El Nido Reef Strand Resort — Hotel in El Nido

From our perspective, the way it is currently, this hotel should not even be allowed to operate. It requires major maintenance. Honestly, don’t go there. This appears to be like a scam to take advantage and trap travellers.

We had made a reservation for what was expected to be a “Deluxe room” in upper floor level with ocean view for 3 nights. We had also selected the option requesting transportation from the airport. The benefits were also supposed to include “Express check in” and a welcome drink. We had received a written confirmation that our booking request had been confirmed. Unfortunately, this is not how it turned out, nor what we received. There was nothing “express” in what we went through. And for health & safety reasons, we ended up having to find an alternate hotel for our stay in El Nido.

When we arrived at the airport, there was no representative from the hotel. We had not received any communication either. It was strange, but managed to wait in line to get transportation (only a “tricycle” was possible). After finally arriving at the hotel on our own, there was nobody at the Front Desk to welcome us. There was only a man sitting at the bar working on his laptop. He did not even turn is head to look at us. We thought that he was a client. Later, we learned that he was in fact the owner of the property !

Eventually an employee came to the Front Desk. She presented a paper form to fill with a set of rules that we had to follow, and surprisingly (considerign that the reservation had been fully paid) requested that we make a deposit of 2,000 PHP without specifying the reason.

We then went to the Room #2. What a surprise to realize that this room did not correspond to our booking and certainly not to any definition of what constitute a “Deluxe Room”. It did not match the pictures seen or definitions on the website or reservation platforms. That room was located behind the reception building, had mould dew, and very strong smell from the mould. It also, for example, did not include the bath tub, hair dryer, and beach towels expected. It had multiple holes in the wals.

We then went back to the Front Desk to enquire about what did happen to the room that we had reserved. The Front Desk employee was not confortable with the situation. She literally disappeared. This is then that the owner, who was sitting at the bar since the beginning, intervened to explain that somebody else was in our room in the upper level, and that this customer did not want to leave the room. The owner acknowledged that he should have notified us ahead of time, and also that he would not be picking us up at the airport. He did not have any other solution to offer other than Room #2. He went on explaining that the hotel was fully booked.

We went back to Room #2 to discuss the situation, and assess what were the possible options available for us. A quick search revealed that in fact, there were at least 2 other “Deluxe rooms” available for the same dates as us (at 1/3 of the cost that we had paid). That lead to major doubts and trust issues with the story of the owner.

When we challenged back the owner, he changed his story or statements. He wanted us to give him time so that he would talk to other clients to see if they would accept to be relocated.

We were very stressed and went to the hotel next door to see if they had anything available. Unfortunately no.

We finally found an alternate hotel and transportation on our own. And able to live the El Nido Reef Strand hotel just on time before high tide.

This is false representation. The pictures, the information available and the definitions for this hotel are misleading and not representatives of the reality. There was also no information made available to us that this hotel was in fact not accessible by vehicle (other than by tricycle and only when there is low tide). If we would have stayed in this hotel, we would have been partially stuck (for example to go for dinner and come back). And in case of emergency situation, people’s life...

Overview:|Please avoid this hotel if you can. I know a lot of people in the review section have shared the same bad experience we have. It's evident that they have not fixed their hotel and attitude and you will likely experience the same - you have been WARNED!||Also, I am sure you have noticed the very suspicious distribution of ratings given (lots of very bad and very good reviews). I am pretty sure these have been tampered with, please DO NOT TRUST this...||Our Story:|Me and my family booked a stay in mid-March 2023 for 5 nights at El Nido Reef Strand Resort. We paid a relatively premium price, comparable to some big hotels like the well-known Lime Resort, and were expecting a similar quality, as you should. This, however, was not a problem for us as we wanted to enjoy our holiday to the fullest - the pictures presented online (agoda.com) looked very nice and there was a beach view which we felt justified the price.||Upon arriving at the hotel, we were very disappointed. It was comical, like meeting your Tinder date that looked nothing like the photos - we were catfished... Here are the highlights of our first impressions:||- The overall condition of the facilities looked worn out compared to the pictures, not very clean, broken jacuzzi, disappointing beach.|- The airconditioner (a very important part of any hotel in the Philippines) in our room was barely functional. It was placed in the most obscure part of the room so that the airflow was non-existent, facing down into the space between the window/door and curtains so that the air was trapped in between unless we exposed ourselves to the outside.|- The furniture in our room was covered in mould, the shower pressure was very low, the sink faucet barely hanging onto the sink and a variety of insects (wasps and cockroaches) enjoying our stay with us :)||The condition of the facilities alone would have warranted a 2-star review but the interactions with the owner are what really bring it down to a big, fat ZERO. ||Like anyone, we felt very unhappy with the hotel and proceeded with trying to cancel our stay and obtain a partial refund. Upon the owner hearing about this, he started confronting us, being very rude to my mother and raising her voice at her, and being very adamant that we WILL NOT receive a refund instead of trying to ensure the rest of the stay is compensated for with BASIC, good customer service. Of course, we told him about our reasons for cancelling, but his only response was to GASLIGHT us and try to discredit our genuine complaints. Absolutely ridiculous!||Later on in the same evening, we asked for extra pillows just so that my mother could sleep a bit better. Not only could they not provide a simple necessity, but the owner had to add a bit more rudeness to this interaction as well.||The very next day, we decided we would leave but before doing so we decided to have a swim in the pool because we had already paid for it. The next thing you know, the owner is pointing his camera at us, trying to show the booking agent (Agoda) that we were enjoying ourselves this whole time and that we were complaining for no reason - another attempt at gaslighting. Of course, this led to more confrontation, which consisted of him lying about filming us, refusing to show us the video recorded and eventually admitting the reason he filmed.||My mother was very scared that the situation was only going to get worse, the longer we stayed, so we decided to leave as soon as possible as an emergency precaution and that was the end of our stay.||Conclusion:|As you can see, we have had a very bad experience with this hotel, especially with the owner. It is also clear that we are not the only ones that faced this issue, don't be the next victim. Please don't give these people your money, they have a very sneaky no-refund policy to ensure that they can refuse a refund if you don't enjoy your stay, which I...

