Sandakan Homestay 3BedRoom 2Bath Joyful Cottage 喜悦小屋 For 5 guests

There are dead insects on the walls. The pillows weren't really pillows. Two of the beds were mattresses on the ground. No knives, no toaster in the kitchen. Lots of ants though. The lady who met us was lovely

everything was good except below

1. The pillows were old. 2. The bath towels were old.

The apartment was spacious, and fairly quite, except we were there over chinese new years, and there was a lot of fireworks/music/firecrackers which you could hear as though they were right outside the door.

You cannot use the pool. We were told about 2 weeks before that rules had changed recently and we wouldn't be able to use the pool, as below that was clearly a lie though, and they leave the pool up on the listing to entice people. You aren't actually allowed to stay here. There are multiple signs up in the lift stating airbnb and short term stays were banned years ago. It seems this is just an open secret in Malaysia and operates on a "don't ask, don't tell" kind of system. We had to wait a while for the house admin to arrive, then follow her quickly through the vehicle gate/barrier. When questioned about whether we could stay there or not she was adamant we could and that no one cares. The pillows in this house were hands down the worst pillows we have ever come across in our entire lives. I never would have believed in a million years that pillows could be this bad. We ended up using rolled up clothes instead. The sheets were fairly old and already worn through in a few places. The kitchen was only surface cleaned and there was mold around the sink.

Big enough for 5-6 pax. Define serene and peaceful location.

Strong cigarette smell on the mattress and in the living room. I know that the house keeper can’t do much when it comes to that, but perhaps the property manager can enforce a no smoking policy in the rooms & living space. The balcony is just a few steps away. The spaces in the house is decent but I found that the house keeper can do a better job at dusting the kitchenette area, especially on top of the fridge.