Amanpulo — Hotel in Cuyo

This is our second time at Amanpulo. We came back because we missed the team that took care of us during our first stay. It's such a pleasure to be welcomed by familiar faces! Here is what a first-time traveller needs to know about the property:||Reservations and Booking:|I found it challenging to coordinate our booking with the Reservations team. Requests and questions were met with immediate rejections, if not incorrect information. They take awhile to respond that I had to call IDD just to follow up and clarify certain things pertaining to our stay. ||The Property:|Outdated and rundown. We stayed in the beach casita, which would benefit from a complete renovation, along with some of its outlets, such as the beach club and the clubhouse, among others. Guests are provided with golf carts to explore the whole island, which was lovely. ||FOOD & BEVERAGE:|Food was ok albeit quality slightly deteriorated. It would be nice to have some salads and sandiwches as options along with more international and local cuisines. Wine selection has improved, although the pricing can be adjusted so as not to deter guests from purchasing bottles from the outlets. I understand that the clientele has the paying capacity, but from a hotel's inventory you don't want to spoil the wines sitting and not being drank. Intelligent pricing and flexibility could help boost revenue to encourage guests to dine and drink; especially for guests staying longer. ||The Beach:|HEAVEN. Crystal clear waters, and warm powdery sand. Not much corals to see but turtles are everywhere. Monitor lizards roaming around the island as well. ||Activities:|During our stay, we rented go-karts and went wall climbing (at a cost). Water activities such as snorkelling with turtles, banana boats, and paddleboards are also included as part of the amenities offered free of charge. Bicycles are also provided for free. There is a play area where babies and kids can hang, and a lovely tennis court that you can book. Yoga and gym are available on the island as well.||Service and Team:|EXCELLENT. Marc, our butler for the whole trip, ensured that our arrival, stay, and departure were smooth. He is very efficient and responds immediately. Vince and Daniel from the Beach club ensured we were treated like royalty. Their attention to detail (remembering our food preference, drinks, etc, from last year) is remarkable. Before we asked, they delivered! This is rare in hotels nowadays. ||We opted for a private dinner in our casita the night before. Jazmyl, the one in charge of setting up everything, and she made sure the night was flawless. Her passion and love for what she does is evident. Her extra mile to ensure we had a good ambience and a good time is such a lovely touch. It seemed like the team didn't have enough resources to execute their tasks well, but they made it work (cute garden lights and a portable speaker, all personally owned by Jasmyl, were used for our dinner). We felt like dining in a Michelin-star restaurant! Chef Bryan was cooking in the dark (as there were no lights on in his makeshift kitchen) and still managed to serve us good food. Shout-out to Elamar for making our special requests happen prior to our arrival. He knows what an absolute luxury, five-star service, means. He knew how to take care of returning guests. He is a problem-solver who didn't immediately say no to simple requests. Instead, he understood where we, as guests, came from and made sure that we were well taken care of. He is a valuable and seasoned hotelier and I am surprised he is not the F&B Director which he clearly deserves. Allysa of the Front Office also made sure that our stay was smooth. Her personal touch of ensuring we have everything we need was really appreciated. ||Heinrich, the friendly and humble general manager is always around the property directly interacting with his staff from all levels. Definitely lovely to see a leader accessible to his team! Welcome champagne was a nice touch as well!||Overall: The beach and the team's service makes the trip worth it. ||TIPS:|Best time to visit: December to May (summer in the Philippines)|Avoid Rainy/ Typhoon Season: June to October|Windy Season (dry and sunny with a cool breeze) : December to end of February **protect your eyes and avoid private dinner by the beach as the sand is too fine and the wind...

TIPS: Best time to visit: December to May (summer in the Philippines) Avoid Rainy/ Typhoon Season: June to October Windy Season (dry and sunny with a cool breeze) : December to end of February **protect your eyes and avoid private dinner by the beach as the sand is too fine and the wind is too strong

Our Experience in a nutshell: Reservations and Booking: Challenging to coordinate with the Reservations team. Requests and questions were met with immediate rejections, if not incorrect information. They take awhile to respond that I had to call IDD just to follow up and clarify certain things pertaining to our stay.

The Property: Outdated and rundown. The whole property can benefit from an overall renovation. Guests are provided with golf carts to explore the whole island, which was lovely.

The Beach: HEAVEN. Crystal clear waters, and warm powdery sand. Not much corals to see but turtles are everywhere. Monitor lizards roaming around the island as well.

FOOD & BEVERAGE: Food was ok albeit quality slightly deteriorated. It would be nice to have some salads and sandwiches as options along with more international and local cuisines. Wine selection has improved, although the pricing can be adjusted so as not to deter guests from purchasing bottles from the outlets. I understand that the clientele has the paying capacity, but from a hotel's inventory you don't want to spoil the wines sitting and not being drank. Intelligent pricing and flexibility could help boost revenue to encourage guests to dine and drink; especially for guests staying longer.

