Our accommodation rooms are located right on the crystal clear waters edge and offers fantastic north and west facing views. Our standard room is P1,950 per night and includes 2 single beds, HD cable TV on a 32" wall mounted LCD TV, minibar, dresser, lamps, air conditioned, electric fan, study desk, mirror and large balcony. The shared toilet and private hot shower for this room is located downstairs. Our deluxe room is P2,200 per night and has a queen bed and it includes all the same facilities as the standard room with the exception that it has a ensuite with vanity unit, hot shower and toilet. We guarantee you will be impressed by the rooms and location. And to add to that, downstairs we have the very popular Marlin Bar Restaurant and Sports bar to cater for your eating requirements
This two room accommodation with its downstairs Marlin Bar restaurant is on Anchor Bay, four kilometres and an initial uphill climb from the town and port of Romblon.
The rooms are unsuitable for the disabled as they are up a flight of 10 stairs, but 99 per cent of the room's features are excellent.
My room was the only one of the two to have an ensuite.
The room has a normal door on the side but sliding glass and timber doors that open onto the shared, spacious and well equipped porch that for each room has two sets of tables and chairs, ideal for watching the often visually splendid Filipino sunset with its pink, golden and sometimes red hues.
The room had a comfortable bed, a fully stocked minibar with a modern Electrolux bar fridge - and the drinks were reasonably priced - plus two bedside tables with beautifully decorated soft lamps ideal to create that special romantic setting for one's spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend.
The bedroom has high ceilings using native materials with the wooden beams being attractively lacquered and painted close to 'post office red.'
The outlook from inside is spectacular with views of nearby islands not to mention the sunsets.
There was a desk with chair and a modern Sharp television.
Lighting was provided by a series of four linked small lights to one side: effective and attractive. There is a largish wardrobe but it is quite close to the bed.
The curtains blocked light well, there were two comfortable non-foam and non-rubber pillows plus two others for those who prefer foam, while the bedding had a great quality top as well as a bottom sheet. Top sheets allow one to choose whether to use the supplied doona and are more hygienic than doonas so well done to management.
The fully white tiled bathroom had louvre windows and a three way shower that was heated by solar power. On the first morning there was a brownout that affected my shower. There was a full white vanity basin with ample storage space. The toilet was very clean while two excellent quality beach towels, two bath towels and a smaller towel plus soap but surprisingly no shampoo or conditioner were supplied. The bathroom was well lit but lacked a hairdryer.
The Marlin Bar restaurant is the subject of a separate review but was excellent.
The P2200 nightly tariff for the ensuite room did not include breakfast but again this was good value with a choice of five items, although it ran out of bananas and mangoes on my second morning.
The establishment has boat ramps, a boat or two, a network of friends with presumably similar and a range of water activities including banana boat trips and kayaks. The half day trip to Alad, Cobrador and one other island was marvellous with white sand beaches or in the case of Alad a visually stunning cove, all with some coral and a feww fish. Unfortunately overfishing has taken its toll but at least the Anchor Bay boutique resort is providing locals with employment and at night the restaurant is popular.
The house next door has occupants who play and sing to loud karaoke during the day (though not every day) and from what I observed until 2100 hours at night. This was irritating but not as the USA residents would say a 'deal breaker.'
The room could do with a shelf on which to lay one's suitcase while the bathroom windows should have flywire to stop the entry of mosquitoes, although being dry except for 20 minutes' rain I did not see any of the latter.
The airconditioning was not split system but good, although it took a long time to cool the bathroom as well. There was a folding type possibly wooden door to the bathroom that was of an interesting, funky design.
The staff were excellent such as Cherees (possibly incorrect spelling), a late 20s young lady who ran the restaurant, Joanna and Margie among others.
Dennis Shepherd, the Australian proprietor was outstandingly hospitable. He is quietly spoken but made many accurate, interesting and succinct observations. It was apparent to me that he treats the staff well but he knows how to leave guests alone or be on the scene for a chat when requested.
I have not mentioned the beautiful small garden in which the establishment is set, or great touches such as the plants on the balcony outside my room.\
Overall an amazingly great accommodation option and one in which most reasonable guests will feel really at home, and yet it remains terrific value for money. Couples in particular should love it.
The attractive, non commercial Tiamban Beach is an eight minute if that walk down the road. It lacks corals but despite much seagrass is placid.
There is a small coral reef 50 metres offshore from the resort that I did not snorkel to but that apparently has a few fish.
WiFi is free but I did not use.
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Date of stay: June 2015
Value
Rooms
Service
Trip type: Traveled solo
Room Tip:Â The ensuite room is the pick of the two.
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.
We were here for Romblon Yacht Club's 2015 3 Island Challenge, and stayed in the rooms upstairs 2 weeks previously. My idea of a nice balance of paradise - tropical breezy architecture with amenities plus a wonderful view from the porch or downstairs. Just watching what the weather is up to over Tablas is a treat, a weather watcher's dream.
Dennis says 3P Resort dives right in the channel, so there must be some worthwhile marine life specially for the macro-critter photographers. Place appears popular with the locals and expats. Place is generally quiet, have not yet heard the horrible karaoke noise pollution from next door as reported by another reviewer.
