DUNIA MYA MENGEMBARA: Dream World Resort

Dream World Resort ~ a place amidst the cloudsA place amidst the clouds
Dream World Resort is the latest accommodation with state of the art facilities to open for business in Kundasang. Since its soft opening on May, 2010, the resort has received many favourable reviews from the public. Located high on the Sinar Hill, and on the same altitude with the Desa Cattle Farm, this place has a view second to none. On one side is the majestic Mount Kinabalu with its jagged peaks in the east at full display, and down on the other side the whole of Kundasang Valley is in view, including the small Kundasang shoplots, market place, the farm land and all the other resorts.

Perching on 6 acres of land high on the hill of Kundasang, Dream World Resort has a total of 42 rooms including four chalets, all are available for booking. The rooms are divided into five groupings with names like Canna, Ixora, Lantana, Mimosa, and Rosa. If you must know, these names derived from plants, Canna is usually described as a lily, Ixora is a bulb, Lantana is a climbing vine, Mimosa is a tree and Rosa is a shrub. (This sentence is contributed by a reader call Bill, who loves orchids. His website on orchids is listed at the end of the post.)
The resort is easily mapped out just like an “S”. The reception office, the visitors' car park and the Lantana are located on the lower S. Next the beautiful two level restaurant and Mimosa are situated on the middle S. On the top section, one will find the luxurious Rosa chalets, Ixora, Canna, the waterfall garden and the fabulous giant steps. Most rooms here are accessible by vehicles.

Accommodation
Generally there are two types of rooms, the Deluxe I and the Deluxe II. Both these rooms have single bed and twin bed settings, the only difference is Deluxe II has a built in jacuzzi in the attached shower room. Standard facilities provided for these rooms are a small TV set, coffee and tea making facilities, a dressing table and a standing cloth hanger. All rooms have an en-suite washroom and a balcony, the perfect place to sit and enjoy the surrounding views. Note: no cooking facility in all the rooms.

Room Rates:

Room Type	Normal Rate	Peak Season
Deluxe I (Single or Twin)	RM 256 ++	RM 320 ++
Deluxe II	RM 304 ++	RM 380 ++
Junior Suite I	RM 440 ++	RM 550 ++
Junior Suite II	RM 480 ++	RM 600 ++
Junior Suite III	RM 520 ++	RM 650 ++

All prices include breakfast for two.

Rosa Chalets
The Junior Suite rooms are actually the Rosa Chalets, which are a completely different entity compared with the Deluxe rooms. Each of the chalets has two sleeping rooms, one with twin beds, and the other with a king size bed. A sofa bed and a bar make up the living area, with a sliding door open out to the balcony. Two washrooms are available in the chalet, a small one located next to the main door, and the other one is attached to the king size bed room. But the true gem of Rosa chalets is its jacuzzi which can easily accommodate up to 5 persons. Now guests can enjoy a whole new level of luxury by soaking with hot water in the jacuzzi and have their bodies massaged by the jets and therapy seats. The jacuzzi room is located just next to the main entrance.

Restaurant
The Kundasang Restaurant is located at the biggest building (estimated 100 meters long) in Dream World Resorts. The restaurant is located on the ground and first level. The main cuisine offers here is western food. Small section of local and Chinese cuisines are also available. Ala carte or buffets are served here. Platters and dishes are reasonably priced too for a resort of this standard. The ground level has a big deck with about 30 tables. This deck is what dreams are made of, the perfect place to have your breakfast, where you can witness the rising sun peeping out of Mt. Kinabalu.

The first floor restaurant is indoor with about 20 square tables that can seat about 100 persons. This room is trendy and nicely decorated, with splendid table setting and equally pleasing wall deco. The gent toilet is a must visit for the boys, because while doing your business, you can still marvel at the one million dollar view. The building also has a second floor conference room with a seating capacity of 100 persons. Restaurant business hours are from 7 am to 11 pm.

Dream World Resort is a great place to take pictures. The visitor car park beside the reception office and the Kundasang restaurant deck have super panoramic view of Mt. Kinabalu and the Kundasang Valley, so long as there is a clear sky. This place do get quite misty throughout the year especially in the late afternoon. The waterfall garden located just below the Rosa chalets has a man made waterfall surrounded by garden flowers. These flowers come in many colours including hues like blue, red, yellow, purple, orange, and green, almost all the rainbow spectrum colours. The giant steps below the waterfall garden give photographers a chance to be creativity too. One can definitely say Dream World Resort is a worthy place for those who dare to dream.

How to go there? From Kota Kinabalu take the Tuaran highway (A3) to Tamparuli town, from there take the Tamparuli-Ranau Road (A4). Upon reaching Kundasang shoplots or markets turn left to the Kundasang Kauluan Road, it is the same road to Kundasang Golf Club. Another 5km uphill will get you to Dream World Resort.

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