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3.0
#3 of 6 resorts in Olongapo
Location
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Value
Friendly, informal, yet with everything you would expect of the finest hotel in an award winning tourism area. By the Sea Resort Hotel offers you a level of hospitality you will want to come back to time and time again. Lapped by the spectacular crystal sea of Subic Bay, easily accessible from urban centers, By the Sea Resort Hotel is more than a great place for friends or family, it is ideal for business gatherings, high profile conferences, or those special occasions when only the best will do. By the Sea Resort Hotel, your Home away from Home in Subic!
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
Quaint
Languages Spoken
English, Filipino
Location
# 99 National Highway Barretto Barretto, Olongapo, Luzon 2200 Philippines
By the Sea Resort Hotel
110 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
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.
The resort have improved from previous years because of the new building and rooms are very promising. The room rate is somehow average and the resto meal prices are reasonable. The shore was clean and neat. There is a good space for car parking.
There are still some renovation ongoing and i hope they continue to improve especially their service in the future.
Here are some of the few things we observed and i hope they improve more. 1. Toiletries is somehow lacking. 2. No floor mat or rag which cause toilet or room to flood when wet. 3. No kettle for hot water. 4. No complimentary coffee or tea. 5. Majority of the towels are dated. I hope they have matresses compare to the thin linen. 6. No elevator. It will be a burden for old peeps if you are located at the 3rd floor. 7. No rack to hang wet clothes or at least a toilet wire hanger. 8. Resto breakfast is limited 9. Food serving need to improve. 10. No visible life guard. 11. No one offer or even assisted for our luggages when we arrived and checked out. I hope service crew smile sometimes.
Overall, the hotel at their current rate is decent and fair. We will continue to come to this place because the location is good and accessible to many options. Im hoping they made some adjustment because they are just few improvements away to deserve a five point rating.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip 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.
It was a family room accomodation. Beachfront location, clean and huge room with 1 queen size bed, 1double bed on the floor ( no bed frame). With mini ref, no coffee/tea maker, no oven. With 4 complimentary bottled water, toiletries and 2 free breakfast. Toilet with water heater and bidet but no cleaning rags in front door and toilet. Room price a bit expensive for me coz its lacking some items for a hotel room. They have restaurant but a bit pricey, though food was good. There are many eateries outside the establishment, 7-11 and Divimart supermarket are nearby the location. Swimming pool-small and dirty. We opted to swim in the beach, which is clean and clear. Hotel and restaurant staff- all accomodating. Clean surroundings, safe and very peaceful at night.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip 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.
Advice to visitors...Stay at the new building its better
Staff are good
I am a little bit concerned about how they sanitize the room since they dont use disenffectants in cleaning. They just wash toilets with water and clean without dissenfecting
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Date of stay: April 2022Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Its a bit cheap so lower expectation
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.
No blanket for the bed just one single sheet, had to wait till 8am because the only person who can give me a blanket is the housekeeper and now they want to charge extra money. The place is a dump cockroaches all over bathroom and no safe in room and tv has on and off connection. The breakfast is a joke avoid, ordered omelette and came and was pitiful sight with slightly half warmed toasted bread with no butter.
There are much better hotels to stay at.
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Traveled solo
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.
Probably the worst hotel I have ever stayed in The room was dirty and shabby, the air con literally sounded like a racing bike y your ears Despite four request I did not get a remote control for the tv The public toilets ( those that are not closed) are literally disgusting Breakfast very basic and I was denied an extra cup of hot water Service non existent The only redeeming features are the pool and the beach. I’d rather have my eyes sandpapered than go back. AVOID
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Date of stay: March 2024Trip 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.
New and improved rooms and restaurant. I always stay here. The staff is friendly and pleasant. The pool is secluded and relaxing. Only steps away from the beach. Lots of bars within walking distance. You can find local cuisine as well as American food nearby.
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Date of stay: November 2022Trip 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.
Every time we go visit relatives in Subic, we have stayed at this hotel. It has created a lot of memories for us and I guess it felt like, for sentimental reasons, this resort has been a part of those memories we have made over the years. We are what businesses call, repeat customers.
Repeat customers who come back for all the sentimental reasons to my mind would equate to loyal customers. In hindsight, whenever I experience bad customer service, I simply dismiss it and say to myself that this is a decent enough hotel and they’re just going to get better with their service. I kept telling this to myself until now. I can now tell myself with a sigh of procrastinated disappointment that they have not improved. In fact, I daresay it has gone from bad to worse. And if you read on I will tell you why.
