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4.0
#2 of 7 hotels in Samal Island
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Value
Skirts along the country's most enormous island garden, Chema’s By The Sea brings a nature retreat with the best of land and sea. A nature beach resort, it features towering landscapes of beautiful greeneries and a quaint white sand beach offering a tranquil view of the Davao metropolis.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Quiet
Family
Languages Spoken
English, Filipino
Location
Old Circumferential Rd Brgy. Limao, Mindanao 8119 Philippines
My family and I were at Chema's by the Sea last January to celebrate my birthday. We were on a trip to Davao City that time so I decided to go to one of Davao's beach resorts for my special day.
Booking was quite easy even though my reservation was last minute. I was able to secure a booking the night before we were supposed to go there. They were responsive via text and email, and I was able to make the payment via online bank transfer.
From Acacia Hotel, we took a taxi to the Waterfront Insular Hotel where we were picked up the resort's boat. Boat ride took around 5 mins.
If I remember correctly, it was P1,500 per head (day tour) which includes the boat transfer, cottage, towel use, and food. There were four of us so we had P6,000 to spend on food from their menu. Free welcome drinks were also provided. I think that was a cucumber-calamansi concoction.
The place, in general, is serene. Luckily, there were only a few people with us during our stay. There were only about 4 groups, ours included. One group even had their golden retrievers with them. :)
The beachfront is not that big, so I can imagine it getting crowded during peak season.
The staff were friendly and helpful.
Food and drinks were okay.
Overall, I loved the ambiance of the place. It's the perfect spot if you seek solitude and privacy.
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Date of stay: January 2022
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I have been visited Chemas by the Sea last November 7 with my family to bond with them . I am very satisfied with their services because most of the staff in their resort are very welcoming and approaching, they really do their job very well because when they serve their customers we can feel very comfortable and feel like our only home. I am very thankful for their services because you would never being disatisfied when you visit Chemas by the Sea.
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Date of stay: November 2021Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My wife and I stayed here overnight just last weekend (September 14-15) and we had a pretty pleasant experience. The room where we stayed was nice and cozy, with a comfortable bed, a spacious bathroom and good water pressure (not always a given). The grounds were well-manicured, and the pool area was both clean and tastefully declared. The food was decent but as is the case with many of these resorts, the food was not great. The coffee, in particular, tasted like it came from a coffee stick instead of being brewed, and it was not even hot enough to melt the coffee creamer.
Please, management, invest in a good coffee machine, and make sure that coffee is not just warm, but hot.
Finally, I respectfully suggest that in view of the fact that there are cats wandering the grounds, periodically begging for scraps from the guests, that management have these cats groomed, properly inoculated against rabies and other diseases, as well as spayed or neutered.
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Date of stay: September 2024
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Time your travel from and back to the mainland when there aren't many waves so as to avail of the...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was once a very nice hotel but it has fallen into disrepair. Not a place for international visitors who will be sadly disappointed in the value for money. Staff try really hard to please but the place is falling apart and not good quality. It’s a bit like Fawlty Towers in the Philippines.
Seems to be run like a military camp. One had to pre order breakfast the night before and then receive it at exact time next day. If you are late food is left cold on table.
Air conditioner in bed room sounds like a ford V 6 engine and detracts from the otherwise tranquil setting.
Sad place to spend your hard earned dollar.
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Date of stay: June 2024Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Â The websites do not do the places justice. Stay on the mainland and day trip samal. Or come for...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If you artsy and want to upload nice pictures in your social media account, this is the place to be. I and my friends were just on a day tour, but we really enjoyed the place. The pool and beach is very nice. You can walk around while enjoying fresh air and nature.
Only problem encountered was the delay in the boat transfer, but definitely something we overlooked upon arriving. The staff were also very nice and accommodating.
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Date of stay: August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Book here because of the good reviews i’ve read but our experience was quiet the opposite. They arrive almost an hour late for the pick up schedule.Not even a phone call to inform us their whereabouts. We decided to cancel our stay and the refund took a month which i paid cash. Very inconsiderate.
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Date of stay: March 2022
Value
Rooms
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Took a short boat ride from the Waterfront Insular Hotel to the beach. The water was clear but cold. There is a swimming pool as an alternative to the sea. The beach area was very clean and good to walk around although it was rather short. Ordered food from the restaurant, very good food. Don't miss the banana fritters!
