A small lodge on a quiet bend of the Kinabatangan, built around the forest it sits in and the people who live beside it.
Hornbill Lodge is owned and run by River Junkie Tours, a Borneo-based tour operator that’s been providing trips to the Kinabatangan river for over 10 years — this is the story of how and why one led to the other.
For years, River Junkie ran trips the way most operators still do: meticulously planning an itinerary then handing guests over to someone else’s lodge for the night and hoping for the best. Some weeks were excellent. Other weeks the food was cold, the staff had changed, or the room just wasn’t what had been promised.
So when a stretch of riverfront came up for sale in 2022 — a small property then known as Myne Resort — River Junkie’s founders didn’t hesitate. It was the perfect bend of the river: quiet, tucked away from the busier stretches, with views straight down the water and jungle trail access right from the property line. If River Junkie was ever going to build a lodge of its own, this was the location.
The next year was spent gutting and rebuilding it from the ground up — not to make it bigger, but to make it right. In 2023, we opened our doors as Hornbill Lodge: 16 rooms, our own team, our own standards, tucked away in our favourite corner of the Kinabatangan river.
This is where River Junkie’s story has led — but what excites us most is where it’s going. Being part of the Kinabatangan gives us the chance to do more than host guests well; it lets us put our love for the river into practice, working towards a lodge that gives back to the forest and wildlife it depends on.
Hornbill Lodge owns and manages one of the largest private riverfront conservation areas on the Kinabatangan, providing space for wildlife and opportunities for jungle walks straight from your door.
Energy-conserving inverter air-conditioning units in all chalets, refillable drinking water and sustainable menus are just a few of the ways we bring sustainability into your stay.
Our trained guides stick to the jungle trails and practise low-impact wildlife viewing on walks and cruises, to help protect the very wildlife you are here to see.
Immerse yourself in wildlife encounters from the comfort of our new boats, fitted with quiet four-stroke engines, then return to your private river-facing balcony to reflect on the day.
Timber chalets on stilts, a restaurant deck out over the water, and a three-storey tower above the canopy — all on thirty acres of riverfront we look after ourselves.
Hornbill Lodge is small, owner-run and built around the bend of river it sits on. Here is what that means in practice for the few days you spend with us.
River Junkie runs the transfers, the boats and the lodge — you are never handed over to someone else halfway through.
Sixteen rooms and a maximum of 45 guests, so the restaurant, the jetty and the trails never feel crowded.
Dawn and dusk cruises every day from our own jetty, with a maximum of 12 guests per boat.
3 days · 2 nights · from RM1300 pp
3 days · 2 nights · from RM1300 pp
3 days · 2 nights · from RM1300 pp
Four cruises, a jungle walk and two night walks — our most-booked stay.
4 days · 3 nights · from RM2190 pp
4 days · 3 nights · from RM2190 pp
4 days · 3 nights · from RM2190 pp
Three nights on the river plus the limestone caves and their bat exodus.
4 days · 3 nights · from RM3090 pp
4 days · 3 nights · from RM3090 pp
4 days · 3 nights · from RM3090 pp
A night with nesting turtles on Selingan, then two nights on the river.
Verified guest reviews on TripAdvisor.
Sixteen rooms, one quiet bend of the river, and a forest that we look after all year.
