Hilton Batang Ai Longhouse Resort Review

This unique property is deep in the Sarawak jungles and located next to the massive Batang Ai Lake bordering Kalimantan, which is about 5 hours drive from Kuching town and well worth the experience.

I enjoyed visiting this place during my fieldwork in Borneo back in 2006, 2007 and again in 2012.

Surprisingly, not many people from Malaysia have actually been here to stay at this very unique Hilton Hotel and Resort here in Malaysia Borneo.

Update 2019 – The resort was taken over by Aiman Resorts several years ago, and in 2020, this resort is rumoured to be ceasing operations.

A distance of 275 kilometres in total, I arrived here by noon, and the first thing you see is a little jetty building, and a huge lake called the Batang Ai Lake.

 This, of course, is in the district of Lubok Antu, which is a tiny border town to Kalimantan, Indonesia.

‘Where is the Hilton‘ I asked my guide Selvam, he tells me ‘, Ahh, patience. We wait for the boat‘. So there I was, waiting for a boat, but to my surprise, a traditional Iban longboat arranged for this trip.

A journey in a traditional longboat to the Hilton Batang Ai, how nice, I thought. It took us about 20 minutes by longboat to reach the resort jetty.

Just so you know, the Hilton Batang Ai provides proper fibreglass boats for their customers.

I think it was a total of about 170 steps, if I am not mistaken, and while heading up, still no Hilton insight.

Then on reaching the top, there it was – beautiful and absolutely quiet surrounded by lush tropical rainforest in the middle of Borneo. Every traveller’s dream! 

Tastefully unique and absolutely different from the standard common hotels you see all over. When I was there, there was hardly anyone around except for the staff.

On asking where everyone was, the staff politely replied, ‘everyone has gone out for some sort of nature adventure‘. Wow… And here I was in the hotel, asking a silly question. 

Exactly how the Iban people live in real life is similar and modern amenities like air conditioning, attached bathroom, coffee machine, and television.

There are a total of 11 blocks of longhouses with about 100 rooms available.

For business travellers, there is a conference area available and also a business centre. So imagine making a MICE trip here, in the middle of the Bornean rainforest. This would be very interesting for the westerners too. 

I take my hat off to the resort owners who have painstakingly adapted this concept into their business. Well done! 

However, because Sarawakian is inspired, there is a nice themed lounge in the main building called the Wong Irup lounge with a couple of pool tables that are all themed accordingly to the Iban Sarawakian culture.

For food, they serve international and local cuisine at an all-day restaurant called Nanga Mepi. Here, guests can savour the many unique Sarawakian food dishes. 

You can also rent kayaks and explore Batang Ai Lake. There are also sightseeing tours and an interesting canopy walk behind the resort with a decent hike to get there.

At the resort, one can try their skills at using a traditional Iban blowpipe with the friendly hotel staff’s assistance.

Since I was here exploring the place, I did my canopy walk with my trusted personal guide Selvam.

It was a nice short hike for about 10 minutes, starting with an uphill trek, then all the way in. You get to see many flora and fauna along the way, so this would be excellent if you are a nature lover.

Iban Warrior Jamit Anak Ngumbang gravesite

Trekking through the Batang Ai rainforest, we came across a graveyard just before the canopy walk. According to legend, this tomb is about 120 years old, and it belongs to a popular Iban Warrior and Chief named Jamit Anak Ngumbang.

You see many mineral water bottles and tuak (rice wine) bottles placed on the head of the grave out of respect from the local Iban people who pass or live there.

Especially during the Gawai Festival, they will also bring items for the spirit of Jamit Anak Ngumbang here. 

These pepper trees grow to an amazing height of over 10 feet tall and are one of Sarawak’s main produce. 

I would gladly come back here again to fully experience the natural Sarawakian rainforest surroundings at the Hilton Batang Ai. Something totally different from the normal hotels and resorts. (I did, in 2013)

Along the way back, we made a quick stop at Lachau Town, an Iban Trading Post, to savour a cup of Sarawak’s famous Teh C Peng Special among trying the local Kolo Mee or dry noodles from the local coffee shop here.

On the weekend, Lacau town is thriving with a market activity where locals bring their wares to sell them. Something worth experiencing if you pass here on a Sunday.

This is one unique romantic honeymoon in Sarawak Borneo for honeymooners or newly married couples that should be considered.

But I must warn you that this is NOT your regular 5-Star Hilton Hotel. It is more of an exotic boutique cum ethnic-inspired resort that is totally out of the ordinary. Definitely, something to remember for life too.

Beautiful view of the longhouse behind the swimming pool

The Hilton Batang Ai Resort is apparently quite busy during the period of May till October. Also, the guest that check-in there is mostly Europeans and Americans with some Australians.

99% foreigners mostly, so do not expect seeing local South East Asians there and a great place to escape.

The property is also a very child-friendly resort so check with them about the children’s deals as there are quite a few available.

Also, you might want to take note as the nearest local shop is a 20-minute boat ride across the Batang Ai Lake and another 20 minutes to the nearest town of Lubok Antu.

You are in the middle of the rainforest when you come here, so please come prepared.

View of the swimming pool here