I stayed at The Strand Resort with two friends, for three nights in November 2011. We booked the Family Suite to give ourselves a bit of extra space.
The first thing to say is that the accommodation in the Family Suite is not quite what you might expect. The living area is a large open-air balcony furnished with couches and a dining table, with two bedrooms and a bathroom coming off it. The bedrooms themselves are bigger than many hotel suites, and apart from the fact that they shared a bathroom, they would pass for separate hotel rooms. We quite liked the arrangement, but there were downsides, like having to go “outside” to get to the bathroom, and not being able to leave personal belongings in the bathroom or living area, as they weren’t secured in any way. Also, if you wanted to sit in the air conditioning or watch TV, you had to go into a bedroom.
There was a good choice of breakfasts, the beds were very comfortable and the air-con was quiet and efficient. The room décor is tasteful and upmarket, and the resort has beautiful grounds and swimming pool. There didn’t seem to be many other guests hanging about the place when we stayed, which made it seem quiet and private. On the other hand, there were never any staff manning the pool bar, and there wasn’t always anyone on reception either.
The location is at the quieter Northern end of White Sand Beach, well past Boat Station 1. It’s an easy 200m walk from the hotel to the beach itself, which is great for swimming and not too crowded at any time of day, unlike the areas closer to Boat Station 2. It’s a bit further to get to the shops and restaurants, but it’s a pleasant walk along the beach or tricycles are cheap if you don’t feel like walking. We found the biggest intrusion on the peace and quiet was the numerous local roosters, who went above and beyond the normal crowing at dawn routine and crowed incessantly at all hours of the day and night. Seriously, not 5 seconds went by in that place without a rooster crowing! Luckily they weren’t too loud!
One area that The Strand could definitely improve on is communication with guests. The information folder left in the room didn’t tell us that much about the hotel services. When we enquired about getting laundry done, we were only given a vague idea of price, and were taken aback when it ended up costing us over $20… a small fortune in the Philippines! We thought the water provided in the mini-bar was complimentary; it turned out that some was, but we had mistakenly consumed several that were the same brand but a slightly different size bottle, and got charged for it. We also booked an island-hopping tour via the hotel. The first issue was that the price on the leaflet we’d been given on check-in was P1800, but the cost was actually P2000 for three hours. We were met at the hotel by our tour guide, but then had to pay for a tricycle to Boat Station 2 to get to the boat. We were then expected to pay our P2000 to the boat operator. We hadn’t taken much cash, as we assumed the price was all-inclusive and would be added to our hotel bill, so that left us with only a few hundred peso between us. There was also an entry fee to go onto one of the islands (which we had to skip, not having enough money), and fees for snorkelling in the marine sanctuary. Luckily we just had enough money for a drink at Puka Beach, because by then we’d been out in the hot sun for hours with no offer of refreshment. Overall, the tour was a great experience and worth what we paid, but not being prepared for the hidden costs and having to come up with the money unexpectedly left us with a bad taste in the mouth. We tried to explain this to the reception staff on check out, but I had a sinking suspicion they didn’t understand what we meant at all.
However, the shortcomings I’ve mentioned seem to be part of the everyday experience in the Philippines, and overall The Strand was one of the most pleasant places we stayed on our holiday. If you are really picky and insistent on excellent service you might not like this resort, but if that’s the case, you probably won’t enjoy the Philippines much in general.

Place are like private typical pilipinas looked way back.clean and food are nice. Staffs are all friendly.cant wait to go back boracay.

Originally, I had booked a standard room, which - however - was a bit noisy because of a generator or something that was located just next to the room. After the first night I asked for another standard room and what they offered me instead was a suite! The super friendly staff really makes everything to make you feel comfortable at their place.

The resort is located at the very northern end of the White Beach, away from the hustle and bustle of station 2. From The Strand Resort, it only takes you a 10 minutes walk to the nice little beach Diniwid. If you like the White Beach, you can get there in three minutes by foot. Thanks to its location the resort is very quite (except for the generator behind one of the two standard rooms). In other words, if you want a relaxing holiday in a very well-kept and beautiful resort, the Strand Resort is the place to be.

I can't say enough about the service I experienced while staying here.

I've worked in 5 Star Hotels for the greater part of the past 10 years and I consequently understand about guest expectations.

Dane, Hazel, Lyn, etc., all made the running of this property look so easy.

It's super peaceful, has everything you'll need and the staff made me feel like a king.

If you can't be happy here, you may some serious problems with your life.

A fantastic spot!