Kota Kinabalu is universally called KK and it deserves to be a household name. Everything about the place screams fantastic holiday resort. The climate is resolutely warm and pleasant, the hotels cheap, the people lovely, and the views stunning.
KK society seems to be completely integrated and sorted. The people are 2/3 Bornean and, honestly, couldn't care less about race or creed. They're friendly, educated, talkative, and interesting. This is all anecdote but I saw no evidence that KK and Sabah had any problems that weren't from the Philippines.
KK itself is completely safe, but the east of Sabah has a reputation of raids from the Sulu Islands, part of the Philippines, by Islamic extremists targeting tourists for ransom. Malaysia is handling this international problem by beefing up the military and police presence. The Sabahan themselves aren't worried about it, so it's a very unlikely occurrence.
Within KK the only things that could worry you is the water-taxi touts charging a bit much or the laundry lady talking your ear off (I jest, she was lovely). The food is varied and interesting, there was even bacon, and the prices are fantastic. Everything we had was good stuff and we tried hotel, street, and bar food. There was one exception: wagyu beef is nice but horrendously overpriced.
Our hotel, Le Meridien, was the best we stayed at and it was the same price as a motel at home. The view was fabulous, the location central, the room enormous, and the shower excellent. Breakfast included 4 counters and continuous plungers of coffee. Seriously, every hotelier should go to Le Meridien to see a good hotel.
Even though we were shattered after climbing Mount Kinabalu, we still managed to enjoy a lovely walk along the esplanade. With water-taxis zipping between mainland and islands and local markets galore there was excellent strolling, even without a plan. If we'd been able to exceed 1kph we would have visited an island, probably the one with monitor lizards.
By the way, Mt Kinabalu is an awesome hike. Just do it over 3 days. We did it over 2 and everything was fine until we tried to walk out after summiting. If you take 3 days you'll get to enjoy your time on the mountain and the descent. As it was we were pleased to descend quickly but given the option I'd've loved to explore the other peaks. The rock climbing looks fabulous!
Back in KK there is scuba diving surpassed only by the east of Sabah. So whether you like heights or depths KK is your gateway to happiness.
Oh and the toastmasters are fun too :)
One thing that didn't thrill me about the KK waterfront was the smell of the fish market. Mingled with smells from open drains and the occasional whiff of durian, it made strolling downwind of the market really unpleasant. Once we passed the market things improved though, and we bought a lovely fresh watermelon juice from a vendor with a real sense of humour.
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