendy spot uses beans from its own roasting house and serves excellent coffee and tasty snacks. The only thing that surprised us was how early it closes — we wanted a coffee after dinner, but it was already closed. Opening hours are 7:30 AM to 7:00 PM, seven days a week. Luckily, we had time to try the coffee the next morning — and it was well worth it!
Jojo Steakhouse
Jojo is the hotel’s restaurant and is actually one of the most popular spots in town. Hotel guests can access it easily from the lobby via the elevator or a gorgeous spiral staircase made of local wood. Non-hotel guests can also enter from outside.
Jojo is a modern (Western-style) restaurant that serves tasty Asian fusion and international dishes. It’s stylish, has a great vibe, and is a nice spot for a cocktail. There was even live music when we were there.
I went for a Double Cheeseburger, while others had the Norwegian Salmon (delicious!) and the Australian Angus Don (also great). My burger was fine, but I was pretty tired from our Danum Valley trip and only realized it during dinner — still, it was a lovely evening and a great meal.
Breakfast
Breakfast is usually included in the room rate. If it’s not shown during booking, you can add it later or arrange it at check-in — it’s fairly inexpensive to add it separately. The breakfast is quite good — not overly extensive, but just right for a few days. That said, we probably wouldn’t recommend it for an entire week, as it could get a bit repetitive.
Breakfast is served at Jojo Steakhouse, which is fully converted into a breakfast room in the mornings. There’s an egg station outside, and extra tables are set up where the live band usually plays.
Breakfast hours: 6:00 AM – 10:00 AM daily. If you have an early flight and will miss breakfast, you can request a breakfast box the night before.
How to get there?
The hotel is about 10 minutes from Kota Kinabalu Airport by Grab. Sutera Avenue is easy to reach, but traffic can get a bit busy during rush hour — mostly because you have to loop around a bit to get right in front of the hotel entrance.
Tips
- The LUMA Hotel is located within the Sutera Avenue F&B complex. One of the highlights here is OITOM, a truly incredible restaurant. It’s hands down the best in Kota Kinabalu — more like a cultural dining journey through Sabah’s history, with 9- or 12-course menus. Totally worth it.
- IMAGO Mall, the most modern and popular mall in Kota Kinabalu, is located diagonally across from Sutera Avenue. You can get there via a footbridge over the busy road.
- We visited Danum Valley as part of our Sabah trip. The easiest way to get there is via direct flight to Lahad Datu from KK. That’s why we booked The LUMA Hotel before and after our jungle trip, and we were able to store our extra baggage there temporarily.
- If you want to dine at Jojo, it’s best to make a reservation in advance, especially on weekends — it gets pretty busy.
- There are also a few small convenience stores (like 7-Eleven) next to the hotel for quick snacks and essentials.
Suggestions?
Got any good tips to share with us? Do you know of any great things to do in Kota Kinabalu, or tips on the best places to eat? Let us know by leaving a reply below or join our private Facebook Group Friends of Malaysia.