The staff are very nice and Dennis is a riot to chat with, aside from a tough sailor when racing. Menu food prices are a touch pricey for the province though, kinda like Manila prices, which is surprising.
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Date of stay: June 2015
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Traveled with friends
Room Tip:Â No problem to go up the stairs if you have 1 leg. Just go slow.
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.
An absolutely fantastic stay, and very much in line with all the good things I'd heard about it. Managed by a great couple, this spot offers beautiful views and is a quick walk to two nearby beaches (Bon Bon and Tiamban).
The rooms are wonderful and the bathrooms are surprisingly modern and immaculately-kept. Each has its own small balcony and since the room faces north you get the benefits of both sunrise and sunset being visible but not directly beaming into the room. Perfect for rising with the sun.
Food is good and plentiful thanks to the attached restaurant, which is helpful since there are no other food options nearby and it's a bit of a hike to the "downtown" area of Romblon. Thankfully the rooms offer mini-fridges, so you can stock some snacks as well. The restaurant can get a little busy on weekend nights, so get your orders in early since service can be a little sluggish at peak times.
My only complaint would be that for two of the three nights of our stay we were sometimes woken up to the sound of scrambling on the roof. We weren't sure what it was until the last night, when we spotted a small mouse on our curtains. It wasn't a big problem since you have to expect the occasional visitor when staying in the tropics, but the scrambling noises did get a little annoying at times.
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Date of stay: April 2015
Value
Rooms
Service
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.
Marlin Bar is not a good place to stay at all. Let me begin by pointing out that this place is not cheap and therefore a certain level of expertise/service is expected. My partner, and two colleagues booked this place for 3 nights in two separate rooms that were both advertised as having bathrooms. Upon arrival we discovered this was not the case and my colleagues were informed that their bathroom was the public bathroom used by the diners in the downstairs restaurant. The rooms were not serviced unless we specifically asked the somewhat unpleasant staff whom were continuously frowning at our requests, same story for our in-room water. The power supply to the rooms was sporadic and we were woken, covered in sweat due to the failing air conditioner during the night, The Wi-Fi was so bad and weak that it should not have been advertised as part of the facilities (they even switch it off at 10 pm). The one bathroom that we did have was in bad shape as well.. The pipe drainage for the sink was corroded away and we discovered this the hard way, after drain water leaked into the cabinet below, soiling our toiletries and towels and partially flooding the bathroom floor. Unfortunately our restaurant experience was no better.. We ordered starters, mains and desserts and specifically asked them to be served in the correct order and be staggered. After waiting 45 - 50 minutes for our starters, we were bombarded with all 3 meals at once; We were unable to fit them on the table. After the grumpy staff members brought over extra tables to accommodate all the plates we were disappointed yet again.. The sangria pitcher was almost undrinkable and not made properly at all, the beef stroganoff was cold and mediocre, as was the pork chop and I can honestly say, the burger was the WORST burger I have ever had the displeasure of tasting. I could not even eat it. After raising our issue with the staff, the manager informed us that the entire meal would be free of charge and apologized for the inconvenience. This gesture made us feel at ease until check out-time when we discovered that the manager had left the island and told his staff to charge us for the so called "free" meal promised to us two nights prior. I have never dealt with such a low level of professionalism in a hotel and restaurant before and feel the need to warn all travelers of this place and their dodgy owner, 'Dennis' This place really did fail across the board and ruined our experience of Romblon Island. If you are going to stay on the island, it is quite beautiful. Just stay in a different hotel.
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Date of stay: June 2016
Value
Rooms
Service
Trip type: Traveled with friends
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.
