Sarangani Highlands Garden — Hotel in General Santos

I have a residence in General Santos City and decided to escape to the Sarangani Highlands for a night to breath some clean air (there is a lot of air-pollution in Gensan caused by the thousands of generally unregulated motor-tricycles and motorcycles ordinary people here rely on for cheap transportation). This was my third stay at the Sarangani Highlands hotel.||||The Sarangani Highlands is set on a hilltop about 1.5km inland but with incredible views across Sarangani Bay (which is one of the Philippines' many undiscovered beauty spots). The hotel was originally built as a wealthy local family's vacation guest-house and converted to a hotel a few years ago. Maybe because it was not originally designed as a hotel, the rooms in the original building are oddly designed, with no front-facing windows to enjoy the magnificent view, and only small, virtually useless, colored-glass windows facing to the rear of the hotel over wasteland. The rooms do have communal terraces in front, although the recently constructed function hall all but blocks the view over the bay from the rooms. Given building costs in the area are still relatively low, the hotel should consider reforming the rooms to move the bathroom to the rear and panorama windows at the front to allow daylight in.||||The hotel is about 15 minutes from General Santos airport and reached by a steep bone-shaking 750m or so rough track from the main highway. As with all sensible hotels in the Sarangani area, the Sarangani Highlands has security guards at the gate. It's reassuring that many stars and TV personalities have stayed at the Sarangani Highlands in the past few years and there has never been an incident there.||||The check-in was fast and the reception service noticeably more professional than two years ago when I last stayed. This time I stayed in one of the four rooms in the new block (built around 2012) which benefits from uninterrupted panoramic views of the bay including beautiful sunrises (if you're awake that early!). Although new, the rooms still suffer some quirky design flaws, such as having the toilet and separate shower open directly into the room (both have semi-translucent perspex doors). The room I stayed in is a 4-bedded room but you would not want to share it with anyone but close family if you want to maintain privacy and dignity while going through your morning ablutions! Room furnishings are very basic, there's an effective but noisy air-conditioner, and amenities are just sachets of shampoo and tiny soap bars.||||Sadly I could not say the room was well cleaned. The bed linen anmd towels were fine but the tiled floor probably hadn't been washed for several days and I was reluctant to walk in the room in bare feet.||||People stay at the Sarangani Highlands for its peaceful gardens, the incredible view, and the excellent food. The hotel's restaurant is covered but open on all sides with incredible views across the bay. The service is awful (you can wait 10 minutes to place an order even if there are no other guests around) but the food is truly excellent and I have never had a lunch or dinner dish there that I did not enjoy. Sadly the excellence does not extend to breakfast (maybe its a different chef) which is still very basic.||||The hotel does not have a pool, so is not an ideal place for a family vacation, and the quirky and slightly claustrophobic design of the main building rooms mean I couldn't recommend it for more than an overnight stay. But as an overnight stay it's something that every visitor to General Santos City and Sarangani Bay should try and, provided you're open-minded in your expectations,...

