Happy Beach Cebu — Hotel in Lapu-Lapu

The advertisement seems to be fun showing all the wonderful and vibrant pink colors including the inflatables, however, our experience didn't jive with the "happy" theme. Here are our 10 unhappy tales.

Firstly, we were not informed that the road to enter the Happy Beach is privately owned and requires a pass fee of 350 not per car but per head coming in and going out, there were 5 of us and that would mean 1,750 twice equals 3,500 going inside alone if not by boat but after my argument, I was asked to pay 1,400 only for 4 adults minus the kid. I guess after stating my concern, the website is now updated that currrently, they are only accessible by boat and highlighted in dark pink, good job!

Second, there's only salt water coming out from the shower and faucet. This was not mentioned in the website at least. The resort manager informed us though and advised us that we just need to call the desk if we needed fresh water to refresh ourselves in the morning but after 2 calls they never came until we checked out.

Third, the toilet was nice and spacious but they were made of very slippery tiles, we slipped and nearly got injured. There was only a rubber mat below the shower but no bath mat after shower nor slippers for convenience.

Fourth, there were 2 containers with no labels in the shower so the guest would never know if they are shampoo, conditioner or shower gel so we did not bother use any of them.

Fifth, the room service menu says room service starts 8pm - 6am so we waited until 8pm to order food but I tried to call at 7:30pm where Albert answered and told me that room service last call is at 7:30pm and ends at 8pm! Glad I called before 8pm otherwise my family would have starved!

Sixth, there were some fruit flies and small mosquitos inside the room.

Seventh, in between the front desk and the pool is a privately owned resort where you need to pass through and there is no proper stairs to pass which can never be accessed by disabled, wheelchair nor elderly and even dangerous for unattended kids.

Eight, they said no pets are allowed inside the resort but they have a pug roaming around the resort unattended.

Ninth, inside the room is a nice wooden boat with goodies (water, juices, and snacks) but there's no note if these are complimentary or charged. I called the desk and the staff who answered was not aware either and told me they will have to ask housekeeping, maybe place a sign next time?

Lastly, there was a great performance and showmanship of the staff playing with real fire just in front of the pool and I commend how wonderful they are, I give them 200% applause but the management should understand that safety is the main concern, human error is evident and it can happen anytime. They should not have allowed children or anyone swimming in the pool with close proximity to the fire performers. I was so scared that all of us from the pool might get burned by the ranging fire held by the staff when something goes wrong. Luckily, it was a successful show.

These are just comments which might be very helpful for the management in the future. Of course, not all are disappointing. The Resort Manager, Fernand dealt with my concern professionally. The lifeguard, Bianca was extremely helpful guiding us all the way inside the Inflatable Island, she was just truly amazing! She made us really happy! In fact, most of the staff are extremely nice and friendly and I felt bad that the experience didn't start well. Anyway, overall was still great and I would still recommend this resort to my International Friends but I hope you will find time to rectify some lapses mentioned and I am sure all will...

Terrible! Not happy beach but horrible hassle beach!

Before entering the beach they will charge 250 pesos for entry. It was shocking because there was no notice for the payment of entrance. So it took us about 10mins. After the first security guard, you will have to pass another security without ending asking how many persons are inside the car. The system is comparable to martial law in mindanao. You will be confronted and questioned with not just one guard..but three short armed security guards.

During check in, it was really inconvenient as we were just standing under the heat of the sun to check in. There was no lobby and you would literally stick your hand throught the tickting window just to have a bit of cool air. I was told that the extra pax will cost 1800 but in fact we had agreed that it will be only 1500. We reserved 2 rooms for 12 persons. They did not consider 1 adult as child so we have to pay extra 1500 eventhough there is one bed space available for adult and since a child also has free breakfast. All in all we spent P21,000++ for two rooms, 9 adults and 3 children and P4,000++ dinner bill.

The breakfast was alright. Another irritating experience was when we were ready for breakfast. I asked the staff if everyperson has free breakfast but then the staff siad that only 4 has free breakfast. They had to confirm and ask us again if how many we were in the room, how many children. It took us 5mins to settle this issue before we can have our breakfast. While eating, one staff approavched us again to confirm how many we were, number of children and the ages of the children.

Time for check out. Again, we had to stand outside the ticketing booth under the heat of the sun. Took us about 15mins standing and waiting outside. After paying the bill, the attendant just thank us without giving us the copy of the receipts. Very unusual from a hotel. I have stayed with different hotels, from no star to 5 star hotel and usually an envelope of the bill is given. But not in happy beach. So, when we were about to leave the beach, the guards asked us for whatever receipt that they were asking and told us that that treceipt is given upon check out. I called the front office regarding the receipt. The attendant said "did you pass the check out counter?" WHAAAAT??!!!!!! they were even expecting us to go back to the frnt desk to get the receipt. Since we already told them that it was inconvenient they personally went to the guard and gave the recipt. After passing the guard, you will pass another set of guards. About 3 short armed securoty guards will confront you to ask how many are you in the car. So stressful! So inconvenient!!

The only good thing in the place is the friendly staff and the firedance. Without these the place does not even deserve one star. Horrible! I will not...

A little bit small than What we had in mind but still was a beautiful place to chill and spend family vacations. The place is inside a private property so we had to make sure we keep our receipts because the security guards required us to show the receipts coming in and going out or else they say we have to pay again. Not happy with that part but the over all beach experience was wonderful plus the staff were very awesome! I'd say the hospitality and service in happy beach is 5 star rating because of how friendly the staff were and they were very caring. My husband had a wound that night and the clinic was closed so I went to a staff and they happily helped us clean the wound and put medicine on it. Also, the place is complete with clinic, restaurants, life vests for rent, life guards to watch the kids in the pool and a souvenir shop. Milk shakes are tasty and delicious and a must try. Also their cheesecakes look so fancy and were delicious. Fried rice tastes good and good choices and variety of foods in the menu. Also good choices of drinks in the bar. Ordering meals are also great as they come in creative looking boxes and were very delicious as well. I posted the prices on the menu in the restaurant as well as in the bar to give a heads up in the current pricing. I like the pink and purple colors as a beach motiff. Also another thing I wanted to share is upon going down the beach area where the seashore is, you will probably notice it is a small area of beach and seashore plus the fact that you have to cross another private property to go to the other side where there is a giant swing and the purple motiff or side of happy beach and there is another bar. The inflatable looks fun and the beach looks clean though you have to be careful of broken glasses you might step on so always wear your slippers. They have a small photograph booth and a small souvenir shop. I also like the fact that they have locker rooms if in case you need one. M&M, Reese and Kitkat flavors of cheesecakes tastes delicious and looks so fancy and instagrammable. I also like the style of their restaurant in pink with flamingos and cherry blossom or sakura placemats. We also enjoyed the summer babies dance number around 2:30pm where the staff dance different songs and would invite customers and guests to dance with them. I'd say it was a fun time and very energetic dance number. At night, the place looks so beautiful with the lights and all the colors plus the fire dance were so great. We were very entertained by the staff and the dance performances. Such a nice place to stay and relax and spend time with...