Puerto Del Sol Beach Resort and Hotel Club — Hotel in Bolinao

Stayed for 2 nights (Friday & Saturday), room 65 (fronting the kids play area), visited as a couple travelling from the UK.

Pros:

Property grounds are kept super tidy. Lovely greeneries and blooming flowers surrounding the property.

Amazing view of the Bolinao sunset and was a treat. Can be viewed by the beach front or at the restaurant. However, when we visited, the restaurant had some kind of netting blinds in front, this blocked the sunset view which was a shame.

There are 2 swimming pools (kiddie and adult) with lifeguards on duty during operating hours. There are cabanas and tables available to chill too.

Great for family getaways and lots of things to do inside the property i.e. pool, board games, ball games, table tennis, darts, badminton, volleyball, karaoke (deposit ££ applies).

If travelled in by car, CiAO pizzeria at Sundowners is a nice place to hang out for drinks and Italian food (options for non-local dish). It’s 25min drive and situated at the town centre.

Cons (personal preferences):

1. The place is catered to local tourists (Filipinos) who can be happy to be bossed around and be told what to do. We didn’t feel comfortable with the rules. It was as if its being run military way. It didn’t feel like we were on holiday at all.

For example: In the morning, we were woken up by a telephone ring at 08:00 to be told that breakfast buffet is now open and will be closed at 09:00.

Myself got there half past 8 and I got annoyed by the staff to be told it’s last call and buffet will close. It was constant and very annoying. I only wanted to be left alone have my cuppa and enjoy my cereal.

This happened the next morning in the same order.

Another example was Saturday evening. A staff did her rounds and knocked on our doors to say we need to pre-order our dinner as it will get busy. So I asked, to see the menu, but she told me to take a picture of the menu because she needed it for her rounds. A good customer service would be thinking about customer convenience but no. I expected a menu to be handed in and we call the restaurant for our pre-order, not being rushed and be told we NEED to give our food orders NOW.

No concept of good customer service whatsoever. The staff are lovely and attentive don’t get me wrong, but they need to be trained well. You are running a hotel resort, not a prison!

There is only 1 sort of cabana (no curtains, only wooden screens) for massage area and it has 3 massage beds. We booked for 2 therapists for 21:00 (last appointment) we came 5min early and found our therapists outside. We were told the 20:00 appointment (local tourists) arrived late and only just started. We were not happy and felt bad for the 4 therapists who aren’t paid for their time to wait around for these guests who did not think about other people! Selfish!!!

Shame. I strongly feel that management should be making sure 1) their therapists are not waiting around for guests turning up guests! Your employees time is gold! They are paid by the hour and they have families to go back to. I heard this is regular occurrence. This affects other people’s time too.

Unpleasant experience overall. I would think twice recommending this place and I wouldn’t rush to...

Everything about this resort/hotel is great. The location is the best, it is really beach front, the beach is wide and clean, there is a long stretch of shallow waters with a natural breakwater far from the shore making swimming safe even for small children. The beach is very private, no bystanders nor peddlers. It is a gated resort with security guards manning the beach and the grounds 24/7. It has a big fenced, gated and guarded parking space but located across the street, only a short walk from the resort. They have driver's quarters too within the parking area. I just don't know if there's a fee for staying there. The lawn is well manicured with walking paths making it easy for senior citizens. There are flowers all around, great for photo ops. They have lots of indoor and outdoor activities free for some time after which you will be charged with manageable fees. Our reservation came with free buffet dinner and breakfast. The dining area is very nice, also beachfront so it comes with a view and is open-air, you get to enjoy the sea-breeze. The food is at par with 2-3 star hotels in Manila, with enough choices for main course, you get salad, soup and dessert. For breakfast they offer a variety of bread, not just pandesal nor pan amerikano, served with their own strawbeŕry jam and orange marmalade(which i liked because it has a tinge of bitterness, but they don't sell it, too bad) there's an omelette station and usual choices for breakfast such as fish and corned beef and champorado, fruits and desserts, free drinks, too. This resort is very clean, from the reception area, to the dining area, the pool areas, the beach, esp the rooms and the bathrooms. You wont see insects and cockroaches crawling anywhere, which is what I dread when staying in provincial lodgings. We stayed at sitio amore and per request during reservation they gave us the room nearest the beach. The stairs leading to the second floor is steep, just one flight with no railings, a little difficult to manage for seniors and maybe small children. Another drawback is that the beautiful villas and bahay kubos are a little close to one another. This will be a plus factor for big families but not for those needing privacy. Don't get me wrong that there's no privacy, while we were there, the aura there is serenity, the place is not noisy, although there were plenty of guests. The staff are courteous and attentive, easy to call their attention and there's always someone to call, room service is fast. I will not end without mentioning the beautiful sunset, after all, that is the name of the place. The setting sun there looked bigger and you have unobstructed view until the sun gets lost behind the sea because you're facing the West Philippine Sea. Lastly, the budget, i think the price will be higher than the usual provincial rate, but for all I described above, what you pay for is really worth every cent. We would definitely go back and recommend this place to friends and even enemies, haha. By the way, in going there from Manila, unless you're passing by Manaog, follow the route they're recommending because the Camiling way is the...

Place is very peaceful and clean. The gardens and flowers as you can see in my photos are all very well maintained and just gorgeous. The sunset here is mesmerizing (see photo thats not edited at all). The pools are big and plenty and since i was there on a weekday the place wasnt crowded and grounds are really big. They have a good sized playground for your little ones on a sand (safer) and near the pool so u xan look after your kids.theyr also have games room for the bigger kids! and kids at heart. The rooms are a bit pricey but came with free (set) dinner and breakfast. I believe we all have different standards to how good is good enough when it comes to food and this place wasnt so bad. I'll point out the good stuff first. Coffee is good and you can refill as much as you want. (i love coffee!!!) not the instant 3in1 kind. I never had the Filipino breakfast so i dont know wha thats like. But for the american breakfast eggs pancakes and even the fruits are great but sausage and hams were not good. The dinners i chose to buy from their alacarte after the first night of the not so satisfying limited complimentary dinner. And The sizzling gambas and seafood vegetable (broccoli cauliflower ) was good and really tasty.

Shame i didnt take a photo of the room. But it was a good sized room with a big bathroom. Bathtub tho with shower im NOT A FAN! getting on and off if you're not so young anymore could be dangerous. For a lovely place its weird that they used thin ugly rag in the bathroom (thats has got to go!!!) Another thing i like about this place is that you feel safe and secure they have many security very discreetly placed and also very efficient meaning do not just standing there they actually do their jobs in checking and assisting both At the entrance on the beach also the parking lot your cars will be safe and looked after. In the morning before breakfast the security actually approached us to inform us that our car has a flat tire and that they will send some of their staff to help us which they did and we are truly grateful for that!!! It made the job 10 times faster. So overall i was really happy with the place i could stay here if i'm ever visiting this area again, they are near awesome waterfalls and caves that are really worth exploring.(which we did) will review that too. They also keep their beach nice and clean every morning they get rid of sea weeds and rubbish. And they have volleyball net setbup thats cool! I hope they can also get rid of all those people selling you pearls all the time. To everyone Well...