Fridays Boracay — Hotel in Malay

Seriously, one if the worst. I don't often go hard with a poor review but here, it is well justified.||||Unless you’re paying under $100US per night, look elsewhere. There are plenty of hotels that offer far superior 'everything' for much less. Of the hundreds of Hotel stays, this was one of the worst value experiences I’ve had, and I’ve had a few.||||The property is very different from what is depicted on their website and on booking sites like Agoda. The place is very old and in need of serious makeover. It should rate 2.5 Star maximum. The actual condition and service shown and described on their website is false and bordering on fraud so beware.||||As you enter the property, it is immediately apparent, the landscaping and gardens are non-existent or in a very poor state. You descend to the arrival ‘lounge’ to see a beaten up old bamboo bench under a shed. Have fun waiting in the heat for ‘someone‘, anyone, to show up to take you to the reception, which is down a few flights of stairs to beach level. As you descend into the resort, you’ll notice the exposed black plastic liner on the main building roof or what’s left of it.||||Our rooms were not ready on arrival. One we waited till 3:30pm. The whole front of the resort is covered with horrid timber frames with grubby plastic sheeting to shield the property from the incessant sticky wind and sand whipping off the beach. This is a prevalent condition in July August. Its not however mentioned nor factored into their rates. There are no beach chairs on beach as it's now banned. The publicity photos are ancient history. They have old beach chairs behind the said screens but not at all appealing and usually covered in a good coating of sand.||||The restaurant / bar is one of the saddest, dullest places I’ve seen in a resort. Tired is an understatement. We had to wave someone down on every occasion to get seated. The menu selection is not at all inspiring unless you like burgers or pizza which we noted most guest were having. The ‘Fresh Juice’ was either canned or seriously watered down and at near $5US a joke. With fresh fruit available all over the island I cannot see how this is acceptable or can justify the prices.||||The rooms, once we got in, had character being old and timber, but the bathrooms have decrepit fittings, poor mixers, and they provide industrial level soaps/ shampoo/ body wash. No coconut or Lemongrass scents here. For the price, the joke continues.||We had 2 rooms and the TV in our kids room didn’t work the whole time. Management were informed, but nothing done. Second time we brought it their attention, the techies came but they couldn't repair. so no result. Hence our 'quite time' was no to be had as the kids spent most time in our room. We may as well have got one room and paid for an extra bunk.||||The Wifi is woeful so if you need it for anything essential, take your own satellite dish. Even when you got a connection is was usually too weak to download email or even open a website. We had the phone ring 2-3 times in the late evenings and through night at 2- 3am. One ring with no caller. Nice to ensure you don’t sleep well.||||The included breakfast gives a fixed choice of : Continental, Slim n Trim, American and Philippines. No variations permitted and the offerings were banal and not even close to what should offered at their rates. A 2 Star event.||The pool was nice but you could fit 15 of it inside the Mövenpick pools. The supposed Kids centre or activities centre seems to have disappeared. This is advertised with a pool table, foosball table etc but they are MIA.||||The room was superbly cleaned and presented with a few nice touches like the handwritten good night leaf and chocolates, but this is a paltry attempt to compensate for the overcharging for an overall well below average experience. I brought my concerns to the attention of the manager on the second day and it was clear I had justifiable reasons to complain. If I'm paying $283US equivalent per room, I expect a level commensurate with the price. I’ve not been ripped off to this level for a while.||||One our 3rd evening we returned to our room and found a family of 3 sitting on our balcony and lying on the hammock. We chased them off and they wandered further to another room in the resort. A few hours later we were preparing to go out and there were 4-5 people showering in front of our room (Communal outdoor shower) and they were getting changes, and sitting around on our porch, leaving wet clothes and towels and a truck load of sand all over the place. Unbelievable. We alerted the office and some time later, the security guy shows up. Whatever.||||In a real resort they have trained guards manning the resorts, beach side and roadside. This give you the idea how much the owners care about their guests. They don't. The place is a joke. The staff are trying but you can't make a Silk Purse from a Pigs Ear.||||On checkout after several back and forward communications to their ‘Senior Managers‘ they offered 20% off my 'F&B'. Seeing we hardly consumed anything at the resort for above reasons, we had 3 juices and 3 Soups and two light meals over the stay, it didn’t cut it. In the next round, they then offered 1 night 1 room refund and free transfer back the the nearest airport. That’s about $300 off a $1700US++ bill for 3 nights. Unacceptable.||||What’s happened here is the owners are not providing for their current customers, but they are exploiting them to fund the huge redevelopment plan. The hotel vehicles are both broken down so they rely on contractors. To go anywhere, you have to climb out up the hill, then down to the road and flag down a trike.||||The place is understaffed, and lacking resources to fund maintenance and quality provisions. My room charges would cover over 50 staff per day !! The staff were all pleasant but we detected underlying stress and unhappiness. ||||Considering we could have stayed at the Movenpick for the extra 3 days, which was also quite a bit cheaper, it was a very bad decision. It's a 4 star resort with 3 large pools, private beach, large open buffet breakfast and is only 8 minutes further out. No comparison. There are plenty of other better choices. If you are discerning traveller, forget this place. It's heyday is well and truly over. Ancient history.||||Considering Boracay is still in messy state with road building and reconstruction still going on and to is continue for some time, vacationers are there to support the place and it's redevelopment, not to rip them off. This place is working against the spirit to improve as it left us with a very poor impression of the place. Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam all offer far far more for far far less.||||I would seriously avoid this place unless you get it for the correct price. if not, pick elsewhere. I am taking the resort to task for...

