L. A Abaa Road Puerto Princesa City, Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island 5300 Philippines
Kawayanan Resort
97 reviews
Getting there
Car recommended
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
I recently returned from a holiday getaway in the Philippines. Since it's springtime there to our winter, it was the best time to go. Puerto Princesa was absolutely beautiful. The air was crisp and clean (in comparison to Manila); the weather was a gorgeous 80-90 degrees with a nice breeze; and the people were the friendliest. My family and I stayed at Kawayanan Resort. Some friends had recommended it from their previous trip. This place is amazing! Some trip websites may not list them yet as they are fairly new. They are in the heart of Puerto Princesa, just a 10 minute drive from the airport and from the downtown area. The rooms were squeaky clean and large; the pool was very warm and fun with the two slides; and the staff were the most polite and the friendliest we have ever encountered (also well-trained). The prices were surprisingly inexpensive for the first-class service and amenities they offered. Kawayanan Resort is a definite must-see when you visit the Philippines.
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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.
Myself and my 3 children stayed at the resort for 7 nights. We loved every minute of it, the pool was lovely, the staff were all very friendly, the food and service was excellent and the cottages were lovely, cozy and clean. i would certainly reccommend the Kawayanan to anyone, We wil deffinatly be going back Karen Jackson .Meseyside England UK.
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Date of stay: April 2007
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Check in / front desk
Service
Trip 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 Kawayanan Resort has the best planning of any 500 sq. meters I have ever seen. Located within the City of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. I stayed there 2 nights in November 2005 with my wife and son and found the staff friendly and courteous. I really liked the choice of island style theme and decor. The highlight of this resort is the large swimming pool with two slides. Everything else was planned around this pool. I noticed a 24 hr security guard. If you plan to stay in the city and want to stay in a small island style resort this is the place for you.
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Date of stay: November 2005
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 husband and I are newlyweds and stumbled upon Kawayanan Resort on the internet. We have always wanted to go to Puerto Princesa for our honeymoon and Kawayanan Resort made it even more memorable for us.
The owners, the manager, and the staff were all genuinely nice and helpful, giving us tips on what to do and where to go. The owners even gave us a lift and dropped us off in the downtown area at one point. Now that's impressive customer-service!
The resort is very cozy and the food is good. Our room had two big beds and the airconditioning wasn't really that cold but it didn't bother us. We loved the native houses and the total ambience of the resort.
Kawayanan took care of pretty much everything for us. They even booked us in another resort when we decided to stay overnight at Sabang Town (Underground River).
Although we had wanted to stay one more night at Kawayanan, we unfortunately made our reservations too late thus, we could only be accommodated for 2 nights. But the owner was so kind to book us in another pension in Puerto Princesa. Really impressive service.
All in all, when my husband and I go back to Puerto Princesa, we will not think twice and book our accommodation at Kawayanan. Great service, good value for your money, relaxing ambience, easily accessible...all the key elements that make a good resort--and all that is simply, Kawayanan.
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Date of stay: April 2011
Value
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.
we arrived in Puerto Princesa at about 1755H and we were greeted by Kuya Ronald who picked us up from the airport to our hotel/resort.
We checked in at the Kawayanan Resort located in L.A. Abaa Road, Bgy San Pedro, 15 minutes from the airport. It’s a beautiful place that’s full of, you guessed it right, bamboo trees or kawayan in Filipino language. Its center attraction is their large swimming pool with a couple of slides. But if you need a place to relax, this is the best place to be. The resort only has a total of 13 fully airconditioned rooms. That makes it a quiet place. And when the wind blows, you’ll hear the sound of the swaying trees.
