My husband and I stayed at this hotel to avail ourselves of the timeshare which we bought so many years ago. We were actually booked in another hotel along White Beach for a destination wedding, but had to share a room with another couple whom we didn't know, so while we used the other hotel during the day, we decided to book ourselves here so we can have a private place to sleep at night.
The room itself was okay, it was spacious, had two double beds, cable tv and the usual bathroom amenities. Our room had a balcony which overlooked the grounds, and since the hubby smoked, this was ideal for us. The staff at the reception were friendly. I think these are the only positives about this hotel.
The hotel is located very far from White Beach. This should not have posed much of a problem except that it seems that hotel management is using this as a way to fleece their customers. There was a very old small open-sided vehicle which served as a shuttle to White Beach, but the shuttle schedule was very limited (just three times a day, I think) and even then we had to pay P100 each to use it. If you want to use the shuttle outside of their limited schedule you had to pay P500 each. And even if we were the only guests in the resort, we were told that the shuttle schedule is very strict and that they will not wait for us even for a few minutes. You practically have no choice in the matter, as the hotel can only be accessed by a dirt road which goes down a steep grade from the main road, which tricycles cannot navigate. Well, my husband and I actually walked up and down the steep dirt road a couple of times, just so we don't give the hotel management the benefit of the outrageous shuttle fee (and for the exercise!)
What was more outrageous was when we checked out and by necessity had to use the shuttle service since we had our luggage with us, we were made to wait 15 minutes in the shuttle because the owner's secretary was coming along. I blew my top about this since they had emphasized the strictness of the shuttle schedule and because of this we finally left without the secretary.
The grounds of the resort were poorly maintained, there were cracks in the walks and there were piles of old tables and chairs in what was supposed to be the restaurant beside the pool. The grounds have an air of decay,.
The beach itself has white sand, although it is just in a small cove and does not have the wide, shallow expanse of White Beach. At the time we were there there was green algae.
We didn't try the food at this "resort" (it can hardly be called that). You can get food via the beach, in two extreme ways. One is, if you go left, there is a small portion of the beach which is no longer part of the resort property and the people living there have a small sari-sari store and a small restaurant. You can buy drinks there and food.
If you go right, then you can go into the Shangri-La Boracay resort. It shares the same beach as Club Panoly, and their secutriy personnel will even call a golf-cart shuttle so you can be brought up to the hotel where there are so many excellent (but expensive, of course) restaurants. We ate at the Vintana, which had a wonderful dinner buffet.
Club Panoly was one of the first resorts on Boracay, but it seems that despite the new building which was added several years ago (which is where we stayed), it is now just a sorry shade of its old self. Don't stay there. There are so many other, more accessible and infinitely better hotels in Boracay.
- Panoly Resort Boracay
- Panoly Hotel Boracay
