Hotel recommendation? Bako National Park?

We are a family with 3 teenage kids spending a couple of nights in Kuching looking for an OK hotel that is central and not too expensive. Any suggestions? Also, what shouldn%26#39;t we miss- is the Bako national park worth a visit and will we have to stay overnight there or can we get there and back in a day? More generally, I like the idea of not booking everything in advance, but as there are 5 of us, I worry about not finding a hotel with vacant rooms. Am I right to do so,or can I afford to be more relaxed. We are travelling in August.

Hotel recommendation? Bako National Park?

goto:www.sarawaktourism.com for more info.

Since Kuching is quite a small place but to get to most nice places is quite a distance away eg.Cultural village,long house,National parks etc etc.Suggest you rent a car(inexpensive) and pick up a map at the airport .

For direction along the way,ask any Tom, or Harry,they will be more than happy to direct you and very friendly too,most of them can speak English too.

You can also experience to stay at the National park also.VERY AFFORDABLE.

Have a nice trip

Hotel recommendation? Bako National Park?

Hi annie, in my frank opinion, hotels in Kuching are really not expensive, especially also given the strong exchange rate of the GBP vis-a-vis MYR(RM).

Check out Kuching Hilton(that%26#39;s where I usually stay-there was once, I was in Kuching in/out from KL for a year to set up a fish processing plant for products destined for the Japanese market), and at times, at Riverside Majestic, there is also the Holiday Inn-but I found it rather run down.

Depending when is the exact dates of your trip in Kuching will be as come there is a week of school holidays starting on August 18, though impact should not be that great in terms of volume of people, and it is also after a main event in Kuching-the Rainforest World Music Festival-but in view of your numbers and probably the need to get a connecting room or on the same floor, best advised to get a hotel room.

Furthermore, you may also like to look at Merdeka Palace Hotel And Suites, where they have 2 or 3 bedrooms apartment, so all in the family can stay close to each other. It is located on one of Kuching main road-Tun Haji Openg, and a stroll along this road towards the musuem, pavillion, mjuseum aquarium, court house, will lead you to the Kuching waterfront, where you can take a boat to cross to Fort Margherita. Further East from the Kuching waterfront, after Holiday inn, and few yards opposite the Grand Cat sculpture is a food court (by the way, Kuching means cat in the Malay language).

One place that you should not miss is the Sarawak Cultural Musuem which is located about 45minutes distant by road.Here the kids and even yourself can try your skills with a blowpipe trying to hit a target, and of course, gaining an appreciation of the long house which is a trademark amongst the Sarawak tribe people.

In relation to Bako-it is worthwhile if you set your objectives in the right place, as this nature park have few trails, and it depends on what you wish to see-here of course is the denizen of this park- the proboscis monkey. (Just to let you know our country ladies won their USD100,000 here in the Amazing Race Asia).

No need to stay overnight-in fact accommodation is not so well maintained over here.

So, have some hotel in mind, do a booking, then you can relax, you may even want to explore a night or two at Damai Beach area in Santubong or experiencing a night stay in a long house in Batang Ai(Hilton has a property over here).

Thank you both for your suggestions- we are getting quite excited about the trip. The car hire idea sounds good as a way of getting as much as possible out of a short stay.