Granada Beach Resort — Hotel in Boljoon

Replying to your comment below, As a business owner you must be open with criticism to improve yours this are ALL honest feedback from our experience during our stay if your not open to comments you may delete the review section doing this isnt for you by the way this is for our co travellers so they know what to expect and what not . We are not attacking lisa , during our first stay she completely mentioned “Im the owner of this resort “ so im completely telling her directly . Answering below all your comments just so you know and confidently you may ask your staffs abt this . 1st Christmas carols , we are at the beach its a family trip we didnt go there to follow ur activity but still my parents were there to share monetary gift to your staff and 2nd it was hand over to ur staff directly were you there ? 2nd We barely talk to ur staff ONLY when we are requesting for something we didnt visit ur place to pleased you we are your guest . 3rd Your comments isnt matching what we are reviewing please give honest feedback as per our rating regards ur service and how ur resort was , not how we were cause we are the guest . 3rd Reason why resorts are available is to have fun so u must understand the conception of vacation if your suggesting us to stay at home and have karaoke then why are u still running ur business ? 4th Christmas lunch it was fully written as you stated “Plenty of foods will be served 12-3PM” clearly you know how many people are there u should know how far ur resort is to the establishments , please be in our position , Nothing was there only leftovers and serving a late course meal at the time we have discussed is unexplainable only thing we have mentioned to ur staff is Please can u serve the next meal because we are hungry not because we dont know how to enjoy the 3 course meal thats also the reason why im rating ur meal very less cause we know what to expect in ur 3 course meal 😂 Overall - This is not a good experience at all and we will surely not recomment to anyone we know off even with our connections because ur character reflects ur business again , Focusing on our ways , your staff gossiping infront of us we let it slip cause i know how u were and they need their job but you as a business owner talking back personally is not acceptable . If your not open to reviews then let alone your whole family stay in ur resort and follow ur useless activity.

FOOD - food will be served when the staff are available at their given time NOT when you needed it . The vacation feels like I was in the dormitory with all the rules like a convent 😂 No food inside the room Towels smells like it just came out from the cabinet . No phones to call and ask for assistance you have to go all the way to the reception to do it for yourself like 90’s 😂 Staff will be on a rotation and whatever you have requested the time when u needed it will be forgotten as they frequently change staff during my stay i guess it was everyday they dont have permanent staff understand but atleast a permanent staff for morning and night . Foods are european 😂 but during the the complimentary they served filipino dishes for to save? 😂 but during the christmas eve it was the worst 3 course meal i have tried with a unsuitable price .

Place - understand we wanted to get a way from the city but the hotel must have an available driver everytime if their guest wanted to go to other places specially if they wanted to have food if they wanted to serve it on their preferred time atleast we will understand but what happen is they restrict everything so we will only order their european dish 😂😂😂

Owner - obviously she preferred the other nationality not from her own . We feel like we are not a guest but the she is, as discussed they wont open the bar and accept customer for food as they have a party and they will have a buffet but when we came as instructed 12-3 we were there at 1PM 😂😂 Nothign was there she was infront of us and telling there are spoons and fork for what? 😂 LISA we dont need your free lunch...

I would like to commend Mike, Lisa & the team at Granada Beach Resort (GBR) for their professionalism & their graciousness.

The trip from Mactan-Cebu Airport to GBR which is located at the southern tip of Cebu was long and arduous. Not GBR's fault.

Long stretches of the road were reduced to single lanes due to roadworks. It took us a better part of 4 hours from Mactan-Cebu airport to GBR. Normally, it would have taken about 2.5 to 3 hours. So be prepared. But once you reach the resort, you are greeted by the biggest smiles and everything is forgotten...

The room we had was really nice. We stayed in Room #2, the Luxury Room on the upper level. The common terrace overlooks the pool and the sea and was very tranquil. The 4 poster bed was extremely comfortable. Not too much furniture to clutter the room. And no TV, which was great. A hot water kettle with some tea bags. The room and bathroom was clean. No single use plastics in sight and they had water in pretty glass bottles.

The Internet in the room was not very good. But I believe Mike is looking into improving that real soon.

GBR makes it a point to be eco-friendly and sustainable. GBR has a roof top solar hot water system. We appreciated that.