Response from JamesShepherd1974, Manager at Marlin Bar Restaurant and Accommodation
Responded Jul 10, 2016
I would like to reply to your review. If you look at all our advertisements you will notice that we say one room has an en-suite and the other room has a private shower downstairs with a shared toilet. We NEVER have tried to deceive anyone by false statements and you are the first guests to have misread our advertising. We have a policy that staff do not enter guests rooms unless requested. We also tell guests on arrival if you want refills for mini bar or your room made up please ask the staff. It is a very petty complaint expecting your water jug to be monitored all day. The power supply to Romblon can experience brownouts and the whole town is without power, not just us, and we cannot be blamed for this occurring. The same fact applies to the WI-FI on Romblon which can be very slow and this again is out of our control. The whole of Romblon experiences the same speed, we cannot control that. By the way thank goodness it did not rain while you were there, as I am sure that it would have been our fault as well. The air conditioning did not fail, you obviously played with the timer function on the remote control. The bathroom is in bad shape!!!!!!!!!! Something I find very strange is that a person gets on all fours to put toiletries down near a sink drain ignoring 6 other shelves/cabinets above the basin level. The pipe did not corrode, it is plastic, it was dislodged and therefore leaked. We had it fixed immediately and the plumber was very curious as to how it happened. We would like to think it was just an accident on your behalf and not a deliberate act by you to receive a reduction on your room rate. The wait in the restaurant can happen as we serve on a first come first served basis and due to the fact that our meals are all prepared freshly cooked as ordered, instead of sitting all day in bain maries, it does take a bit longer for the preparation. Unfortunately for you there were orders in for 30 other customers ahead of you so we do apologise for the wait. You say we served the 3 meals at once, the staff deny this, maybe the main was too close to the starter, but dessert was not served. Instead of shouting abuse at the staff wouldn't it have been easier to ask for the main to be taken ask to the kitchen and kept warm until you were ready????? The only reason the hamburger was inedible was because in your seemingly abusive manner you poured the contents of your ashtray on top of it. You rang my father, Dennis, late at night complaining about your service, and he replied if the food was that bad you did not have to pay for it. He informed me and I talked to the staff - apparently you finished off every plate and obviously could not fit the hamburger in so you poured your ashtray over it. Do you do this often at restaurants so that you can get free meals?????? I think so. "Dodgy Dennis" -(you cannot even write a review without abuse) - is a family member and is not manager of the premises, my partner and myself are the managers. After talking to my staff regarding your vulgar abuse and the meal situation I instructed them to charge you for the meals you ate. Your level of abuse at them when you found this out was so bad, the staff all donated money from their wages for your meals, just to get you off the property. You are lucky I was not on Romblon at the time as I would not have tolerated your obnoxious behaviour. The Management
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
It's my second time in Romblon since I fell in love with Tiamban and Bonbon beach on my first trip here and I've always wanted to stay in the Marlin Bar since I dropped by for dinner a month ago. It has one of the best food and sunset views in the island. A wide selection on the menu. The owners are very accommodating and staff are quite attentive! Only with two rooms, the one with ensuite toilet and rain shower is the best. Highly recommended for couples and friends who want comfort and convenience to the town and beaches... Location, location, location!
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Date of stay: May 2015Trip type: Traveled with friends
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 place deserves an excellent rating. You can't beat the view directly on the water. The native room was clean,modern and individual. The food was great and plenty. Staff and owner went out of their way to make your stay comfortable. It is also a great place to meet people since many locals come here to eat and have a drink or two. In short just go there and enjoy !
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Date of stay: February 2015Trip 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.
Woowwww ... this place is excellent .... great hosts ... our room had cable TV and small Fridge ... large bed and wi fi connection ... From my large bed I looked out over the water to the adjacent island .... million dollar view cant be beaten. Meals .. well I am not into local food so James (our Host) organised some nice Aussie breakfasts and dinners for me... nothing was a problem.. I was there for 8 nights and cannot find a fault with the accommodation or the food... Oh there is the Marlin Bar that serves up most beers and they even made up a drink for me called "The Gary"... ask for it you will not be disappointed.
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Date of stay: November 2014Trip type: Traveled on business
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.
we booked 1room without bath and toilet. The place was sensational, the only 1 issue is the bathroom, we would have given this five stars if we can get the room with bathroom. they give us free rent of the snorkling equiptment. The food was soooo great. a bit expensive but worth it. I just love this place. the view, the ambience, the staff are very kind, near to town and near to beaches. Tip is to book ahead to make sure you get the room with the toilet and bath. and 1 more , if you need a trike (tricycle) for going around romblon you can contact this person. kuya Arnold, he's good, he can give u romblon tour for whole day, he will becme your tour guide as well, tell you a bit history about romblon and bring you to many places. the number are 09284162999 (smart) and 09276335991 (globe). if you use his service, please send him my regard, from Aries.
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Date of stay: May 2016
Rooms
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Â best views, choose room with toilet and bath
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 stay here was quite nice. The place is a little bit out of Romblon town and there are great beaches in walking distance. I dined at the restaurant a couple of times and my meals were fine. The accommodation is excellent, comfy bed, stocked mini bar, gorgeous views from the deck and good, quiet aircon. I would definitely recommend Marlin if you're planning a stay on Romblon.
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Value
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.
If you are looking for somewhere away from hustle and bustle of town, somewhere overlooking turquoise and blue waters, a tidy clean room with one or two mod cons - air con and top quality cable - then this is probably the best place to be. Balcony looks straight on to the sea between Romblon and Alad islands, occasional fishing boat, or dive boat, and the ground floor below is probably the best eatery on the island, popular with the locals too. The two room accommodation is run by a Filipino-Australian couple - one room with aircon and one with fan - and some friendly staff, Michelle and Katrina (?) especially. It is located about 10 minutes by tricycle from town. They have a motorbike, kayaks, snorkels etc for hire once you get there. It feels like a real holiday when you have your breakfast on your balcony overlooking your patch of green-blue sea, sipping your fresh banana and mango shakes. Welcome to island life several hours, literally less than a hundred miles and yet figuratively a million miles away from commercial Boracay.
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Date of stay: August 2015Trip 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.
Hi. The diving packages are booked through our partners at 3Ps Diving, located on Romblon. They have a trip advisor page. Usually when diving the 3Ps come to our restaurant for lunch and often book with us for accommodation.
Regards,
James
There are more places to choose from in the Romblon area.
LOCATION
PhilippinesVisayasRomblon IslandRomblon
NUMBER OF ROOMS
2
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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