My husband and I stayed here 4 days 3 nights in April 2011 and were very satisfied. For what we paid, this place is really good! Our number one requirement and the reason we chose this hotel was it's beach front location. If money was no object, I would be staying at the Discovery Shores but since it was a factor, this hotel satisfied all our needs. The beach is wide and like I said, just next door is Ambassador and Discovery Shores which are 5-star hotels so you have the same beach without paying the 5-star hotel price. This is not close to the center of town but still within easy walking distance, 15 minutes, casual pace. I'm glad I wasn't close to the center. t's too crowded and probably noisy at night. One part of the beach past Willy's Rock get's really narrow during high tide. We're talking water all the way up to your waist. You can either, climb the wall, which I did, wait it out or take a tricycle back to the hotel.
Going back to the hotel, the transportation arrangement boat to van, van to hotel, reception to room - everything went very smooth. I just have an observation, not a criticism, but there was too much help. My husband and I were the only two passengers for the boat, we had 3 small bags (which we could have easily carried ourselves) yet we have a crew of at least 2-3 people each time and therefore had to tip them all! Anyway, this seems to be the standard operating procedure in the Phils. so we had to get used to it.
Our room was on the 3rd floor, no view at all, not an issue with us but I thought if we were bringing our kids, a pool access would be nice. We were always out on the beach. We had a small balcony that faces the wall of the building next door. We only used it to hang our swimsuits. Sat TV with English channels, we mostly watched the news. No wifi in rooms, it's ok by the restaurant, and spotty by the beach. We easily booked our massages at the reception desk which we had twice on the beach, and once in our room. (great serious massages by the way!) Clean, upgraded bathroom and fixtures, very nice shower, hot water not an issue. A/C worked well. Our bed was comfortable. We had a safe and fridge in the room. Never had an issue finding lounge chairs with umbrellas (another one of my worries before booking a small hotel) but we always found umbrellas and chairs, this despite being a very busy season, just before holy week.
On our arrival, we ordered frozen green mojitos, so refreshing! Then we were told they were 2 for 1, it was only 2pm and already we were getting happy hour prices! score! One time, I ordered nachos , ummm.... worst Nachos ever, the meat and the seasoning just didn't seem right. We never ate at their restaurant except for breakfast (part of the rate) and it was a good variety both American and Filipino dishes. They even made egg omelets. The view from the patio every morning is just beautiful! I can never get tired of it.
There were lots of dining options nearby. We liked going to the center of town to window shop and so we always end up having lunch there. For dinner, we ate at Jony's one night (nothing to brag about), Ambassador next door and Discovery Shores on our final night. That's why I say, stay here, and save your money, then go treat yourself to good dinners at these next door hotels.
We had an early morning flight for the return. They asked us what we want for breakfast the night before and they set a table for us on the restaurant at dawn The driver paid for our boat tariff on the way back. We unfortunately had to fly out of Kalibo and had to share a vanpool with guests from other hotel. We had to wait a little bit in the town, not the best area, but interesting anyways and it didn't take very long.
Overall, I'd say this hotel truly deserves to be at the top of TA list due to the location, quality of rooms and service. I highly recommend it! I would definitely go back and happily stay in the least expensive room they had if we were a couple, just to get the nice beach , however, with kids, I would think about upgrading to a room with pool access.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC