Marlins Beach Resort — Hotel in Bantayan Island

I prefer to start with the less than satisfactory and build on what we can. First, upon entering the room I turned on the tv as we have a little one and her entertainment is paramount for everyone to have a good day. Well, the tv had problems, it could not pickup a simple station and unless you gave it a shake, there was no video feed from the cable box. Upon further inspection, the HDMI input on the tv looked to be rusted.|At the reservation, it was made for my immediate family, less minute changes included a guest, my sister-in-law. The front desk was made aware and they said that additional breakfast (made for 2, now would be 3 if all of us took part) at the end of a 5 day reservation, we were welcomed with a p4750 bill for the 3rd breakfast. While I would have had no issue with the additional guest, that is not how it was explained and in fact, I never had breakfast with the family, instead I had morning coffee every morning down the street. So I did not anticipate such an expense on check out. Now the important issue:|At the time of this review, we are 3 days removed from our stay. My daughter participated at the beach, building sand castles, and just playing in the sand as a 3 year old would. My daughter developed terrible itching in her private areas on the 2nd day of our 5 day stay. IT IS STILL ONGOING as we will search for LOCAL medical attention for her. DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN BEACH/SAND activities, this is a known issue apparently and NO ONE has a medical solution in Santa Fe.|As for the good, the hotel was clean, the views were nice and the staff, with the exception of surprise fees, were very nice, friendly, and professional. |Do I think it was worth the stay? Tough to say, it is a nice place, but if that sand issue is not corrected, I would not stay...

Overall it is an excellent resort with a lot of positives and only one negative (see below). I think that it might be the best pick at Bantayan Island. I visited few resorts in Philippines and I enjoyed this one the most (but unfortunately I enjoyed Bantayan Island less… but that is a different review).

POSITIVES - The room is very modern and super clean, internet is rapid as hell like nowhere else in Philippines, AC is extremely quiet, the staff is extremely friendly and you can really see that they enjoy coming to work in this resort. It is a nice and quiet place as well only 2-3min walking distance to all Santa Fe restaurants and bars. On top of that they offer really nice food.

NEGATIVE - I have got only one concern. In theory they have got private beach but the beach that everyone can walk through. That was bit of a problem, because firstly when I was in the water, I was worried that some people or kids walking through the beach can steal my stuff. Secondly, all the guests, while enjoying the sun and quiet beach, were constantly disturbed by idiots walking around selling souvenirs. And those idiots dont understand that you dont want their trash, the same person will be asking you 5 times a day, every day even in the morning when you just woke up and wanted to eat quiet breakfast at the beach. I understand that they are doing it for living but if you tell the same guy 5 times a day, that you are not interested, that is a bit too much in my opinion. In my opinion there should be one security guy at the back as well, or at least the one that is at the front should walk around...

We absolutely loved our stay at Marlin's... so much that we extended by 3 nights. Our room was ocean- facing so we had a wonderful view and breeze. We slept with our door open to hear the waves crashing on the steps. The sunrises were so absolutely beautiful... we didn't even have to leave our room to see them (though we did because they were too stunning to miss). Wifi was excellent so my husband could work while I stayed in the shade on the beach all day. Service was excellent, to the point of bringing us beverages and food to our hammock on the beach all day when we wanted a lazy day. There is cool lighting in the room, which we didn't see until the last night. The breeze coming in was far better than any other beach we visited. The food was excellent, and I have no idea how the beach bar and restaurant are not packed. They picked us up from the port and we were greeted with a yummy juice and had cut fruit waiting for us in our room. They rented the perfect large motorbike for us and had it delivered and picked up. You don't actually need a motorbike, since they are walking distance to three area with all the bars and restaurants, but we wanted to explore the island on our own. They also organized massages for us, which we had in the beach. The tides are very cool and the shores are cool to explore during low tide.

We'll definitely be back...I can't think of a better hotel experience on Bantanyan Island... we didn't see any other hotel rooms as close to the shore as ours was (if there are, we did not see them and they are not...