Arrived to Hippocampus to spend one night and then move next morning. Everything was very nice and easy. Good price clean but minimalistic which was okay. Great fun at the bar live entertainment that was loud until about 11 Pm. Door lock was jammed and we kept having to get help to open or lock door. Got it sorted maybe a bit inconvenient but we managed.
Room is neat, big, well-lit and power outlets are everywhere. The balcony is spacious and resort has provision where to dry your wet clothes. Staffs are cheerful, accommodating and attentive to your needs. Has a diving center within the resort.
My overall experience wasn't good. For starters when I checked in my room reeked of cigarette smoke, someone definitely smoked there for a long time. I flagged this and they acknowledged it, they couldn't give me another room because they were fully booked, I got a free dinner instead and they also changed the sheets (upon request), the next day they cleaned the room and sprayed something to cover the smell, but it wasn't enough and when I raised this again I was told that there was no smell at all and it was the room's "scent"... really disappointed honestly.
Also, they play music until 23 every night (live music over the weekends), so if you need to wake up early to go diving with sharks, this is not the place to go to.
We have stayed here couple pf nights for diving around Malapascua island. The rooms are spacious, not luxury but beds are very comfy. Also hot shower and clean bathroom. Staff is very friendly and as we ate every day at the resort, it means that food was very good!
Only thing is Wifi, so if you need to be inline I recommend a local SIM card.
The restaurant had nice food, beautiful location at sunset, live music at nights.
Stayed in a Superior garden room. Good size of the room, comfortable bed, clean room. However, the bathroom would need a deep cleaning, there was mold in the shower and on the back of the door. The fridge in the room was also dirty. I really hope they improve this!
Possible to wash your feet outside the room which was nice.
Would have been nice to have sunbeds on the beach or lounge chairs, but since they didn't we instead went to the hotel next doors during afternoons.
Some plastic trash in the water all along the beach, sad that the hotels and dive shops don't help to clean up. It wasn't nice to go in the ocean during low tide unfortunately.
Quite a lot of noice from the restaurant and kitchen at night so the standard rooms in the back might be better, otherwise use ear plugs. The kitchen used a bell everytime a meal was done which was a bit annoying when our room was nextdoor.
Even with the downsides we still wanted to stay another night, but since it was full we changed to another hotel on the island.
