Seriously, one if the worst. I don't often go hard with a poor review but here, it is well justified.
Unless you’re paying under $100US per night, look elsewhere. There are plenty of hotels that offer far superior 'everything' for much less. Of the hundreds of Hotel stays, this was one of the worst value experiences I’ve had, and I’ve had a few.
The property is very different from what is depicted on their website and on booking sites like Agoda. The place is very old and in need of serious makeover. It should rate 2.5 Star maximum. The actual condition and service shown and described on their website is false and bordering on fraud so beware.
As you enter the property, it is immediately apparent, the landscaping and gardens are non-existent or in a very poor state. You descend to the arrival ‘lounge’ to see a beaten up old bamboo bench under a shed. Have fun waiting in the heat for ‘someone‘, anyone, to show up to take you to the reception, which is down a few flights of stairs to beach level. As you descend into the resort, you’ll notice the exposed black plastic liner on the main building roof or what’s left of it.
Our rooms were not ready on arrival. One we waited till 3:30pm. The whole front of the resort is covered with horrid timber frames with grubby plastic sheeting to shield the property from the incessant sticky wind and sand whipping off the beach. This is a prevalent condition in July August. Its not however mentioned nor factored into their rates. There are no beach chairs on beach as it's now banned. The publicity photos are ancient history. They have old beach chairs behind the said screens but not at all appealing and usually covered in a good coating of sand.
The restaurant / bar is one of the saddest, dullest places I’ve seen in a resort. Tired is an understatement. We had to wave someone down on every occasion to get seated. The menu selection is not at all inspiring unless you like burgers or pizza which we noted most guest were having. The ‘Fresh Juice’ was either canned or seriously watered down and at near $5US a joke. With fresh fruit available all over the island I cannot see how this is acceptable or can justify the prices.
The rooms, once we got in, had character being old and timber, but the bathrooms have decrepit fittings, poor mixers, and they provide industrial level soaps/ shampoo/ body wash. No coconut or Lemongrass scents here. For the price, the joke continues.
We had 2 rooms and the TV in our kids room didn’t work the whole time. Management were informed, but nothing done. Second time we brought it their attention, the techies came but they couldn't repair. so no result. Hence our 'quite time' was no to be had as the kids spent most time in our room. We may as well have got one room and paid for an extra bunk.
The Wifi is woeful so if you need it for anything essential, take your own satellite dish. Even when you got a connection is was usually too weak to download email or even open a website. We had the phone ring 2-3 times in the late evenings and through night at 2- 3am. One ring with no caller. Nice to ensure you don’t sleep well.
The included breakfast gives a fixed choice of : Continental, Slim n Trim, American and Philippines. No variations permitted and the offerings were banal and not even close to what should offered at their rates. A 2 Star event.
The pool was nice but you could fit 15 of it inside the Mövenpick pools. The supposed Kids centre or activities centre seems to have disappeared. This is advertised with a pool table, foosball table etc but they are MIA.
The room was superbly cleaned and presented with a few nice touches like the handwritten good night leaf and chocolates, but this is a paltry attempt to compensate for the overcharging for an overall well below average experience. I brought my concerns to the attention of the manager on the second day and it was clear I had justifiable reasons to complain. If I'm paying $283US equivalent per room, I expect a level commensurate with the price. I’ve not been ripped off to this level for a while.
One our 3rd evening we returned to our room and found a family of 3 sitting on our balcony and lying on the hammock. We chased them off and they wandered further to another room in the resort. A few hours later we were preparing to go out and there were 4-5 people showering in front of our room (Communal outdoor shower) and they were getting changes, and sitting around on our porch, leaving wet clothes and towels and a truck load of sand all over the place. Unbelievable. We alerted the office and some time later, the security guy shows up. Whatever.
In a real resort they have trained guards manning the resorts, beach side and roadside. This give you the idea how much the owners care about their guests. They don't. The place is a joke. The staff are trying but you can't make a Silk Purse from a Pigs Ear.
On checkout after several back and forward communications to their ‘Senior Managers‘ they offered 20% off my 'F&B'. Seeing we hardly consumed anything at the resort for above reasons, we had 3 juices and 3 Soups and two light meals over the stay, it didn’t cut it. In the next round, they then offered 1 night 1 room refund and free transfer back the the nearest airport. That’s about $300 off a $1700US++ bill for 3 nights. Unacceptable.
What’s happened here is the owners are not providing for their current customers, but they are exploiting them to fund the huge redevelopment plan. The hotel vehicles are both broken down so they rely on contractors. To go anywhere, you have to climb out up the hill, then down to the road and flag down a trike.
The place is understaffed, and lacking resources to fund maintenance and quality provisions. My room charges would cover over 50 staff per day !! The staff were all pleasant but we detected underlying stress and unhappiness.
Considering we could have stayed at the Movenpick for the extra 3 days, which was also quite a bit cheaper, it was a very bad decision. It's a 4 star resort with 3 large pools, private beach, large open buffet breakfast and is only 8 minutes further out. No comparison. There are plenty of other better choices. If you are discerning traveller, forget this place. It's heyday is well and truly over. Ancient history.
Considering Boracay is still in messy state with road building and reconstruction still going on and to is continue for some time, vacationers are there to support the place and it's redevelopment, not to rip them off. This place is working against the spirit to improve as it left us with a very poor impression of the place. Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam all offer far far more for far far less.
I would seriously avoid this place unless you get it for the correct price. if not, pick elsewhere. I am taking the resort to task for compensation.
