We had a really great time at this resort! Service was beyond expectation! The staff were always one step ahead of us. They were trained very well and were very humble and accommodating to customers. The food was amazing! I recommend to try their specials which are not in the menu. The place is PARADISE! They also made booking a breeze!!! They fixed everything for us. I felt shy cause I kept on calling about inquiries but they were always very accommodating and humble. Very quick to respond also and assured me I was not bothering them too much.
The downside is, on our first night - we were basically the only ones at the resort- after an amazing night, we realized that our friend’s backpack was stolen. THE WHOLE BACKPACK. No one else was there and no one else was allowed to enter the resort but guests. We reported to the staff and they were quick to accommodate us. Felt sad we had to wake everyone up. After some discussion we realized that no one else could have done it but staff. I regret having to “blame” them but there were no other suspects. We also didn’t lock the room, maybe that was our fault, sort of inviting temptation - but this resort had a good reputation for trust-worthy staff, I guess guests should not be too trusting.
The bag had important documents and work-related items that was worth more than the money inside the wallet. After hours of searching we decided to just let it go. Talked to the manager and asked her to gather the staff and talked to them to return everything else inside the bag. They can take the money worth 47k pesos :( It would’ve been a disaster if all these items were reported missing to their company. True enough, the bag miraculously “appeared” under some car the next morning. Police arrived, made some report, but honestly there was no proper investigation, neither were we updated about the status. The CCTV was unfortunately “not working”.
We bumped into some other guests who just arrived and saw them just leaving their stuff unattended. We decided to tell them about our experience, to sort of give them warning since we saw them just leaving their stuff around. This person was still lurking around! Probably looking for the next potential victim. However, the owner found out about this and asked us if we could transfer to another resort, instead of fixing the issue. In my opinion, other guests needed to know what happened, for their own safety. The owner let us stay and we continued to have a great time. But it’s so unprofessional and so offensive for an owner to do that to guests that their staff have inconvenienced. Our trip was beyond expectation, really, except for that small blip.
We saw police roaming around till the end of our stay, but I overheard someone saying in tagalog “good thing he saw that you called someone”. The police presence felt more like for show.
It’s disappointing that there was no form of investigation. All seemed so fake and the owner didn’t seem to genuinely care at all. Upon checkout, we expected at least some form of discount or small compensation for the trouble THEIR STAFF caused, but the owner said she felt “offended” that we told the other guests about the incident. My friend’s cards were blocked. The owner said “your friend can pay”. We didn’t want to make the issue bigger so we just paid. They said they were going to “contact him” if they find the money, but they didnt even get his contact details. Neither did the police. So, the culprit is still there lurking around, looking for his/her next potential victim - and management doesn’t give a damn at all. No follow through. No investigation. No care. No consequences for the crime and inconvenience. Sad also that Puerto Galera Police didnt do their job.
Either way, despite this unfortunate event, our experience was AMAZING. Wish it ended better. Really hoping for the money to be returned. But not keeping our hopes up given the management’s response. Whoever took the money, we hope you were able to feed your families. We hope you used it for the right purpose.
If you’re planning to stay at this resort, just be sure you’re vigilant and you keep your belongings close to you. They’ve lost their “trustworthy” staff reputation.