Guest privacy is key. Unless you put the "clean room" sign on the door, staff don't enter the room. We are not messy people so we were fine if the room was not tidied everyday or if the linens were not changed daily.

We were part of a group that had booked the whole of GBR for 5 days. 9 rooms in total.

The team at GBR were very accommodating to all our needs. We were fortunate to have with us Asier Castro Chacon aka Papi. He was the unofficial photographer & accompanied us for our trips for Whale Shark watching, Snorkeling at Sumilon Island, Tumalog Waterfalls, etc. All these scenic spots were about 30 mins away from the resort.

Meals were excellent, especially breakfast - pancakes, poached egg & bacon. And ask for the Coconut jam... yummy. Simple but done right. Our group thoroughly enjoyed the long hours spent at breakfast.

We had read reviews of how amazing Lisa's carrot cake was. We mentioned to her how we loved carrot cake. Although it was not on the menu, Lisa went all out and made it for us, not once but twice !  Needless to say we were overjoyed. And do try out Lisa's Mango Float. It's totally mind blowing. So different from others that we have tried in the Philippines. She added a secret ingredient which we identified immediately but it made all the difference.

On the eve of our departure, Lisa and her team arranged a traditional Filipino "Boodle Fight" dinner on GBR's private beach and explained the origins of this type of meal which made it extra meaningful.

Dinner under the stars is something to be experienced. No amount of photos or videos will ever translate the experience. It was WOW...

We all ended our Cebu trip on a marvelous high. It's been almost 2 weeks since Cebu. We miss GBR!!! Lisa and Mike were always around for a bit of a chat. Their team all had a happy demeanor. Thank you Mike, Lisa & the team. You guys went to great lengths to make us feel very welcome & comfortable....

MUST READ

We stayed at Granada for our Honeymoon, we are a couple in our 30s and here is the truth about Granada: First of all, a couple of “reality points when choosing a hotel: do your research, google maps says 2hrs from Cebu City, but please realize you will not be driving in speedways, so just know it’s more like 3.5 hrs. Also, please note Granada is located 15 minutes from Oslob, this is perfect distance so you can enjoy some peace at night. I am not a paid reviewer or a paid actor, everything you’ll read below is the truth.

1- STAFF: Granada is a 3/4 star hotel with the staff of a 10 star hotel. Everyone has a genuine smile on their face, everyone takes their time to say hello and are willing to help with any question you may have. We truly enjoyed the service of Aylin and the other coworkers at the restaurant/bar,,, well done ladies! Also, this is probably the only hotel I’ve been to where the Hotel Operator/Manager is on site making sure every guest is having a perfect time, if you are lucky enough to meet the Manager “Andy” you won’t regret a short conversation with him. Truly an interesting man with a lot of pasión to make sure every guest has a great stay.

2- FOOD & DRINKS: Every dish was incredible, breakfast lunch and dinner always amazing. The cocktails were great and the local beer is only $1 dollar!!! Most importantly, all their ice and drinking water is mineral water, so no need to worry about getting stomach sick.

3- WHALE SHARKS: this is a Must Do, but you must do it with the hotel guide “Alex” , be sure to request him because this guy has all the right connections for a perfect adventure. He will pick you up at the hotel very early morning to ensure you get the best experience with the whale sharks, trust me, you won’t regret it! Best of all, he has his own GoPro, he will take pics underwater and then transfer to your phone.

4- SPA/MASSAGE: this is another MUST DO at the Granada Resort, the 60 minute massage was $12 dollars, my wife and I had 2 massages each, the spa room is located in a bungalow right in front of the ocean, very peaceful! The massage therapist was amazing, and very knowledgeable.

5- THE HOTEL: the truth is Mr. Andy (the manager) is working very hard at making this place into a gem. There’s a total of 9 rooms, a pool, spa, PRIVATE BEACH with a great reef in front of it perfect for snorkel or scuba. There’s some small areas of the hotel that ownership should add some funds to, these are simple fixes that would greatly improve the place. In my opinion this hotel is the perfect pick for your stay in Oslob and your whale shark adventure, hopefully ownership will invest more funds in the hotel, because it has a chance of being 5 stars.

If you are reading this review, and you found this hotel for under $175 dollars per night, book it now! You won’t regret it.

Thank you Granada, you made our...