I have a residence in General Santos City and decided to escape to the Sarangani Highlands for a night to breath some clean air (there is a lot of air-pollution in Gensan caused by the thousands of generally unregulated motor-tricycles and motorcycles ordinary people here rely on for cheap transportation). This was my third stay at the Sarangani Highlands hotel.||||The Sarangani Highlands is set on a hilltop about 1.5km inland but with incredible views across Sarangani Bay (which is one of the Philippines' many undiscovered beauty spots). The hotel was originally built as a wealthy local family's vacation guest-house and converted to a hotel a few years ago. Maybe because it was not originally designed as a hotel, the rooms in the original building are oddly designed, with no front-facing windows to enjoy the magnificent view, and only small, virtually useless, colored-glass windows facing to the rear of the hotel over wasteland. The rooms do have communal terraces in front, although the recently constructed function hall all but blocks the view over the bay from the rooms. Given building costs in the area are still relatively low, the hotel should consider reforming the rooms to move the bathroom to the rear and panorama windows at the front to allow daylight in.||||The hotel is about 15 minutes from General Santos airport and reached by a steep bone-shaking 750m or so rough track from the main highway. As with all sensible hotels in the Sarangani area, the Sarangani Highlands has security guards at the gate. It's reassuring that many stars and TV personalities have stayed at the Sarangani Highlands in the past few years and there has never been an incident there.||||The check-in was fast and the reception service noticeably more professional than two years ago when I last stayed. This time I stayed in one of the four rooms in the new block (built around 2012) which benefits from uninterrupted panoramic views of the bay including beautiful sunrises (if you're awake that early!). Although new, the rooms still suffer some quirky design flaws, such as having the toilet and separate shower open directly into the room (both have semi-translucent perspex doors). The room I stayed in is a 4-bedded room but you would not want to share it with anyone but close family if you want to maintain privacy and dignity while going through your morning ablutions! Room furnishings are very basic, there's an effective but noisy air-conditioner, and amenities are just sachets of shampoo and tiny soap bars.||||Sadly I could not say the room was well cleaned. The bed linen anmd towels were fine but the tiled floor probably hadn't been washed for several days and I was reluctant to walk in the room in bare feet.||||People stay at the Sarangani Highlands for its peaceful gardens, the incredible view, and the excellent food. The hotel's restaurant is covered but open on all sides with incredible views across the bay. The service is awful (you can wait 10 minutes to place an order even if there are no other guests around) but the food is truly excellent and I have never had a lunch or dinner dish there that I did not enjoy. Sadly the excellence does not extend to breakfast (maybe its a different chef) which is still very basic.||||The hotel does not have a pool, so is not an ideal place for a family vacation, and the quirky and slightly claustrophobic design of the main building rooms mean I couldn't recommend it for more than an overnight stay. But as an overnight stay it's something that every visitor to General Santos City and Sarangani Bay should try and, provided you're open-minded in your expectations,...

The view, the decor, the ambience are all 5/5 stars. I'll give it that.

Summary: We stayed here for 4 nights and 5 days for a Business seminar. I was starstruck by the quaint beauty of the place and then it went downhill all the way to the depths of the Mindanao sea from there.

BECAUSE... SERVICE is -4/5 stars. NEGATIVE FOUR. The service system is abhorrent. No housekeeping, no water bottles, no thermos, no complimentary coffee or tea, the waiters are all chatting at the bar instead of attending to the tables, the food service takes long, our buffet attendants are nowhere to be found, etc. You have to call the lobby for any service because the staff is hanging around God know where. The slooooow wifi is available, sure, all of 2 minutes before it kicks you off and isn't availabke for the next 5.

I give the service SOME points for REACTING to DIRECT REQUESTS fast. But you have to be really specific. Example: "Pls bring us 2 bottles of water." And then you have to request the same things OVER AND OVER. They just don't learn that you need the same 2 bottles of water the next day you're staying... Or the next day after that.

FOOD QUALITY is less than subpar. 2/5 stars. This is General Santos (Tuna City...Seafood central...) and they made every the Tuna and Galunggong dish dry and overcooked. Besides the hot chocolate which is 5/5 stars good, all our snacks for the training is terrible. They gave us sandwiches (see photo) made out of crusty dry bread and very thinly spread pickle relish (??).

FACILITIES are 1/5 stars. This hotel made sure the "attractions" are IG-worthy, perhaps to attract day tourists and lovebirds out for a date. So if you're coming for a short visit it's really worth the photos. The toilets all have tissue and hand soap. But if you're staying overnight, beware...the rooms are cramped, the aircon is noisy and malfunctioning, the heater is a surprise (hidden under the sink), the function halls have high ceiling and 2 puny airconditioners that are INCAPABLE of cooling the room (not even a quarter of the room), the water dispensers don't provide hot water, and the ceiling leak from a little rain.

Also, there are no amenities. No gym. No pool. No business center. Just lots of places to take photos.

Sooo basically the place is really reallt pretty, but an even more...