Please, could you kindly get your act together and take a serious look at radically improving your customer service levels especially to your repeat customers who are likely promoters of your hotel. Train your people at reservations not to forget phone reservations because people travel long distances to get to Subic and they would want to have a quick and efficient check in experience.
Train your restaurant people not to forget orders. Do not let your customers wait for half an hour for food only to find out that their orders have not been taken. Worse, do not let your waiters tell your customers that after forgetting their customers’ orders, and “re-taking” those orders, that they’ll have to wait for an hour because there’s a long queue of orders. Worst, do not allow your people to give mind-numbing excuses for poor service such us they serve on a first come, first served basis. They forgot the order that came first for crying out loud! (Fact: There were quite a few groups of families at your restaurant, at this point in time, who were equally dissatisfied waiting for their food. The irate levels vary, but there were clearly some angry and hungry customers. Quite an amusing sight! But what I can’t figure out is that while all of this is happening, no remedial action was evident. It’s as if your restaurant staff has been left to their own devises and that it’s free-for-all, gung-ho, best-effort kind of deal. More, there was no service recovery initiative whatsoever was taken, at least as far as we are concerned. We even have to ask for water which never came!)
Now, don’t get me wrong By the Sea Owners and Senior Management, I hope you remain patient in reading this as we have been patient with you. From a market research perspective (yes, I do have years of experience in that field), I’m actually doing you a favor by giving you honest and free feedback. Feedback that could do you a lot of good if you truly listen to what’s being said. I invite you to share with us the idea that whenever we come to your hotel, it is because we want a positive experience - a pleasant vacation with our families, to catch a brief respite from our busy lives, to take those beautiful photos and thus creating wonderful memories - then you will take this feedback seriously and not just respond to this message by saying “thank you for your feedback” and “we apologize for the unfortunate experience” but by truly taking to heart that you are very much a part of what we experience in your hotel. Act on this feedback. Radically and urgently improve your customer service. Invest in your people. Train them. Plan your manpower loading. Add more of them during peak season so your people are not stretched thin which leads to an inevitable decline in speed and quality of service. Make it mandatory for your receptionists to greet arriving guests and to smile.
You now have a new 30-room hotel complex building, a face-lifted restaurant, a nice frontage and an even better facade. Along with these improvements, do not forget to have a semblance of a respectable enough customer service. You can never go wrong if your customers leaving your hotel carry with them, not only their luggage’s and pasalubongs, but great memories and an even greater customer service experience. Happy customers become promoters of your hotel. They (we) are your free marketers. They are a key factor to a sustainable business. Plus, we demand value and service for our hard-earned money.
Wouldn’t you think it’s better to strive for that? To have this mindset that, “I am in the hotel business, it must be my mission to give my customers a positive experience whenever they stay at my hotel. I will do the best I can to achieve that.”
Wouldn’t you think it’s better to have customers think, “Wow, that hotel has great customer service! What an experience. We will definitely stay at this hotel when we get back.” Or, when customers talk to friends, “You know what? There’s a wonderful hotel in Subic called By the Sea, great hotel! Their customer service is the best I’ve seen!”
Think about it. Reflect on it. I hope you do, if not for your sentimentality driven loyal customers, do it for the sake of your future customers. It would be a travesty if you don’t.
Note: You might be wondering why I addressed this only to you and not the hotel staff. I think it’s not their fault to be ill-equipped and ill-trained. They simply don’t have the wherewithal to perform better customer service as an organizational/ collective unit no matter how well intentioned they are at their individual jobs. But I think you already know that, don’t you?
Sincerely, Your loyally-jaded customer since 2007
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Date of stay: April 2018Trip 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.
Response from bythesearesorthotel, Management Team at By the Sea Resort Hotel
Responded Apr 26, 2018
Good Day Sir Paul! We would like to thank you for your valuable feedback. In behalf of the Company, please accept our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience caused. We truly appreciate every guest's feedback as it will help us improve our services and to better serve our clients. Rest assured that we will look further into this matter and work on these areas to improve the guest experience. If there are any other issues that need to be addressed, please don't hesitate to send us an email at inquiry@bythesea.com.ph. Again, our apologies and we do hope that you would give us another opportunity to better serve you in the future.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I perked and stayed here as i have visited a couple of times before. I payed 1500 pesos for a room i think was worth about 600 Pesos.I arrived so tired and exhausted i did not have energy to complain. The room was unbelievably badly maintained and there were holes in the door-no dead lock or secondary lock -extremely old shower curtain with soap scum( But house keepers did a fine job when asked to clean for me.Big and dirty water stains on the roof over the bed and in shower.Aircon was good except it sound like a jet aircraft engine, so hard to sleep.
