Kahuna Beach Resort and Spa — Hotel in Luzon

We had been in this resort at least three times between 2015 and 2016 and we always found it worth coming back to, despite some quirks. Now, after a long break, we wanted to visit it again and we made a booking for the Ocean View villa for three nights in mid-January (Mon to Thu). The choice of room was made after a lengthy email discussion with the resort trying to identify which was the quietest area of the resort.|Unfortunately, upon arrival, we were assigned, yes, an Ocean View villa (Room OV2), but it was the one in the new extension area (which we were unaware of), near the construction site and beside a bar (Fatwave Bar and the one beside it) with non-stop loud music from lunchtime until at least 11 pm. So much for quietness... Of course, we complained about the room assignment because we were expecting the Ocean View room near the Malana Restaurant and main pool, but, apparently, that room was already occupied so we were given no other option for the first night. They told us however that a deluxe room (a lower room category) by the old pool area would become available the following day and that we could move there if we wanted to.|The following morning however we decided to remain in the same room as the noise from the bars seemed tolerable and dying down around midnight, while the main pool area seemed quite busy, with a karaoke noise and roosters having a blast nearby in the evening. However, on our last night (Wednesday), the noise from our neighbouring bars went on until almost 2 am, which, combined with our early rising noisy neighbours, did not make for a pleasant sleep.||While our villa was spacious and generally ok (albeit with the faucet in the shower which kept falling off, the sink counter with a leakage from the faucet's base, and a temporary lack of water on our second morning), we soon discovered that there was a brushwood burning activity just behind the resort whose thick smoke was entering our room every night through the aircon compressor leaving us to breathing smoke for the whole night. When we asked the front desk about it, they pretended to be unaware of it, although it was obviously an ongoing activity which is documented in the attached picture. The guard even said they burn leaves at night because it is sort of prohibited during the day.||The front desk was similarly unfazed when, on our second night, we informed them about a fat flying cockroach in the room which was then kindly removed by a security staff who happened to be visiting our room to check on the smoke smell that we complained about. ||Food was a painful chapter. While in the past the restaurant used to be quite good and offered a few good dishes, this time we couldn't help noticing a sharp decline in food quality together with a steep increase in prices. In three days we could not find one decent dish (everything was oily and of scarce quality) and in the end, I even got a sort of food poisoning due probably to a (not so) fresh coconut juice. They don't even have a dessert list to choose from. They only offer ice cream or a fruit platter (out of menu) at PHP 380.||The beach was still nice but the marshalls policing it because of the waves and the current were an absolute overkill and they were harassing anybody going into the water at a depth just above the knee asking them to get out. Honestly, it was too much. I understand there had been some fatal accidents recently in the area due to the strong currents, but when we were there, apart from one afternoon, the waves were not that strong, and hearing every two minutes the 'wang-wang' of the megaphone ordering you to get out of the water was a real bother.||Overall we found the place too crowded and with too many beach vendors, particularly considering that we were there Monday to Thursday. |Also, the guests of the hotel were in general of the rowdy and noisy type.|The only thing in which the resort showed particular zeal was in following up on the payment of the balance on our second day and the return of the beach towel tokens upon check out. ||In summary, we felt our stay was a letdown compared to the old days, and considering the amount we paid (over PHP 45,000 for 3 people for 3 nights including only meager one-course meals and breakfast), I am not sure it is worth considering...

