We were picked up from the airport by their shuttle and brought directly to their resort. Their driver was careful in obeserving traffic safely which was something since it was a weekend and traffic was really bad. I would not say the property is at par with a Shangrila or Four Season's but the standards and amenities were much more than we expected from a resort in Anilao. We paid about $150/nite for two people which included breakfast, lunch , dinner buffet for two people plus complimentary snacks in between which we found very reasonable. Staff were friendly and courteous always puntuating their sentences with "sir". Given it was buffet meals all through out our stay, we could not complain about speed of service. What made our experience with Solana excellent was the way they took care of our requirements before our dives and welcomed us back like family once we got back on land.

It was easy to get to since the website gave excelllent and very exact directions...once we got there, we immediately felt right at home since the staff was really friendly and courteous. The rooms are very "homey" and the owners did an excellent job in putting in a lot of little details to make our stay very comfortable. The place is simply beautiful...you don't need to be a diver to enjoy the place. Great place to just lounge and enjoy the surroundings. The food was delicious and always well-paired (matched) since the main meals are served buffet-style. Although they may want to expand the a la carte menu for those that want in-between meals. It was worth every penny...already looking forward to our next trip there...

This "Solana resort" has outrageous prices and you definitely don't get what you pay for. The prices are comparable to what you would expect to pay for a five star resort and this place is definitely not 5 star. The food was tasty, service friendly but slow, rooms more a 3 star standard. The setting by the beach was idyllic and the view from the cottages was nice, especially on sunset
The service from the dive shop wasn't always helpful considering the prices we had to pay. If Philippines are to be taken seriously as an alternate travel destination to the rest of SE Asia they really need to offer more value for money.
In conclusion I would only ever go back if they reduced their prices to a more realistic level.

We've been numerous times to this hotel already. We did notice lots and lots of improvement over the last few months, important ones like overall cleanliness, better maintained rooms, better care for the food, at last a clean toilet at the dive shop...although I still have my doubts that any safety equipment is available, still don't see any first aid kits on the boats, no oxygen, and I doubt any of the dive guides have the faintest idea of what to do in case of an emergency.
Just the very basic briefing seconds before you jump in the water and nothing more than "we jump in and swim that way...and when it's finished we get on the boat again"

So I wouldn't recommend it to beginners. You have to know what you're doing and be pretty experienced. Still lot to do I guess on the "diving" side. Funny for a resort that's called "Dive Solana"

But for experienced divers who don't need the mothering type of dive guides and who want good sleeping quarters, quite surroundings and decent food...go to Solana.
It's still pretty expensive for what you get if you compare to other countries in Asia and the rest of Anilao. But than again, the serene atmosphere, absence of most noisy foreign or local tourists and virtually no teenagers or young kids (nothing to do for them, no TV, no internet, no beach, no bars, no dancing, no girls) and the presence of dozens of sensational macro-dive sites is more than worth the money for us. Although even for the dive sites I have to make a mention of lots and lots of coral bleaching and more and more rubbish ranging from plastic bags to disposable diapers in the water and more and more silt on the coral reefs because of building sites causing erosion and road building along the coast line. The Philippines have one off the greatest coral reefs in the world. But you should have a look at them now...and by now I mean not in 5 or 10 years. At the rate they're destroying the reefs: don't wait too long to come and see them. What's not yet destroyed by typhoons, drag nets and dynamite fishing is rapidly going down the drains by the totally ecologically oblivious Filipinos. Sorry guys I love the Philippines but it's about time you get your butts out of the shopping malls and take matters in your hands again. You are rapidly destroying your 7.107 islands paradise.