Cauayan Island Resort — Hotel in El Nido

The hotel is advertised on Google as a “5 star” resort, so I really expected to receive that type of accommodations here. Sadly that was not the case.

Orientation: Upon arrival they give a group orientation to you and the other guests that arrive with you via their boat transportation. It’s very hard to understand/hear everything that’s being said. I had to ask a clarifying question after and even then I’m still not sure I understood correctly. If I understood correctly you’re not allowed to use any of the beachfront chairs unless you stay in a certain villa type. I’m not sure if that’s correct or not, but again the orientation is a rushed, cluster mess more worried about upselling you meal plans.

Lunch/Dinner: Lunch was bland, and dinner was outright terrible. I was asked two separate times for dietary restriction. Both times I put NO PORK. Lunch I ordered a chicken Caesar salad. No where on the menu description does it say it comes with pork. Guess what it came with? Pork. We also had a side of fries that tasted like they were previously frozen. For dinner we were served a complimentary dumpling. Guess what kind of dumpling it was? Pork. I ordered a US Tenderloin cooked Medium. At best, parts of it were medium rare. The rest was rare. It was also an extremely small size steak. No where does it tell you the gram weight you’ll be getting. Needless to say I was pretty shocked when the smallest tenderloin I’ve ever seen was put in front of me hardly cooked. Since you’re pretty much stuck on the island with only their food, I forced myself to eat it. Jelwin did offer to get me something else, but by that time I had already ate it and also didn’t want to risk being served another bad meal and/or served pork for a third time.

Rooms: We arrived in our villa around 2:00-2:30pm. The a/c was already on. I lowered it to the lowest temperature setting around then. Around 5:30pm we notified the resort that the a/c was hardly blowing cold air. First remedy from the tech was to fiddle with the remote (I already had it on the settings he left it on) and told me to wait 10-15 minutes to see if it changed. Obviously nothing changed since the setting he put it on was the exact same setting it had already been on for hours. Second remedy was sending a tech back to “restart” the ac unit outside. No clue what that even really means, but it didn’t change anything. I left for dinner during this to give them time to fix it and have the room cooled off by the time I got back. After knowing how bad dinner went, you can imagine how upset I was to walk back into a room that wasn’t any cooler. They offered to send a tech to look at it again, but I told them if they weren’t going to add coolant to not bother sending someone. At this point I had also discovered stains and bugs in my bed. They offered to move me to a new villa which I said was fine only if it was colder and cleaner. The new villas bathroom smelt weird, and the a/c wasn’t any cooler. My partner was so exhausted that he didn’t have it in him to leave the island and find new accommodations at 10pm. Well here I am at 5am still hot with things crawling on me. I’ve slept maybe 3 hours off and on because of the temperature and the uninvited guests crawling on me in the bed.

Sadly my time isn’t over with here until 11:30am when they’ll transfer us to a new hotel, so I can only imagine how breakfast will be.

I also see on the negative reviews left where every response from the hotel is defensive and blames the guests.

If you are looking for a real 5 star experience avoid this place.

Edit update: Upon checkout was never once told “sorry” for the inconveniences or anything of the sort. Then I was treated like a possible criminal and told I had to wait for housekeeping to make sure I didn’t steal anything from the room.

Edit update: After getting to shore was then informed the transportation that they alleged was provided was indeed not provided. Had to pay a tuktuk to take us...

We recently stayed at this resort in December 30, 2024 - Jan 3, 2025, mainly because we couldn’t find any other available resorts at the time. Despite booking early, we still had limited choices as most places were already fully booked. We stayed for 4 days and 4 nights.

We typically enjoy staying at 5-star resorts because we value the comfort and convenience they offer. Based on its high rating on Booking.com, and with the assistance of a local travel agent, we decided to book this resort.

I’m writing this review to help others understand what to expect before booking at this resort.

First, our travel agent had never been to this resort. Initially, we couldn’t access the resort’s website, and there were no extensive photo galleries to show the accommodations. When I asked a few people in the travel industry, they assured me that it was a 5-star property.

However, I can confirm that this resort is not 5-star. Let me explain why. Although we stayed during the New Year’s Eve period, when resorts tend to increase their prices, this place does not deserve a 5-star rating. We’re happy to pay more for a true 5-star experience, but the accommodation and overall experience simply did not meet those standards.

We booked a 4-night stay, and the only available room was the Lagoon Villa. Our agent handled everything, including the flights. She was helpful, but it’s important to note that many travel agents in the Philippines are essentially just booking agents—they don’t always have in-depth knowledge of the places they recommend.

