Savoy Hotel Mactan Newtown — Hotel in Lapu-Lapu

To the owner of this hotel: If you truly want your business to grow, you must set real, enforceable standards — and lead by example. Without standards in food safety, cleanliness, hygiene, and staff training, your hotel will continue to fall short. Growth doesn’t happen through marketing or polite replies. Growth happens when guests feel safe, respected, and cared for.

I gave this hotel 1 star because my father and I got sick from the buffet food — it was not fresh, poorly stored, and clearly prepared without proper hygiene. This wasn’t a minor issue. It affected our health and ruined part of our trip. The food lacked quality and care, and we’re not the only ones saying this. Many guests have already said they wouldn’t return because of the food alone.

You need to start using fresh ingredients, not leftovers. Your kitchen staff must be trained in proper food handling, and your team should be using products like Joy Antibac+ for dishwashing, and Safeguard liquid hand soap in every kitchen and bathroom sink. These aren’t luxuries — they’re basic food safety tools.

The bathrooms in the rooms and downstairs were unsanitary. Ours had a foul odor, cockroaches, and broken fixtures. Every bathroom in the hotel — from top floors to public restrooms downstairs — should be cleaned with Mr. Muscle toilet cleaner, a reliable floor disinfectant, and proper degreasers. Use Microban GT disinfectant with a knapsack sprayer to sanitize all areas, including the elevator, hallways, and lobby. That’s what real hotels do.

Rooms also need upgraded hygiene amenities. Provide guests with Safeguard body wash, Head & Shoulders shampoo, and soap that actually promotes cleanliness — not cheap, watered-down packets. These details matter. They show respect for your guests.

The whole property feels neglected — from elevator up to elevator down. There’s no sign of leadership, pride, or accountability. And management's response to every complaint is always the same:

“Thank you for your feedback. We strive to improve.” But if nothing changes, those words are meaningless.

What You Need to Do If You Truly Want Growth: Use fresh food and safe ingredients, not reheated or expired meals Equip staff with Joy Antibac+, Mr. Muscle, Microban GT, and proper hand soap Provide real hygiene products for guests: Safeguard, Head & Shoulders Retrain kitchen, housekeeping, and maintenance teams Disinfect all bathrooms and high-touch areas using knapsack sprayers Inspect rooms daily — not weekly, not monthly Be present — leadership requires visibility and action, not silence This hotel won’t grow until the owner sets strict standards and leads by example. You can’t build loyalty with low quality and high excuses. My father and I got sick because the standards were not there. We saw the cockroaches. We smelled the rooms. We felt the results of poor leadership.

If you truly want your hotel to succeed, raise your standards — and enforce them. Until then, I cannot recommend this hotel to anyone. This hotel won’t grow until the owner sets clear, enforceable standards — and leads with urgency and accountability. At this point, the issues are too widespread for quick fixes. It may take a year or more to fully repair, retrain, sanitize, and rebuild trust — but that’s exactly what responsible leadership looks like. If you truly care about your business, your staff, and your guests, commit to that timeline. Start today — with real hygiene protocols, better products, fresh food, honest inspections, and leadership that doesn't hide behind templated responses. Until those changes are made, I cannot recommend this...

Unfortunately, I must express my disappointment with the overall experience at this hotel. While I understand that every establishment has its flaws, the issues we encountered during our stay were quite disheartening. Having spent two weeks in the Philippines, we had the opportunity to stay in various accommodations, some of which were less luxurious than this one. However, what set them apart was the warm hospitality we received, with staff members offering assistance with our luggage and providing welcome drinks upon arrival. Regrettably, this particular hotel did not provide either of these gestures, which, although not a major concern, left us expecting more.

Upon entering our room, we were dismayed to discover a shoe mark on the white sheets, indicating that someone had stepped on the bed. Furthermore, the entire room was filled with an excessive amount of dust. Even when we picked up a glass, we found it surrounded by layers of dust, revealing a stark contrast in color and appearance beneath. Additionally, it was disappointing to learn that we had to pay for drinkable water, even in the late hours of the night. While this may seem trivial, it was an unexpected inconvenience.

The quality of the dinner served at the hotel was the worst we encountered throughout our two-week trip. The fish and chips dish consisted of mostly fries with a mere 2 cm of fish buried within. Similarly, the fried chicken suffered from an overly thick batter, resulting in an unappetizing taste and subsequent stomach issues. Despite trying various local cuisines in the Philippines, we never experienced any food-related problems until our stay at this hotel. Sadly, it left us with an unpleasant farewell gift in the form of diarrhea, which marred our final days in the country.

Despite the hotel's seemingly low occupancy, we were assigned a room that shared a connecting door with another occupied room. Unfortunately, this neighboring family or group was quite loud and boisterous, which greatly disturbed our peace and tranquility. Throughout the night, we were subjected to their loud screams and incessant ringing of bells, which seemed to serve no apparent purpose. When we returned from breakfast one morning, our door cards had inexplicably stopped working, causing considerable stress as we had a flight to catch. The hotel sent someone to reprogram the cards, but the timing of this inconvenience was particularly frustrating.

In light of these experiences, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this hotel to anyone seeking a pleasant stay. While I understand that every establishment has its shortcomings, the accumulation of these issues significantly impacted our overall impression. I hope that the hotel management takes these concerns into account and strives to improve the quality of service and attention to detail...

Great base hotel if you're exploring Mactan. Sleep and go, not really for sleep and stay.

Savoy was the first hotel to locate within Mactan Newtown so it does show its age a bit in the rooms and in most areas of the hotel. The room has a narrow configuration. While the basic rooms have a great lounge area in the form of a couch that could seat two, the bathroom felt really tight and small. They do have a mini fridge which you rarely see with other hotels in the same bracket so thats definitely a plus. Try to get the Deluxe Premier if you're used to bigger sized rooms. Savoy is sandwiched between Belmont hotel and Pacific World Tower. Rooms on the office tower side will give you views of the office tower and the residential tower next to it while those on the Belmont side can give you a little sea view. I also had an issue with the AC. Not sure if it was an isolated case but the AC didnt really feel like it got colder despite lowering the temperature. The room got a bit warm even at night which made me sweata bit. Thank god they were generous with their pillows and the bed was very comfortable and I was still able to sleep well through the night.

Front desk service was not the best. Apparently they will not contact you if your room is ready and ypu have to personally ask the available staff (In this day and age of free sms, a simple text notification should not be too much to ask to notify guests that their rooms are ready). Aside from this minor hiccup, the rest of the staff are actually warm, friendly and provided great service. From the beach personnel, to the restaurant staff, they made my experience better, enough to give a better impression than my initial interaction with the front desk.

Tip while waiting for your room in case you get there early is to get the beach pass from the concierge which allows guests to access Newtown beach which is currently has several construction work ongoing but it is still accessible. The concierge can also provide you with an umbrella in case you opt to walk to the beach which can take around 10 minutes. There is a free shuttle going to the beach and back to the hotel.

Their dining outlet is tiny so expect a lot of people queuing for breakfast even during the early hours. The breakfast offering was "enough" and was not the widest selection. They did have a charcuterie spread but very little entrees. Food was definitely tasty and the juices were really good but again do not expect a lot of options.

Final tip: During peak season, if you plan to check out at 12 PM, make sure to go up a few floors first and take your elevator ride from the top floors. I kid you not when I say there were queues for the elevator on each of the floors we stopped by on our way to the ground floor. You can always avoid that experience by...