Overview:|Please avoid this hotel if you can. I know a lot of people in the review section have shared the same bad experience we have. It's evident that they have not fixed their hotel and attitude and you will likely experience the same - you have been WARNED!||Also, I am sure you have noticed the very suspicious distribution of ratings given (lots of very bad and very good reviews). I am pretty sure these have been tampered with, please DO NOT TRUST this...||Our Story:|Me and my family booked a stay in mid-March 2023 for 5 nights at El Nido Reef Strand Resort. We paid a relatively premium price, comparable to some big hotels like the well-known Lime Resort, and were expecting a similar quality, as you should. This, however, was not a problem for us as we wanted to enjoy our holiday to the fullest - the pictures presented online (agoda.com) looked very nice and there was a beach view which we felt justified the price.||Upon arriving at the hotel, we were very disappointed. It was comical, like meeting your Tinder date that looked nothing like the photos - we were catfished... Here are the highlights of our first impressions:||- The overall condition of the facilities looked worn out compared to the pictures, not very clean, broken jacuzzi, disappointing beach.|- The airconditioner (a very important part of any hotel in the Philippines) in our room was barely functional. It was placed in the most obscure part of the room so that the airflow was non-existent, facing down into the space between the window/door and curtains so that the air was trapped in between unless we exposed ourselves to the outside.|- The furniture in our room was covered in mould, the shower pressure was very low, the sink faucet barely hanging onto the sink and a variety of insects (wasps and cockroaches) enjoying our stay with us :)||The condition of the facilities alone would have warranted a 2-star review but the interactions with the owner are what really bring it down to a big, fat ZERO. ||Like anyone, we felt very unhappy with the hotel and proceeded with trying to cancel our stay and obtain a partial refund. Upon the owner hearing about this, he started confronting us, being very rude to my mother and raising her voice at her, and being very adamant that we WILL NOT receive a refund instead of trying to ensure the rest of the stay is compensated for with BASIC, good customer service. Of course, we told him about our reasons for cancelling, but his only response was to GASLIGHT us and try to discredit our genuine complaints. Absolutely ridiculous!||Later on in the same evening, we asked for extra pillows just so that my mother could sleep a bit better. Not only could they not provide a simple necessity, but the owner had to add a bit more rudeness to this interaction as well.||The very next day, we decided we would leave but before doing so we decided to have a swim in the pool because we had already paid for it. The next thing you know, the owner is pointing his camera at us, trying to show the booking agent (Agoda) that we were enjoying ourselves this whole time and that we were complaining for no reason - another attempt at gaslighting. Of course, this led to more confrontation, which consisted of him lying about filming us, refusing to show us the video recorded and eventually admitting the reason he filmed.||My mother was very scared that the situation was only going to get worse, the longer we stayed, so we decided to leave as soon as possible as an emergency precaution and that was the end of our stay.||Conclusion:|As you can see, we have had a very bad experience with this hotel, especially with the owner. It is also clear that we are not the only ones that faced this issue, don't be the next victim. Please don't give these people your money, they have a very sneaky no-refund policy to ensure that they can refuse a refund if you don't enjoy your stay, which I...