Fox & The Firefly Cottages — Hotel in Bohol

My partner and I stayed at Fox and the Firefly in Loboc, Bohol from May 6–8, 2025, as an early birthday celebration. While the natural surroundings were serene and peaceful, the service, hospitality, and professionalism left us deeply disappointed.||||We arrived around 4:23 PM and were checked into Room 1 ("Oy?"). The place initially gave off a calm and tranquil vibe. After settling in, I inquired at reception about yoga classes, but was told it depended on “the owner” with no further information. I then asked about massage services since we had traveled 38 km via motorbike, and booked a session for 6:30 PM.||||The masseuse arrived early and headed to one of the massage cottages, but the other cottage had a man loudly scrolling social media on his phone right outside. I told the receptionist I was uncomfortable having a stranger (later revealed to be another massage therapist) so close, especially in a supposedly peaceful setting. He was eventually asked to move, and the massage itself was good.||||However, when it came time to pay, I was told they only accept cash, allegedly because half the fee goes to the therapist—something guests shouldn’t have to worry about. When I insisted I only had online payment options, another receptionist eventually revealed QR codes for GCash and bank transfer. This inconsistency in information was frustrating and unnecessary.||||At dinner, we ate on the upper deck. My partner had the Bicol Express, which was tasty but had tough, chewy meat. I had the Spaghetti Aglio Olio—flavorful, though the garlic was over-toasted. One male staff member stared at me inappropriately throughout the meal, which made me very uncomfortable. When I got up to smoke, he followed and asked in Bisaya if my cigarette was already lit—despite me speaking English. Not all guests speak the local language, and this interaction felt intrusive and odd.||||The next morning, we decided to stay another night. The front desk couldn’t confirm availability. I decided to book via Booking.com and showed the confirmation. We were moved to Cottage 4, as our original room was already booked.||||Unfortunately, the new cottage smelled strongly of dead bugs. I discovered several trapped in the net curtains of the bathroom door. I asked the front desk if they had any bug spray—they said they didn’t. I asked again if housekeeping had anything, but was told there was nothing they could do. I ended up buying mosquito spray from their souvenir shop, only to find that it had a foul, expired smell.||||To make matters worse, there was construction ongoing next to Cottage 4, making it hard to rest or relax during the day.||||Later, a staff member came looking for a flashlight charger I had accidentally packed from our first cottage. While I understood the urgency, having multiple staff lingering outside our cottage felt excessive. Around noon, I overheard the same inappropriate staff member from dinner cursing loudly saying "ang tagal ang puta" as he passed by. When he noticed me, he gave a grin that made me even more uncomfortable. I reported this to the front desk, but nothing meaningful was done.||||Breakfast on our last day was also disappointing. I ordered the "Good Morning Sunshine" smoothie bowl, which was watery and not well-made. My partner had “Pride of the Philippines” served to our cottage—the beef tapa was dry and overly chewy. When I raised this with the staff, the cook simply said, “Matigas talaga ang tapa”, which tells me they don’t care much about food quality or guest feedback.||||What struck me throughout our stay was the recurring mention of “the owner” being the reason behind inconsistent services, restrictions, and policies. It felt like the staff were afraid or unwilling to provide basic hospitality because they were limited by the owners' preferences—such as the lack of flexibility with payments or booking extensions. That’s incredibly unprofessional in the hospitality industry, where guest experience should be a top priority.||||To top it off, on my way back to the breakfast table one morning, a woman who seemed to be the owner placed her handbag directly on the table I had just set up—without a word. I quietly moved to another table, but it was clear that guest consideration wasn’t part of the culture here.||||Pros:||||Naturally beautiful and tranquil location||||Massage was relaxing||||Cons:||||Inconsistent and unclear policies||||Staff behavior made me feel unsafe and uncomfortable||||Uncleanliness and poor room maintenance (dead bugs)||||Lack of professionalism in both service and communication||||Poor food quality with dismissive kitchen responses||||Disturbances from nearby construction||||Owners seem to prioritize control over guest experience||||While the property has potential due to its setting, the overall management and hospitality are lacking. Sadly, we left early and cannot recommend Fox and the Firefly based on...

I went on a trip to Bohol with friends and had one of my friends (who is Filipino) try to call and make a reservation for three people to paddle board on the Loboc River with this company. When making the reservation, she asked the worker on the phone if she should send the money (P4,950) to the number she had called, and the worker said yes. The worker also said my friend needed to send the money quickly to confirm the reservation and secure spots for paddle boarding, so she trusted her word and sent money via gcash to the number the worker told her to. The number showed as unregistered, but she sent it anyway, since it was what the woman had told her to do and she expressed a sense of urgency to confirm the reservation. Only after she sent the money did the worker then send different payment information, asking her to send the money to a different number. Apparently, the number she first gave was the account number of the owner. When she told the worker she had already sent it to the number she was initially told to send the money to, the worker contacted the owner about the problem/miscommunication and the owner refused to verify her gcash account in order to receive the P4,950 sent, and said we would need to send P4,950 again to a different number. There was no way we could get the first P4,950 we sent back, and the owner basically pocketed P4,950 for a service that was never provided. The mistake was on the part of the worker who gave the wrong payment information, and instead of taking responsibility for that mistake, the owner asked us shoulder the cost of the mistake and pay twice (while she maintained access to the money that was initially sent since all she had to do was verify her account with gcash). Throughout the process of trying to talk to the worker and get our money back or receive the service we paid for, we were first told the owner was in the US, and were later told the owner was in Europe. The story kept changing, and this business seemed both dishonest and unwilling to absorb the cost of their own mistake. In the end, we were denied our reservation and we chose to use a different company for paddle boarding and found one that cost only P600 per person for a total of P1800 (instead of the P4950 this company...

I went on a trip to Bohol with friends and had one of my friends (who is Filipino) try to call and make a reservation for three people to paddle board on the Loboc River with this company. When making the reservation, she asked the worker on the phone if she should send the money (P4,950) to the number she had called, and the worker said yes. The worker also said my friend needed to send the money quickly to confirm the reservation and secure spots for paddle boarding, so she trusted her word and sent money via gcash to the number the worker told her to. The number showed as unregistered, but she sent it anyway, since it was what the woman had told her to do and she expressed a sense of urgency to confirm the reservation. Only after she sent the money did the worker then send different payment information, asking her to send the money to a different number. Apparently, the number she first gave was the account number of the owner. When she told the worker she had already sent it to the number she was initially told to send the money to, the worker contacted the owner about the problem/miscommunication and the owner refused to verify her gcash account in order to receive the P4,950 sent, and said we would need to send P4,950 again to a different number. There was no way we could get the first P4,950 we sent back, and the owner basically pocketed P4,950 for a service that was never provided. The mistake was on the part of the worker who gave the wrong payment information, and instead of taking responsibility for that mistake, the owner asked us shoulder the cost of the mistake and pay twice (while she maintained access to the money that was initially sent since all she had to do was verify her account with gcash). Throughout the process of trying to talk to the worker and get our money back or receive the service we paid for, we were first told the owner was in the US, and were later told the owner was in Europe. The story kept changing, and this business seemed both dishonest and unwilling to absorb the cost of their own mistake. In the end, we were denied our reservation and we chose to use a different company for paddle boarding and found one that cost only P600 per person for a total of P1800 (instead of the P4950 this company...