Activities: During our stay, we rented go-karts and went wall climbing (at a cost). Water activities such as snorkelling with turtles, banana boats, and paddleboards are also included as part of the amenities offered free of charge. Bicycles are also provided for free. There is a play area where babies and kids can hang, and a lovely tennis court that you can book. Yoga and gym are available on the island as well.

Service and Team: EXCELLENT. Marc, our butler for the whole trip, ensured that our arrival, stay, and departure were smooth. He is very efficient and responds immediately. Vince and Daniel from the Beach club ensured we were treated like royalty. Their attention to detail (remembering our food preference, drinks, etc, from last year) is remarkable. Before we asked, they delivered! This is rare in hotels nowadays.

We opted for a private dinner in our casita the night before. Jazmyl, the one in charge of setting up everything, and she made sure the night was flawless. Her passion and love for what she does is evident. Her extra mile to ensure we had a good ambience and a good time is such a lovely touch. It seemed like the team didn't have enough resources to execute their tasks well, but they made it work (cute garden lights and a portable speaker, all personally owned by Jasmyl, were used for our dinner). We felt like dining in a Michelin-star restaurant! Chef Bryan was cooking in the dark (as there were no lights on in his makeshift kitchen) and still managed to serve us good food. Shout-out to Elamar for making our special requests happen prior to our arrival. He knows what an absolute luxury, five-star service, means. He knew how to take care of returning guests. He is a problem-solver who didn't immediately say no to simple requests. Instead, he understood where we, as guests, came from and made sure that we were well taken care of. He is a valuable and seasoned hotelier and I am surprised he is not the F&B Director which he clearly deserves. Allysa of the Front Office also made sure that our stay was smooth. Her personal touch of ensuring we have everything we need was really appreciated.

Heinrich, the friendly and humble general manager is always around the property directly interacting with his staff from all levels. Definitely lovely to see a leader accessible to his team! Welcome champagne was a nice touch!

Overall: The beach and the team's service makes the...

It’s sort of difficult to know how to rate Amanpulo, because the experience is really all about the absolutely spectacular location, more so than the hotel itself. I’ve rated it 5 stars, but it’s more like a 6/5 on location and a 4/5 for the hotel. ||That’s not to say the hotel isn’t nice, it’s just not at the standard of some of the other Amans. It’s starting to show a bit of wear and tear, and the rooms in particular could stand to be modernised a bit. There seemed to be bits and pieces of renovation going on around the property (2 of the tennis courts for example were closed during my stay, with a big construction mess on them), but it would be much better if they just closed the hotel and did a proper job on what’s now a 30 year old hotel. If done well, it could easily be one of the best hotels in the world. ||My random gripes about the hotel in no particular order:||1. The main pool closes at 6pm, which is a huge shame not to mention ridiculously early. It’s also totally unlike the other Amans I’ve been to, which let you use the pool whenever you want. As long as you’re not making a lot of noise and disturbing other guests, I don’t see what the issue is with letting guests use the pool at any time.||2. They really should offer at least one more flight option rather than only to and from Manila, for guests that want to continue exploring the Philippines without a round trip back to their starting point. An option to fly to El Nido or Cebu for example would be a huge convenience. ||3. Breakfast stops at a pretty early 10am, and their snorkelling activity takes place at 9am, meaning if you want to do it and have breakfast too you need to get up early - why? They should offer the option to snorkel in the afternoon as well, or else just do it at 11am so guests can have breakfast first.||4. Very old blinds in the rooms which were weirdly difficult to open and close - and even with all the windows closed, the metal chord on one of them repeatedly swayed back and forth against the wall, making noise unless I held it in place with a pillow. They should really have automated shades which you control with a button (I’m aware this is the literal definition of first world problems)||5. I asked twice a day whether I could take a trip to Manamoc, and was repeatedly told it wasn’t possible due to weather conditions (which was sort of bizarre as the weather was very calm). When I was told the weather was finally good enough, they said the boat was then booked so I couldn’t go, which made no sense as I had been asking non-stop since my arrival to do the trip. They did finally accommodate me - but they charged me for a picnic basket which I never had, and 3 crew members which is a huge overkill - just 1 to drive the boat is all that’s necessary. So the trip to Manamoc, which is incredible and a real must in my opinion, was extremely expensive. ||I’d recommend staying in one of the beach casitas - I moved from a hillside one (37), to a beach one (10) and thought it was much nicer to look straight out onto the sea. The price jump to a beach pool casita seems unfairly huge, in particular since there’s really no good reason guests aren’t allowed to use the main pool in the evenings. ||With all that said - the location is absolute paradise, and the staff are really lovely too, so it is a very special place to stay. I particularly liked a very kind young staff member who showed me their telescope and helped me spot different stars - I forget his name alas but he deserves special thanks. I hope to return to Amanpulo at some point in the future, it was really hard to tear...