Roxy Hotel Sematan is one of the newer accommodation options near the seaside town of Sematan, Sarawak. Using the Pan Borneo Highway, Sematan is around one and a half hours direct drive from Kuching. It may be worthwhile to make a stop in Lundu on the way there if you haven’t been before. Further down from Sematan, there is Kampung Teluk Melano but there is nothing much to do there except drink coconut juice by the seaside. Besides that, it may be worth going for the mere fact that it is the start or KM 1 of the Pan Borneo Hughway.
The beach along Sematan is not particularly breathtaking. It is a long stretch of seafront which remains largely undeveloped to this day. But it is a favourite for Kuchingites as it has been around for decades (with less fancy accommodation then) and is within easy reach of Kuching. Also Sematan beach has more access as compared to Damai / Santubong which remain largely closed to the public unless you stay at the resort.
Back to Roxy Hotel Sematan, it is not to be confused with Roxy Serviced Apartments Sematan which has the direct beach front access. Roxy Hotel is across the other side of the road where you can a glimpse of the seafront rather than uninterruputed sea views from the serviced apartments. The hotel occupies a smaller building with a small lap pool in front and car parking at the rear. Behind the car park, you will find the townhouses developed by Roxy Group as well.
There is a cafe / restaurant which has a basic and limited choice of food. You will probably find better food options at Sematan Waterfront or even at the Serviced Apartments across the road.
The hotel enjoys lots of natural lighting from the open lobby and the centre void. This helps to save on air-conditioning and lighting costs and why not enjoy the fresh air flowing in from the South China Sea, right? Hotel rooms are located on the first and second floor, all of them facing the front with some having sea front glimpses. Our room was quite clean and has most of the basic amenities. Bedding was decent and the bathroom was relatively modern.
The instant water heater was not working when we checked in, it took the hotel more than half hour to send a technician and when they did arrive, we were relieved that it only needed to be reset before working again. Water pressure from the shower leaves much to be desired but as we were only there for one night, there was no need to be too fussy over this.
Overall it was an experience similar to the average 3 to 3.5 star hotel.
Roxy Serviced Apartments was fancier than the hotel. It is a bigger development, presumably the developer offered the apartments for sale to take advantage of the sea front position and pricing. This offering targets Kuchingites who want to own a holiday or weekend home with good amenities and fresh air away from the hustle and bustle of town.
There are cafes at the ground level and a LePapa mini mart which is also under the wings of the Roxy group.
In front of the apartment building is a resort-style pool, much nicer than the small lap pool offered by the hotel. The facilities here are exclusive to the serviced apartment residents, who also get to enjoy direct beach access from their property.