Myself and my partner spent nearly two weeks in Boracay in July, and stayed at this family run hotel. The location is great, just a few minutes away from the beach, and numerous restaurants.||||It was wet season when we were there, which was a bit problematic. When it rained (heavily) the streets would immediately flood, and remain flooded for days on end. There is not an established sewer or drainage system, and we found ourselves wading around in ankle to knee deep water most days, just going out for dinner, or to buy water. Also, when it rains, the power goes out on the island. One evening, it was out for about seven hours. Most establishments have generators at the ready for the frequent power cuts, as did this particular one.||||We arrived here around 11pm, and my partner was ill with a fever, so we more or less went straight to bed. The window was blocked up, so there was no natural light in the room, making it dark, dingy, and quite smelly. There was one double bed, and one single bed. All the furniture was broken, and the room did not feel clean or pleasant. Plus, the bathroom was full of insects and flies. The next morning, we asked to be moved to a better room, with a window (and a bit of fresh air / natural light). They said this was fine, and moved us to a much nicer room upstairs, with a bigger bathroom, better air con, a fridge complete with mini bar, unbroken furniture, and two chairs. It turned out more expensive booking online at this particular place, and we had only booked four nights, so we extended at the reception desk without issue.||||We ended up spending a lot of time in the room, eating, watching tv, sleeping, due to the terrible weather conditions at the time. The room was cleaned a few times during our stay, giving us fresh bedding and towels, and a good clean. However, I feel that it could have been cleaned more frequently. ||||The bathroom was painted dark blue, with an old maroon fitted bathroom. When showering (the shower was above the bath), the drain in the bath was clearly blocked, and within a minute you would find yourself standing in ankle deep shower water - much like walking away the streets of Boracay with the poor drainage systems. The toilet did not flush properly, and because it was dark maroon in colour, it was actually difficult to see if it had been flushed!||||The staff were nice though, and they have two lovely labradors who are friendly, and do a few cute tricks.||||It was a nice, chilled out place to stay, albeit massively overprices - as is most accommodation in the Philippines. My advice, check the weather season before you go, as the wet season will truly limit you to what you can do, and you will end up with A LOT of wet, stinking clothes.||||Also, the rooms are LOUD. We were woken up every morning, around 4 or 5am, by loud families leaving, or watching tv, or kids running around. Not good for...

I didn't book hotel. My flight was delayed and I carried small luggage and a backpack. A tricycle brought me to station 1 and told me that is the best location and safe area that I should find hotel to stay. I carried a small luggage with my backpack and was looking for a small hotel at 8:30 pm.||There are 5 young people hanged out near by and they were so helpful. And one guy even called his boss and they all came to help me to look for a budget hotel to stay.||When their boss arrived. Looks like he is more knowledgeable and know the place around. Immediately they brought me to one block away form beach, the hotel called Boracay tourist Inn", The Chinese owner was happened there(around 9:30 pm) and I asked if I stay longer and pay upfront if it is possible get a discounted rate. Turned out I got a very good deal and stay there for 4 nights. ||I didn't expect too much since it is a family run hotel. I think they gave me the worse room next to the reception since they gave me a very cheap price. There are two hot drinking water (one first floor one second floor)that you can fill up at your own cup if you have one.The air condition is strong, but the furniture, shower room door, all broken. I didn't complain or ask for another room since I know I will not stay at hotel room too much and I appreciated the owner gave me a really good deal.||When I required change sheets, they always did and I also exchanged clean towels every day.||The best part was it took only one block to walk to beach, the location on station 1 is very valuable. I met few people later at the beach or restaurant, they told me they tried to save money on hotel so they stay at station 3, ending up have to take tricycle to station 1 beach 2 -3 times a day. Those money and time, and less motivation to come to beach, just made them regret. Guess what? I only paid half price of what they pay and it is one block short walking distance to beach, and 5 minutes walk to DMall. On the corner, there is a fruit store sells fruit very inexpensive compares to Dmall. That was the place I got my fruit and fresh coconuts.||The staffs are so friendly. Manager Jose, thanks for your advice about tours and the selfi machine. I did exchanged one like yours. Thanks Chona and Dong Dong, you have made my home away from home. Although I see you guys on my FB but I miss you...