Kawayanan Resort - A Resort Within The Heart Of The City
Aside from their resort, Kawayanan also have their own travel and tours agency. At Php5,800.00 each, we already got a 4 day-3 night accomodation plus tour packages of Underground River, Honda Bay and a half-day city Tour. The package also includes free breakfast and lunch. So we only spend for one meal a day, dinner. Did I already mention that they also offer free wifi anywhere in the resort (except inside the room) and 32-inch LCD TV, mini-ref, hot & cold shower? And by the way, the package also includes free airport transfers. But the best part of it all is that the place is being managed by the owners themselves. In fact, as soon as we got there, we were greeted by the wife, Ms. Mary Rose, who gave us a few words about the resort and Puerto Princesa City as well.
Please visit http://bukool.com/my-blogs/ to read the rest of our Puerto Princesa trip.
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Date of stay: March 2011
Value
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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.
Here' s our letter (feedback) for the people in Kawayanan:
hi ms lorraine! i hope you still remember us. we stayed in your "cleanest" and "greenest" resort last may 22-25...
anyway, since day 1 of our stay in Kawayanan, our group had been thinking of sending you feedbacks as soon as we get back to manila. 'cos, as soon as kuya jay and jea (your OJT) picked us up from the puerto princesa airport, we were treated with so much kindness and warmth. :) we actually thought of making something fancy for the resort as a remembrance but our 4 days had been so jampacked with activities that we didnt have time to make one, hehe. anyway, it's the thought that counts. we "thought" of making you guys something to remember us by.
indeed, your resort is very clean and "green." well-maintained. the cottage where we stayed was well-ventilated, clean and very homey. :) we liked the beds, not too hard but not too soft either. the sheets looked clean and smelled fresh. :) the heater's working! i am personally very particular with that when im in a resort hehe. the pool's a plus. everyday during our stay, we always wanted to swim but we just got so tired from the day activities that we didnt have enough energy left to swim in the resort's pool (not to mention to play billiards and to try your videoke hehe). then again, it added to the comfortable ambience in your resort. the food's good! we loved the squid... too bad lang we werent able to try that seafood platter (?). we loved the tapa also! and the crispy pata! *yum*
the tour package was also well-organized. we wished to stay longer cos we enjoyed the trip (city tour, honda bay hop, underground river) so much! we didnt feel hassled for anything, well, except when we found out that the croc farm was closed. then again, we're so thankful cos you still arranged for us to visit the croc farm. the tour guides, ate eden and ate thea were both very nice. their spiels are entertaining and informative. :)
but the best thing about your resort is your people! :) everybody's just soooo nice, soooo accomodating, soooooo cheerful! and you all looked so genuinely kind! :) we can rely on CHA for room requests and for information regarding our tour. ARNOLD's very sipag, changing our sheets (upon request) even if his shift for the day's about to end. CHRISTINE/CRISTY attended to our dine-in needs very well. KUYA JAY not only drove picked us up from and dropped us in the airport, he also toured us around the city, at the same time sharing valuable information about palawan. :) he's a good tour guide, actually! to give credit to your OJT, JEA, she's also nice and though quite shy, is friendly. and of course, you MS.LORRAINE for organizing our stay in your resort, for making sure that we are comfortable, and for accomodating my request to have my personal towel washed!
thank you so much! you made our first time in palawan a truly memorable one. :) we are definitely recommending kawayanan to our friends, family or to whoever's planning to go to palawan. we hope that you'll be able to maintain the cleanliness and most of all the kindness of the people in your resort.
we miss palawan so bad. we're planning to come back haha! :)
WE LOVE KAWAYANAN! (and we love your jingle, by the way. :D )
TRINA
in behalf of Patrick, Chris, Ivan and Onay :)
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Date of stay: May 2008
Value
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Check in / front desk
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Business service (e.g., internet access)
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.
My first time to Puerto Princesa and I immediately picked Kawayanan based on the good reviews here on Trip Advisor
I really have nothing much to say about it The staff were very helpful and warm, the tours went smoothly as planned the food in the resort was rather simple but delicious the rooms were clean and relaxing the whole resort had a feel that you are in the middle of a vast bamboo thicket in the mountains while the sound of the water in the pool could create an illusion of a nice mountain spring
i'd come back again here
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Date of stay: May 2011
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Â Make sure you call in advance! Just a few rooms
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 is a great place for friends or family to come to in Puerto Princessa.
