Palaka Resort — Hotel in General Luna

I stayed here for 4 nights during my honeymoon. The location is very convenient, it's within walking distance to a lot of restaurants and bars and it's only a 3-5 min bike ride to get to Cloud Nine. The noise from the bars nearby is really minimal and most of the time you don't hear them at all. It's a small resort with a few rooms, a pool to chill in or do your diving lessons in and there's nice communal area where you can lounge around in as well as a kitchen area where you can prepare meals. The staff are very friendly and polite. I found that the front desk is often unmanned so we found ourselves chilling in the communal area often waiting to ask a question, which we didn't mind cause we really didn't really have any set plans. You can hire a bike from the resort itself for a reasonable price, however based on the bikes we got I won't recommend it. They're not really mechanically sound so if your not an experienced rider it might be a bit scary riding them around. I think you'll be better off getting a bike elsewhere when you get there, as there is no shortage of bike hire places around. The room we had was clean and pretty spacious and the bathroom was also pretty spacious. However the room smelt musty and I it took just one night with the air-conditioner running for a me to get a chest infection and it only eased up when we turned off the air-conditioner while we were sleeping, though the heat and humidty made it hard to sleep. Having said that my husband only developed a cough but didn't develop a chest infection, though I suspect it was the air-conditioner I could be completely wrong, but it's something you might to bear in mind when considering...

Just stayed for 6 nights at Palaka Resort. We were extremely happy with the hotel and highly recommend it.

What really stood out was the staff and their exceptional customer service. As soon as we checked in they knew us by name and carried our bags to our room. They helped arrange our laundry and tuk tuk rental. When we went out for the day they kept in touch by WhatsApp when needed (e.g. to arrange our airport transfer) and when my wife required medical attention they were very helpful over WhatsApp even though it was late at night. We really appreciated the staff’s efforts as they honestly made us feel like we were staying in a much pricier resort!

Everything else was fabulous too. The location was perfect with tons of restaurants on the doorstep. Even though the hotel is on the main road it is very quiet. The room was well equipped and spotlessly clean (and also cleaned daily). The bathroom is beautiful and there was constant hot water. We did have a problem with a broken shower tap but they arranged to fix is straight away. There’s a lush garden and communal kitchen and seating area with free coffee all day and water.

The only downside we found was that the pool is often used by the associated Palaka dive school. But this minor inconvenience is softened by the fact that you get 10% off dives with Palaka if you are a guest...

July 3, 2023 I made reservations for July4-7,2023 and paid through PayPal. I received an email, "Palaka Resort - Reservation Received, Pending Confirmation", so I was waiting for their confirmation. I even gave them a call and one of their staff said, only the owner can send confirmation. I sent an email with my payment confirmation screenshot attached, but still no confirmation for my booking. Until the next day after calls and text messages, still no confirmation from them. So I have no choice but to book from another hotel because me and my son badly needed a room to stay. I made another phone call again asking them to reverse my payment since they did not confirm booking and I already booked at another hotel, guess what, they sent me confirmation 6:14PM,July 4th. I asked them nicely if I can have at least half of what I paid them. After 2 weeks, I received a call from the manager and she said, they are returning 50% of the amount and even asked for my bank account for the transfer, I complied. After more than 2 weeks of waiting, so this is a month from the day I booked from this hotel, still no money transferred to my bank account. I tried to reach to them and the manager told me, the owner decided not to refund me. Poor communications and lack of commitment and empathy to...