Elysia Beach Resort — Hotel in Donsol

We stayed here for four nights over New Year 19/20. We picked this place because it had a pool, was close to the place for going out to look for whale sharks and had good reviews on TripAdvisor. And it did not disappoint; it does exactly as it says! ||||Firstly, the staff are top notch. Edna, Dexter, Grace, Lilibeth, Jovelyn, Airish, Rose and the many others all went out of their way to make sure that we had what we wanted and were always greeted with a smile and cheery 'hello'. Everyone was friendly, efficient and very well-trained. ||||Our room (number 9) was fairly basic (by my standards!) but very clean and the beds were comfortable. There was plenty of hot water for showers, and shampoo and small soaps were provided, along with towels. There was also effective air conditioning and a ceiling fan, and plenty of easily accessible power points (including by the beds). There are many ultra-lux five star hotels that still fail to have a power point anywhere near the bedside table! ||||There were a couple of natural alarm clocks (cockerels) that went off at dawn. ||||There was also a small fridge in the room and a TV although there was no signal when we stayed because a recent typhoon had destroyed some of the TV infrastructure. The same was true of the internet - but four days without internet was no bad thing! ||||The room overlooked the pool, which was lovely and very well maintained. There were plenty of different places to sit and relax around the pool, and down by the beach. This is not, however, a swimming beach; there is a narrow strip of sand and then some rather spiky rocks. However, the rock pools warrant a closer look and there were some beautiful collared kingfishers to observe, along with some orioles in the trees. The sunsets are fabulous, and if you time it right someone comes around mid-afternoon to offer you fresh pineapple and cookies. ||||When ordering meals, the waiting staff were incredibly efficient and paid careful attention to what we were asking for and checked if they were unsure. Many is the time when I have tried to order rock-hard fried eggs in some of the world's best hotels ... and failed. Not here. The food itself, was ample and well-cooked (although much of the seafood was a bit too well-cooked for my tastes). The prices were not too bad either. ||||My one criticism was that the music in the restaurant was often too loud, and I'd had enough of Winter Wonderland and other Christmas classics by the time we got to New Year! (I also loathe jazz, but that's another matter!) ||||There was a good selection of drinks on offer, and we enjoyed Blue Whale Shark cocktails one evening. And lots of beer. All the water for ice was filtered and so there was never a second thought about having ice in drinks. ||||There is not much to do in the resort itself. There is the pool and the 'beach', and plenty of opportunity to relax and read. There are some games that you can borrow, and the reception staff will sort out activities (such whale shark spotting, and a trip to see fireflies) for you. And the town is an easy walk or moto-tricycle-taxi ride away. There is (I think) another resort next door that offers beach-side massages. ||||Beware that the resort does not accept credit cards. They can exchange euros or USD, although the rates are not very favourable. There is an ATM in the town, but this was not working 'over the holidays'! So, best to get local pesos from an ATM or money exchange in a bigger town before coming here. ||||In all, a pleasant place to stay, and made even better by the...

We stayed here for 6 nights and loved every single moment we were here! We arrived on Valentine's Day and upon arrival the reception staff gave us a whale shark cupcake each, which was a lovely gesture! That night at dinner they also gave us free champagne! The rooms are basic, but have everything you need and staff are more than willing to try and accomodate any other requests. The rooms are kept clean and in good condition. We really enjoyed the seats outside and the clothesline is very useful. The restaurant and its staff were fantastic! We tried the hotel restaurant next door a few meals, but our restaurant was better! Staff were lovely and friendly and worked hard to accomodate a vegan in our group with no issues and great food. We always enjoyed our meals here, with generous serving sizes. Highly recommend their fruit shakes! We loved the tropical and mango ones! A few days we bought mangoes in the market and bought them back to our restaurant and they'd chop them up for us. They also bought around fresh pineapple to guests each afternoon. The pool area is relaxing, they could do with some more sun lounges but have a lot of other shaded seating around the hotel grounds which you can sit in. They clean the pool every morning which is great to see! There is plenty of hammocks (including some right on the beach!) and other comfy little seats around. Very very very relaxing! When we stayed here we booked our activities through Donsol Eco Tours who really looked after us. However don't hire kayaks from the place near the whale shark tourist office (siramsana restaurant and amoritos bar) as we got scammed quite a lot of money after they sent us out with a dodgy paddle! Overall we loved our stay here and would go back in a heartbeat! As we were leaving, a heap of the staff came out of the reception and restaurant areas and stood and waved as our van drove off. Highly highly recommend for a relaxing and peaceful stay. This place...

Expensive for what you get, but this is possibly the best accomodation in town. Looks great from the outside. Superficially clean. I watched the staff clean a neighbouring room, no mopping of the tiled floors, just sweeping. Stuff gets fished out of the pool at 7am in the morning but the tiles need a good scrubbing, theres algae all over the edge, ick.

Bathroom needs an update. Water pressure low. No smells. A shower screen or curtain would be an upgrade.

Room is large enough for more furniture. A proper table would be nice.

So many ants in the room and bathroom, and eventually in your bed. Caught a cockroach one night. Beware of mosquitos. Clearly room isnt properly sealed.

Realise we are in the middle of nowhere but so many small things could improve this place. So be aware and adjust expectations.

Also realise that writing all this will probably not cause the hotel to take any action, tourists will still come regardless.

Pros: clothes rack outside to hang wet things close to whale shark centre beach chairs for sunset viewing pineapple in the arvo if youre at the property restaurant was fine AC worked very well, instant cool. Some white noise but who cares when its 35+C and humid af. 4G was no issue, I think wifi was ok but barely used it.

Bottle of 1L water is 40 pesos at the mum and pop store outside. 25 in town for comparison but you have to get to town. 100 pesos for 2 on a tricycle to Donsol town. 2000 pesos for taxi from airport with AC, 1hr 15min trip. They are outside the arrivals at the airport, no need to arrange with hotel. Karl was decent; arranged with him direct to go back to Lagazpi.

Whale shark sighting numbers vary, just come during the right season. Someone can say they saw 7 in one day (which I did hear) but someone else on the same day only saw 2. First thing in the morning may not be best, apparently the tide matters (high tide is...