I'm in the hospitatlity industry and the staff is some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. The staff will help you set up anything you want : tours, taxis, etc.
The rooms are nice and clean, the price and value is great. What more can you ask for?
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Date of stay: February 2011
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
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.
The resort was great with a cozy environment and a beautifull pool. The place is very clean and the resort won an award for the cleanest and greenest resort in puerto princesa.The staff are very friendly and hospitable, they always greet you with a smile everytime they see you. For the rates it is inexpensive. We booked their package for 4 days and 3 nights and it only costs us at around 6k Php per person (inclusive of city tour, honda bay tour, underground river tour, and 2lunch).. the food in the resort ranges from 150 Php to 200 Php per meal. The place is near the city and if you want to go to the city just ask the staff to get a tricycle for you. The room is great, there is a TV(cable), ref, no buttubs in the cr, no telephones so if you want to order or room service you must ask the staff outside, the staff will knock on the door for the wake up call (coz there is no telephone). You can request for a massage service for 500 Php. They have a billiard table, a dart and a videoke that is for free of use if you booked for their packages. All in all the place is good to stay. Its is for family and for couples.
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Date of stay: December 2007
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Check in / front desk
Service
Business service (e.g., internet access)
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.
Kawayanan Resort is a great place to stay in Puerto Princesa. I was looking for a hotel close to the airport and this one had good reviews on TripAdvisor and offered the day trips I was looking for. While the price seems a bit steep (1800 pesos a night), it does offer everything you need: AC/fan, a clean room, comfy bed and pillows, cable TV, a hot water shower, a patio outside your room, a pool with waterslides, beautiful grounds, and an onsite restaurant and travel agent. Also free breakfast and airport pick up/drop off were included with our rate (I'm not sure if it's because we booked a package or if that comes with just a room). We were greeted at the airport promptly with a large sign and upon check in we were given complimentary iced tea before being shown to our room. Service was friendly throughout our stay. The resort was nice but not perfect.
Areas with room for improvement: -Wifi didn't work well anywhere and didn't work at all in the room. -Shower pressure was very low. -Strangely, the TV didn't have a plug that fit into the socket so I had to use my adapter. Wasn't a problem but just odd. -Food in the restaurant is not very good. We had a bad experience our last night when we waited almost two hours for dinner. When it was served we couldn't even eat much of it... The beef kare kare was very salty and the club sandwich was smothered in a Thousand Island-like sauce that ruined it. However, the owner Mary did everything possible to fix the situation. She later brought a fruit plate to our room and offered complimentary mango shakes, grilled chicken and rice, or whatever else we wanted. She also comped our meals and mango shakes. By the way... Their mango shakes are AMAZING. They definitely get those right. Breakfast was just OK but actually on our last day (after the dinner disaster) it was much better... American-style bacon and fresh watermelon! Anyway, a tricycle ride into town is only 30 pesos and 10 minutes, so I recommend going there for dinner. See my TripAdvisor review for Blue Ginger if you tire of Filipino food while you're there.
We also booked the Honda Bay tour (7 hours, 1100 pesos per person) and the Underground River tour (10 hours, 1600 pesos per person) with Kawayanan Resort. Both were excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed them. Great guides on both trips. Also I was pleasantly surprised to find that we were on small tours with only other guests from the resort (5 total for the Honda Bay tour and 8 for the Underground River tour)... Very personalized and no wasted time spent picking up and dropping off people from other hotels.