We had been in this resort at least three times between 2015 and 2016 and we always found it worth coming back to, despite some quirks. Now, after a long break, we wanted to visit it again and we made a booking for the Ocean View villa for three nights in mid-January (Mon to Thu). The choice of room was made after a lengthy email discussion with the resort trying to identify which was the quietest area of the resort.|Unfortunately, upon arrival, we were assigned, yes, an Ocean View villa (Room OV2), but it was the one in the new extension area (which we were unaware of), near the construction site and beside a bar (Fatwave Bar and the one beside it) with non-stop loud music from lunchtime until at least 11 pm. So much for quietness... Of course, we complained about the room assignment because we were expecting the Ocean View room near the Malana Restaurant and main pool, but, apparently, that room was already occupied so we were given no other option for the first night. They told us however that a deluxe room (a lower room category) by the old pool area would become available the following day and that we could move there if we wanted to.|The following morning however we decided to remain in the same room as the noise from the bars seemed tolerable and dying down around midnight, while the main pool area seemed quite busy, with a karaoke noise and roosters having a blast nearby in the evening. However, on our last night (Wednesday), the noise from our neighbouring bars went on until almost 2 am, which, combined with our early rising noisy neighbours, did not make for a pleasant sleep.||While our villa was spacious and generally ok (albeit with the faucet in the shower which kept falling off, the sink counter with a leakage from the faucet's base, and a temporary lack of water on our second morning), we soon discovered that there was a brushwood burning activity just behind the resort whose thick smoke was entering our room every night through the aircon compressor leaving us to breathing smoke for the whole night. When we asked the front desk about it, they pretended to be unaware of it, although it was obviously an ongoing activity which is documented in the attached picture. The guard even said they burn leaves at night because it is sort of prohibited during the day.||The front desk was similarly unfazed when, on our second night, we informed them about a fat flying cockroach in the room which was then kindly removed by a security staff who happened to be visiting our room to check on the smoke smell that we complained about. ||Food was a painful chapter. While in the past the restaurant used to be quite good and offered a few good dishes, this time we couldn't help noticing a sharp decline in food quality together with a steep increase in prices. In three days we could not find one decent dish (everything was oily and of scarce quality) and in the end, I even got a sort of food poisoning due probably to a (not so) fresh coconut juice. They don't even have a dessert list to choose from. They only offer ice cream or a fruit platter (out of menu) at PHP 380.||The beach was still nice but the marshalls policing it because of the waves and the current were an absolute overkill and they were harassing anybody going into the water at a depth just above the knee asking them to get out. Honestly, it was too much. I understand there had been some fatal accidents recently in the area due to the strong currents, but when we were there, apart from one afternoon, the waves were not that strong, and hearing every two minutes the 'wang-wang' of the megaphone ordering you to get out of the water was a real bother.||Overall we found the place too crowded and with too many beach vendors, particularly considering that we were there Monday to Thursday. |Also, the guests of the hotel were in general of the rowdy and noisy type.|The only thing in which the resort showed particular zeal was in following up on the payment of the balance on our second day and the return of the beach towel tokens upon check out. ||In summary, we felt our stay was a letdown compared to the old days, and considering the amount we paid (over PHP 45,000 for 3 people for 3 nights including only meager one-course meals and breakfast), I am not sure it is worth considering...

We had been in this resort at least 3 times between 2015 - 2016 and we always found it worth coming back to, despite some quirks. After a long break, we wanted to visit it again and we made a booking for the Ocean View villa for 3 nights in mid-January. The choice of room was made after a lengthy email discussion with the resort to identify which was the quietest area of the resort. Unfortunately, upon arrival, we were assigned, yes, an Ocean View villa, but it was the one in the new extension area (which we were unaware of), near the construction site and beside a bar (Fatwave Bar and the one beside it) with non-stop loud music from lunchtime onwards. We complained about the room assignment because we were expecting the Ocean View main pool, but that room was already occupied so were given no other option for the first night. They told us however that a deluxe room (a lower room category) by the old pool area would become available the following day and that we could move there if we wanted to. The following morning however we decided to remain in the same room as the noise from the bar seemed tolerable and dying down around midnight, while the main pool area seemed quite busy, with a karaoke noise and roosters having a blast nearby in the evening. However, on our last night (Wednesday), the noise from our neighboring bars went on until almost 2 am, which, combined with our early rising noisy neighbors, did not make for a pleasant sleep. While our villa was generally ok (albeit with the faucet in the shower which kept falling off, the sink counter with a leakage from the faucet's base, and a temporary lack of water on our second morning), we soon discovered that there was a brushwood burning activity just behind the resort whose thick smoke was entering our room every night through the aircon compressor leaving us to breathing smoke for the whole night. The front desk pretended to be unaware of it, although it was obviously an ongoing activity which is documented in the attached picture. The guard even said they burn leaves at night because it is sort of prohibited during the day. The front desk was similarly unfazed when, on our second night, we informed them about a fat flying cockroach in the room which was then kindly removed by a security staff who happened to be visiting our room to check on the smoke smell that we complained about. Food was the most painful part. While in the past the restaurant used to be quite good and offered a few good dishes, this time we couldn't help noticing a sharp decline in food quality together with a steep increase in prices. In three days we could not find one decent dish (everything was oily and of scarce quality) and in the end, I even got a sort of food poisoning due probably to a (not so) fresh coconut juice. They don't even have a dessert list to choose from. They only offer ice cream. The beach was still nice but the marshalls policing it because of the waves and the current were an absolute overkill and they were harassing anybody going into the water at a depth just above the knee asking them to get out. Honestly, it was too much. I understand there had been some fatal accidents recently in the area due to the strong currents, but when we were there, apart from one afternoon, the waves were not that strong, and hearing every two minutes the 'wang-wang' of the megaphone ordering you to get out of the water was a real bother. Overall we found the place too crowded and with too many beach vendors, particularly considering that we were there Monday to Thursday. Also, the guests of the hotel were in general of the rowdy and noisy type. The only thing in which the resort showed particular zeal was in following up on the payment of the balance on our second day and the return of the beach towel tokens upon check out. In summary, we felt our stay was a drastic letdown compared to the old days, and considering the amount we paid (over PHP 45,000 for 3 people for 3 nights including meager one-course meals and breakfast) I am not sure it is worth considering...