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Date of stay: February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
it was quiet and beautiful place. the room that we booked was nice and clean. it was the great place to swim, snorkel. the place is well maintained. the staff was very accommodating and friendly. the pool and the beach is clean
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Date of stay: October 2019
Value
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Firstly, the review is not a reflection on the front of house staff or the support staff.
To say the hotel is tired is an understatement. It has clearly seen better days and is in need of a complete overhaul
The food left a great deal to be desired. Hot food Served cold and a Caesar Salad that didn’t resemble anything like a Caesar and definitely no salad dressing to be seen.
Parts of the pathways were dangerous and how anyone hasn’t tripped of had their foot snared in one of the eroded grills is a miracle.
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Date of stay: September 2024Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The owner of this resort came to our room and talked to us after an issue about a corkage fee. Instead of solving the issue in a polite manner, he verbally attacked us and did not give us any chance to talk. The issue started when we asked the staff for the nearest convenience. We returned from the store, carrying our drinking water, cocacola and some beers when the staff asked us to pay the corkage fee. it was about 50% on top of whatever we had bought in the store and for that price we might as well have been drinking in the resort restaurant and saved ourselves some money and the bumpy moto ride to the nearest shop. I don't mind paying corkage or even pay whatever it cost to drink in the in-house restaurant but the fact that the staff never informed us and actully stood at the gate waiting for us to return so they could charge us, made me complain about the way we had been treated. By the way I have never in my life been to a hotel or resort where you are not allowed to bring your own drinking water for consumption in the room. By talking to the owner I learned that it is their policies and according to him it is clearly written on their website. according to the owner it's my own problem if I didn't read their website careful enough. (and after double checking their website it turns out that the policy section is no longer functioning which makes it impossible to get this information in the first place). The owner kept on talking nonsense in a very rude manner, not letting us say one word. his behavior was extremely aggressive and we decided to check out the following morning after encountering him. very bad experience! The owner neglected the fact that no one informed us about corkage fee, he claimed it was out own fault because we never asked when the booking was made. He then said that he would easily buy us all the beers we could drink to which I refused. He was being aggressive and seemed like he could explode it any moment. it was very uncomfortable to stay in the resort after that and that is why we checked out the following morning. this place does not deserve your time or money. furthermore I can add that every single table near to the beach has a "reserved" sign on it, which means you are going to pay extra to have your dinner at these particular tables. furthermore it turns out theres a fee of 200pesos to have housekeeping change the towel. this is already a very expensive resort where these kind of things should be included. they try hard in every sneaky way they can to squeze money out of people. fx. its written on the website that if you are not wearing proper swimsuit you are going to pay 200pesos if they catch you in the pool !!! the staff are not helpful. the only thing they do is to walk around to try and bust people in breaking their rules so they can claim a fee. This might have to do with the fact that many daytours visit the beach at the resort. But the staff and especially the owner should learn to see the difference of a paying in-house guest and a daytour'er trying to sneak his way in. because that is how he made us feel standing on our very own -paid for room terrace. Don't ever go there.
besides extremely rude staff, the food is overcooked. there's hardly any vegeatbles in the dishes that comes with vegetables. (about 10 corns and a bitter cucumber) Ants are everywhere. you can not finish a meal without having ants crawling on your plate. Waterpreassure in the shower is non excisting. its just dripping out. aircon extremely noisy and can only turn on and off when the plug is pulled out. the control panel and remote does not work at all. staff did not bother finding a solution to that.
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Date of stay: April 2013
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
You'll have to ask them first if the room for 4 can accommodate an extra bed - this is not obvious. However, they have a room for six pax I believe which can accommodate 5. Anyway, the differences between rooms for 4 pax and 6 pax is not that big - in fact, in our recent trip, we made a booking of a villa good for six although we were only 4 pax. It was good! Call them for the possibilities.
There are more places to choose from in the Samal Island area.
PRICE RANGE
₱9,277 - ₱11,740 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
chema`s by the sea hotel samal island
LOCATION
PhilippinesMindanaoDavao del Norte ProvinceSamal Island
NUMBER OF ROOMS
13
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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