For the Honda Bay trip we left at 7am and returned and 2pm. (We were told the departure time was 7:30am but they knocked at our door at 6:25am and told us it had been moved to 7! Although they warned us the night before that that might happen.) Later other guests told us they took the same tour starting at 11am... I wish we'd been given the later time option!! Another hidden surprise was that snorkeling gear wasn't included. You stop at a rental place on the way so prepare extra money if you want to rent gear, towels, or buy bread to feed the fish (which you should!). It was 150 pesos to rent just the mask and snorkel, which is all I got. Our boat took us to a coral reef where the guide leads you around the water and points things out such as giant clams. I also saw fan coral, which was cool! Then we went to Snake Island. Lots of tropical fish in clear water, we took a walk past the mangrove trees, so many sand dollars you can find, and we saw live starfish! We also ate lunch here which wasn't great because it was cold and the meat was fatty: chicken adobo, pork, rice, beans, and fish. But it's included in the price. Then we went to Pandan Island. There is more to do on this island, you can get a henna tattoo or a massage. But my recommendation: Walk to your right (facing the ocean) with a big beach towel and find yourself a spot about 10 minutes away that's completely deserted. That's what we did! It was heavenly. At both islands there is only one main swimming area however.
The next day we did the Underground River tour. We were supposed to leave at 7:30am but ended up leaving at 8 after waiting around for half an hour. Not sure why. Also the owner didn't tell us until we checked in that the price had increased by 100 pesos for foreigners due to some permit fee. Also, no one told us to bring an ID but luckily I overheard someone talking about it so we did! Anyway, it's a 2 hour drive to Sabang Beach; on the way there we stopped halfway at a "rest area" to go to the bathroom and buy drinks/snacks/souvenirs. (Tip: Don't forget to bring toilet paper with you on these day trips!) When we got to the pier our guide took our IDs to arrange our permits. Unfortunately half of our group had a problem and their permits were delayed. So four of us went on without them while our guide stayed with them. We took a 20 minute boat ride to the underground river area. Our guide had told us that we would have time to hang out with the monkeys and monitor lizards but as soon as we were there we were rushed to the waiting area for our boat ride through the cave. I don't know why they rushed us though as we waited there for at least an hour. We walked towards the ocean and went swimming for awhile until someone told us it wasn't allowed! We wondered why no one else was swimming in this beautiful clear water... Our guide had apparently forgotten to tell us the rules (no swimming, smoking, or feeding the animals). So having to wait for an hour with no swimming allowed is really boring. But, once it was our turn, we donned our lifejackets and helmets and got into the ten person canoe for our ride through the cave. It felt so short and I wish it was longer!! The guide pointed out all the different formations to us and showed us places where the ceiling was so high. It was awesome I just wish we were able to go farther! After we got back to shore we did get to see some monkeys before we were rushed back to our boat. I wish we had more time with the animals and at the beach and I think usually you do. But our tour was just odd because our group got cut in half and we were without our original guide. When we got back to Sabang Beach our guide was waiting and the other half of our group had gotten their permits and gone to the underground river. So we went with her to the restaurant for a buffet lunch. The food was just OK again but a step up from the lunch on the Honda Bay tour. We got really lucky on the walk back from the restaurant to the van as we got a Chinese New Year show with dancing dragons! When we got back to the van we ended up having to wait longer but it was OK as we bought pearls from the sellers walking around and played basketball with some local kids.
All in all a great time was had in Puerto Princesa!
Check out my blog posts here for more info and photos: http://growninsouthernground.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/kawayanan-resort-puerto-princesa-palawan-philippines/ http://growninsouthernground.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/honda-bay-puerto-princesa-palawan-philippines/ http://growninsouthernground.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/underground-river-puerto-princesa-palawan-philippines/
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Date of stay: January 2012
Value
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Cleanliness
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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.
Kawayanan Resort is located in L.A. Abaa rd., Brgy. San Pedro, Puerto Princesa city. Less than 10 mins away from the airport and very close to the malls.
"Even though the beach resorts are further away from the underground cave tour, I would recommend staying that and just know that the trip to the city will be a long day."
"Rooms near the restaurant/dining area are duplex-type and near the dining area where the videoke is located. Family cottages are stand-alone or single-detached."
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