We stayed at Puerto del Sol in October 2019 for 5 days and it was great. The pandemic has changed this place. The outside appearance will catch your eye right away. The pools are clean, friendly staff, grounds are well maintained. Then you get in the room. The water isn't fit to use at all. Soap won't even bubble because the water is so salinated and loaded with minerals. The sign on the door says it was disinfected, but the taps are corroded to green, the mirrors and walls in the bathroom are streaked and spotty, and there was sand on the chair. Bugs in the room because there was no screen for the bathroom window, and the AC unit was not sealed around the edges leaving visible gaps for bug access. Wifi is inaccessible in the rooms...only in common areas. No wash cloths available in the towel sets. Hair dryer only upon request. Coffee was instant, but only the metal pot was in the room, and we had to ask for a heater for that. We actually had our own coffee maker, a simple drip style, but they wanted to charge a ₱500 ($10) corkage fee to use it. We paid ₱4500 ($90) per night for 2 nights, and I can't make two cups of my own coffee that I brought from home? You're that hard up for money?? That meant we didn't spend more in the restaurant like...We stayed at Puerto del Sol in October 2019 for 5 days and it was great. The pandemic has changed this place. The outside appearance will catch your eye right away. The pools are clean, friendly staff, grounds are well maintained. Then you get in the room. The water isn't fit to use at all. Soap won't even bubble because the water is so salinated and loaded with minerals. The sign on the door says it was disinfected, but the taps are corroded to green, the mirrors and walls in the bathroom are streaked and spotty, and there was sand on the chair. Bugs in the room because there was no screen for the bathroom window, and the AC unit was not sealed around the edges leaving visible gaps for bug access.

Wifi is inaccessible in the rooms...only in common areas. No wash cloths available in the towel sets. Hair dryer only upon request. Coffee was instant, but only the metal pot was in the room, and we had to ask for a heater for that. We actually had our own coffee maker, a simple drip style, but they wanted to charge a ₱500 ($10) corkage fee to use it. We paid ₱4500 ($90) per night for 2 nights, and I can't make two cups of my own coffee that I brought from home? You're that hard up for money?? That meant we didn't spend more in the restaurant like we did before (as much as ₱2000 ($50) a day for food alone, not including tips for the room service runners.

Speaking of the restaurant...it was fair. The teriyaki chicken, alimasag, and mozzarella sticks were good on our last dinner. The buffet breakfast was a different story. First day was a buffet...not bad, but glad they had omelets and pancakes made-to-order because the rest was typical Filipino fare...dried fish, overcooked eggs, rice, chicken hotdogs, longanisa, etc. Day 2 was a plated breakfast. The "American breakfast" was cold overcooked sunny side up eggs, sliced meat they call ham, a hot dog, and a greasy sponge of a hashbrown (McDonald's style). The pancakes, once again, were ok.

So...if you want to pay upwards of ₱4500 for a view of the beach just so you can wow your friends on social media, this is your place. If you want to enjoy a "home away from home"...stay home or find another place in Bolinao. I'd personally rather have a place with a relaxing room, a terrace, and the piece of mind that comes with knowing you can bring a few personal items from home without being charged, and not have to use bottled water to brush my teeth because I tasted salt on my lips from the shower. The housekeeping staff needs a LOT of training.More