Upon arrival in El Nido, we were picked up by a van, where two staff members handed us special resort water bottles and took care of our luggage. We were then driven to the pier, where a boat transferred us to the resort on Cauayan Island.

The boat ride was a bit rough and rainy, which made the journey nauseating, but still fun. When we arrived at the floating dock, things got interesting. There were at least five men ready to help us onto the dock. To reach the island, we had to cross a floating bridge, where two staff members were pulling ropes to align the bridge with the steps. It felt like a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean, and we couldn’t help but laugh at how primitive the setup was. While the staff were experienced and efficient, I did wonder about the safety of this system, especially for elderly guests or anyone who might miss their timing and fall into the water.

The staff, however, were phenomenal. They were always eager to help and carried our luggage to the main reception area. Thankfully, a Water Villa became available for two nights, so we decided to pay extra to switch rooms. We stayed two nights in the Water Villa and two nights in the Lagoon Villa. I had concerns about mosquitoes in the Lagoon Villa, but the staff assured me there were none.

The island is quite remote, far from El Nido town, so we opted for the resort’s premium meal plan, which costs 10,000 pesos per person per day. However, we were disappointed when lunch wasn’t served until 11 a.m. and were told we could order anything from the bar menu. When we requested sparkling Pellegrino water, we were informed it wasn’t included in the premium package. We couldn’t help but laugh.

Upon moving to the Water Villa, I was expecting a luxurious, water-side experience with ocean views. Instead, I was shocked by the outdated and run-down condition of the villa. A 5-star resort should offer comfort, but this villa was far from comfortable. There was only one sink, no space to store personal items, and no lighting by the mirror—making it quite dark. The sink and bathtub were clogged, the shower head barely functioned, and the shower controls were confusing with no clear labels for hot, cold, or shower head settings. The lack of drawers meant we couldn’t even unpack.

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Such a fantastic experience!!! My husband and I stayed on the island for 5days/4nights and loved every single second! First and foremost, the staff was incredible. Every single interaction we had with staff was awesome and it started from the first moment on arrival to the airport until then very last moment we said goodbye. Every day each person we passed was quick to greet us with a smile while being extremely polite and helpful. Reception was very attentive and helped with all our questions and schedulings (thank you Ralph, Jay, Lala). Even the boat representatives were great (Mark and Gabriel).

The island resort itself had such a cute lush tropical charm. The walk ways were well maintained and the scenery was beautiful. Getting on and off the island was a little unique and definitely added to the adventure but we felt safe with wearing life vests and having several people assisting. It was actually quite impressive how the team worked so well together carrying luggage up and down the little dock/bridge area.

We booked the Adventure Package, which we both highly recommend. It was the perfect amount of activities mixed with personal leisure time. I'm always afraid of being bored on an island so we threw in one day of going to El Nido town and enjoyed it. Note that going into town can be challenging because its based on seat availability and their boat ferry schedule for the day with arrivals and departures, so if it's something you want to do, check every night for the next day.

We stayed in the Lagoon Villa. Our villa was perfect. Spacious, clean, comfortable beds, great shower pressure and hot water. Loved the outdoor shower area although that water didn't get quite as hot as inside. The hair dryer wasn't the strongest but did its job. Our room was kept sparkly clean and I liked how it was swept a second time during turn down service to help the sand build up. The turn down treats were fantastic.

The food was pricy but we enjoyed it. Breakfast was good, loved the omelet station and was obsessed with the ube bread. Some honorable mentions: waygu burger, Chicken adobo, surprisingly the pizza, and all the desserts. We never had a bad meal. Shout out to the awesome servers we interacted with JC, Aldwin, Arman, Arnold.

The most important people next: the bartenders. Each afternoon my husband and I enjoyed beverages in the bar area. Shout out to Red (”Asian Cutie”), Nick, Christian, Jason, and Leonard for all the wonderful drinks and high quality service.

Activities: Jeremiah was our intro to dive master instructor for the morning. It was my first time and my husbands second time. He was extremely patient and great at explaining everything. He even took pics and videos throughout our time. It was an awesome experience.

Island hoping boat tour was fantastic. We couldn't have had a more perfect day. Everyone was so professional and attentive. Raymar was our guide. Loved the planned activities throughout and the Filipino lunch was the perfect spread.

The spa is a no brainer. Holy massage. Our 90min massages were the cherry on top to end our perfect stay. The setting was so unique and staring at the water through the floor window was so cool. Thank you Mary Grace and Beverly.

Couldn't have had a better experience and it exceeded all expectations. Definitely a place we would love to come back to...