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Date of stay: April 2016
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled on business
Room Tip:HAve a look inside your pre booked room before you move in- others there seemed to be ok.
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.
By the Sea Resort Resort Hotel is fairly standard lodging for Barrio Barretto, Olongapo. Subic Bay has long been a sex tourism destination in the Philippines, dating back to the US Naval Base located there, which was closed in 1991. The area has calmed down quite a bit since then, but there are still a couple of dozen hotels operating on The Strip and a few dozen go-go bars lining both sides of the highway. I stayed there over Valentine’s Day, mid-February, 2011.
By the Sea offers one of the cheapest rooms on the National Highway Strip. It’s directly across from a variety of go-go bars, such as Voodoo and Lips, and is located in the center of “the action” that is Barrio Barretto. The location isn’t bad but given the vicinity to The Strip, it can be noisy; this is simply the cost of staying in Barretto.
Checking in was easy and the front counter staff was friendly and accommodating. Originally, I was going to stay in a Standard Room, costing ₱1200 ($800NT or $28US) per night, but I changed my mind upon check-in and upgraded to a Parkview Room, which cost ₱1500 ($1000NT or $35US) per night, because the Standard Rooms only have a cold shower. This turned out to be a mistake on my part, as the water heater was worthless; retrospectively, it would have been better to save ₱300 ($200NT or $7US) a day, as this was the only real difference between the two rooms. The sizable mini-fridge in the room was a wonderful surprise, however.
The hotel is laid out nicely, including a small outdoor bar that offers an all-you-can-eat Mongolian Bar-B-Q every Friday night; I did not partake in it, as I thought the cost was too high (only in the Philippines does $10US for a massive meal seem overly expensive). By the Sea features a small beach area; most people would tell you to not swim in Subic Bay, which isn’t even a tempting thing to do given that By the Sea has a great little pool that is nicely secluded from the rest of the resort, on the opposite side of their huge pavilion, which is always ready to host an event. By the Sea also offers packages to do tours and other water sports, but again, most people would tell you to head an hour north to San Antonio or San Narciso if you are really looking to hit the beach.
The real selling point, food-wise, is the little joint across the street; their tacos are fantastic. Its name escapes me, but it’s directly next to Voodoo and a taco that is the size of a dinner plate will run you a mere ₱100 ($70NT or $2.50US). I ate at least one every day and left the Philippines having gained weight, which I think is often the sign of a good vacation! There was also a small locally-owned-and-operated convenience/dry goods store less than a block away where I did all my shopping; I never, once, stepped foot in the 7-11 (something I am particularly proud of). About a half-kilometer down the road is the local market, selling all sorts of fresh produce and other sorts of “this-and-that.” It’s worth checking out, as I encourage everyone to always shop local, when they can. Especially in a place like the Philippines, where poverty is high and corporate greed corrupts both the government and marketplace, I think it really adds to the experience of traveling there.
While I don’t feel that By the Sea was sub-par, I doubt I would stay there, were I to go to Subic Bay again. There are just too many other places to check out, and nothing about By the Sea is particularly impressive, although nothing is particularly unimpressive, either. All-in-all, it was a nice stay, and if there were fewer other tempting options in Barrio Barretto, I’d certainly stay there again.
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Date of stay: February 2011
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled solo
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.
nice beachfront, stunning seaviews from the restaurant, close to many establishments, convenient shops etc. Prices of rooms are reasonable and quality varied. its a big place, with a swimming pool, a spa service, area for weddings and team building. i like the ambiance of this resort, its so peaceful and relaxing ambiance. i will definitely recommend it.
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Date of stay: June 2015
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 Mam, standard occupancy for each room is two persons. For Vacation Villa up to 10 persons.
Applicable charges will be given for extra persons.
For Regular, Parkview, Bayside, Executive = up to four persons
For Double Deluxe, Suite = up to six persons
Hi, kids below 3 feet are free of charge. Above 3 feet, kids are charged in full. Mam better to request for an extra bed. P600 / head for extra pax. However, parkview and regularcrooms are for walk-ins.
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