Accommodation & food in Sibu

Sibu International Airport is quite a distance away from the town, 30 km, the taxi will charge you RM 35, with the taxi coupon sold at the counter. The airport was under renovation. So, the scenes showed might look different upon your visit. If you opt to rent a car, well, two companies for you to choose- Kong Teck Car Rental and Team Leisure Travel Agency. The rate? Please visit the respective website of the respective company. As Sibu is not a big town, nor a tourists' magnet, do expect that the rate for the car rental might be a little bit higher than other places (low demand, no competition). Anyway, good negotiation skill might be a little bit helpful.

Kiosk for Kong Teck Car Rental is in the arrival hall (left). Team Leisure is just outside of the hall (middle). The construction is going on as we can see behind Team Leisure's booth. The booth for the taxi coupon is located far opposite of the arrival hall. As Sibu Airport is undergoing major renovation, the location of the booths might be scrambled in future.

The inter-city bus terminal is located at Pahlawan Road, around 3 km from the town center. However, there are many shops and eateries nearby. Some of them, in our opinion, are quite well. The best way to get to the town center from the terminal or via versa is by taking taxi or bus.

Hotel and accommodation are available mostly in the town center area. The world class, Kingwood and RH Hotel. Kingwood Hotel was the place where we hosted our wedding dinner. Other hotels of good choice are Tanahmas, Premier, Orchid and Garden with private carpark, while Sarawak Hotel, Phoenix Hotel, Kawan Hotel, Li Hua Hotel, and Zuhra are those without private carpark. Those without private carpark might require you to park your vehicles on the street, and of course, need to pay for the parking. The good directory for the hotels are available at Sarawak Tourism Board (go to "directory", "accommodation", and then from "sort town", choose Sibu). All the hotels listed here are within walking distance (10-20 minutes) from most of the attractions in Sibu town center. However, Premier Hotel, Tanahmas Hotel, RH Hotel, Kingwood Hotel, Li Hua Hotel, Garden Hotel, and Sarawak Hotel are closer to some of the hot spots in Sibu. Hotel Bahagia and Zuhra Hotel are some of the budget hotels with very good location.

RH Hotel has unbeatable location with few steps away from Sibu Square and connected to Sanyan shopping center through a sky-bridge (left). Anyway, the price might be a little bit higher than the others. Paramount Hotel is connected to Sibu Square through a small bridge. The view is ok, but the location is a little bit isolated (5 minutes walk to Sanyan).

Kingwood on the other hand, has a nice view over the longest river in Malaysia- the Rejang River (right). Make sure you make a request for river view room upon check in. Li Hua is located just beside Kingwood Hotel.

Premier, Tanahmas, and Garden Hotel are located within 50 meters to each other. Garden Hotel is located opposite of Premier Hotel.

Premier Hotel.

Kawan Hotel is located 15 minutes away from town center by foot. The location is quite isolated beside Lanang Road.

The following are the ranges of room rates for some of the hotels (note: in case of discrepancies of room rates, please take the information of the hotel's website as final):

Kingwood Hotel:
Tel: +6084-335888
- RH Hotel:
RM 260 (superior) - RM 4000++ (presidential). Tel: +6084-365888
- Premier Hotel:
RM 180 (single deluxe) - RM 900 (king suite). Tel: +6084-323222
- Tanahmas Hotel:
RM 245 (single superior) - RM 850 (pemainsuri suite). Tel: +6084- 333188
- Paramount Hotel:
RM 165 (standard room) - RM 550 (Paramount suite). Tel: +6084-331122
-Li Hua Hotel:
RM 88 - RM 300. Tel: +6084-324000
Garden Hotel:
RM 98 (single standard) - RM 160 (superior deluxe). Tel: +6084-317888
-Kawan Hotel:
Starting from RM 80++ (call to confirm). Tel: +6084-315888
-Orchid Hotel:
Starting from RM 60 ++ (call to confirm). Tel: +6084-331999
-Zuhra Hotel:
Starting from RM 58++. Tel: +084-310711
-Hotel Bahagia:
RM 55 (twin sharing) - RM 155 (family deluxe). Tel: +6084-331131
-Sarawak Hotel:
Tel: +084333455

The food is good, and and cheap in Sibu. Several local food and delicacies that we should not miss- "kampua", "char-kueh tiaw", "char-mee", laksa, "har-mee", "dian-bian-hu", "gom-bian", and "pom-bian" are some of them. Do you know what are these things have in common? All of them are made by flour.

Kampua is the water-boiled noodle, mixed with oil and fried onion (and some other seasoning). It is a simple but popular food in Sibu... not without a reason. Why don't you find out by trying? Kampua comes with different "flavors", such as the white kampua (left) and black kampua (darkened by soya sauces).

Kampua with wantan (left). Wantan is a kind of Chinese dumpling. Wantan in kampua seasoning is another unique dish in Sibu.

Porridge with side dishes (left). The price, RM3.50 (no joking). "Dian-bian-hu" is another unique dish in Sibu (please don't mistaken it as Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam). It is basically a dish made by mixed flour boiled at the edge of the wok. Nice dian-bian-hu is very hard to get nowadays in Sibu.

Laksa is available almost everywhere in Malaysia, but Sibu laksa has its own taste that we can't resist (left). Sibu har mee (or prawn noodle) is good, because the prawns used for the dish is freshwater prawns of the nearby rivers.

Gom-bian, char-dried bun made by flour and sesame is an authentic Foochow delicacy. The best way to eat the bun is to eat it fresh, when it is still hot, with some smell of charcoal.

Midin and paku are some authentic Borneo edible ferns, which is available throughout the restaurants.

Seafood- prawn, fish, crab, cuttlefish, shrimp, to jellyfish, mussel, shark fin, etc. are served in great taste, and most importantly, fairly low price.

As we write about food, the struggle whether to list the name and location of the shop is always there. And again, we made a negative decision. Anyway, if you know or had tried some nice food in Sibu, please share with us and other readers (about the name and location of the shop), you are most welcomed to leave a message as a comment.

For more information about Sibu (or whole Sarawak), you can always visit:
- Sibu Official Website
- Sarawak Tourism Board
- Tripadvisor
- Hotels in Sibu (with photos, but without rates)

- Back to Attractions in Sibu

Take a look on our sharing about the other places in Sarawak:

[Kuching] [A Day Trip around Sibu] [Sibu- Attractions] [Sibu Airport is Now Upgraded]
[Tanjung Manis] [Matu-Daro to Dalat] [Mukah]
[All Our Destinations]