Mandarin Nest Boracay — Hotel in Malay

We found this hotel through a tick tock video, which I assume was paid advertisement, so we decided to use it as our base hotel for Boracay.

Airport transportation was great, Pat provided great service from the airport all the way to the hotel and later to our room at 3pm

On our arrival we arrived early at 9:00 a.m. My daughter and I checked into a double room we had bought through Agoda for 5 days, we asked if we could hang out at their pool lounge. Annoyed two staff directed us to the restaurant area. We had to find the pool lounge ourselves and hung out there for an hour before we ventured out before check-in at 3pm and left our luggage at the lobby. After the bad reception, I decided to stay at another hotel in the area.

On the third day, My daughter suggested we leave my luggage at the Mandarin Nest for an hour while I waited for my early check-in at the Henann, keep in mind I was registered at this hotel when I initially checked in the first day to stay here and my stay was for 5 days as this was our backup hotel.

Since I had my carry-on with me, I didn't want to lug it up the stairs. So we decided to take the bottom floor elevator. The security guard did not want to let us through. She asked if I was checking in I said no I already had a room, she kept asking what my room number was which I did not know because my daughter had the booklet and keys, even though she knew my daughter was staying there and had seen her many times, she then proceeded to ask my daughter if she was okay and my daughter said yes that I was her dad and I was registered at the hotel. I then had to carry my carry-on through the front up the stairs into the lobby and I asked them to check us out since they would not let me in to the room I had paid for.

No one said a word, the entire staff was there even the manager, I explained to all of them what had happened and they needed a better system, no one offered an explanation or an apology. All the manager said was that he was going to talk to security.

They charged me for airport transportation we did not use and did not provide a refund for the remaining days we had paid for, my daughter also left and decided to get a room at the Henan which immediately found a room for her with an early check-in and immediately directed us to the sky pool where we could chill out and get lunch.

She was also doing laundry that day at the Mandarin, so she had to leave it, they emailed me the next day to ask if they could deliver the laundry at the new hotel and I said yes, upon receiving it, they insisted they needed to take a picture of my daughter receiving the clothes, which I think was creepy, the clothes although washed were still wet in a bag and two items were missing.

I can't comment on any of the other Mandarin locations, but I would avoid this one as all the other hotels we stayed at our experience was...

Good location if you want to be in a center of festive part of Boracay, lots of bars, restaurants and clubs around. Also, it's right on the beach which is great. The staff is very friendly and tries to make the best experience of your stay. They were very attentive and helped with every request during our stay. We were there for the new year celebrations and the hotel made a great event.

From negative side:

NOISE. The rooms are not sound proof at all and you can hear other guests like they are talking in your room. Also, the building has open structure, so you hear music from outside pretty well. That's probably the loudest room I've ever been in as every day we were woken up at 7-8am by the noise. NO WINDOWS. It wasn't clear when I booked the room, that it doesn't have a window. Well, there is a glass wall that leads to common hall, so obviously you won't open the blinds. So, no natural light, no fresh air, no view. Clothes are not drying in the room. RIDICULOUS FEES. In the room there was a note that they will charge for stained bed sheets with henna/oil after massage. Which understandable as I believe those stains are hard/impossible to remove. But I was charged 3000 pesos for having stains on the towels from hair dye. I have red hair for over 10 years

I have red hair for over 10 years and traveled around the globe a lot and never had issues with this. I don't have extreme red color, rather dark ginger and it was not colored at the hotel. Those are natural stains that happened after salt/pool water. Those stains are bright pinkish/redish and go away with regular wash, but of course with white hotel towels this could be easily solved with bleach. I believe that's the main reason why hotel towels are always white :) Also, the hotel tried to charge us twice for the new year dinner, though it was said that the deposit beforehand is necessary, so we couldn't even book it without paying. I do not blame the staff, they were just doing their job. But I have a question for the administration of the hotel - why would you charge for such things especially then it's not mentioned in your note about stains? I'm disappointed and with two factors above I cannot recommend this hotel at all. Unfortunately, I can’t...

Mandarin Nest Garden is situated at the heart of Boracay at Station 2. All the restaurants, shops, pubs and party clubs are located just a few steps away. It is a beach front hotel. That is why it’s really a perfect place to stay. The location is just perfect.

As for the service, you couldn’t ask for more. They have the best customer service. Everyone is nice and accommodating and neat. They will greet you everytime time they meet you. You will feel at home here.

The rooms! Yes the rooms are spotless clean and beautiful. They have a smart tv installed inside your room. Air-conditioned. The toilet and bath is beautiful and complete. It has everything you need from shampoo, comb, body wash, shaving kit, toothbrush. The bed is big and comfy same with the linens that would surely give you a good nights sleep. The rooms got no windows but I prefer it that way. It gives me a full dark room that allows me to sleep even during the day (after partying all night) You don't need to see boracay from a window, you need to go outside and explore it.

The hotel rules are well made for the guests advantage. They don’t make a big deal if you have guests, they won’t make you feel uncomfortable with strict rules unlike other hotels. You won’t feel being watched but still you feel secure inside the hotel.

They have free drinking waters!! They will serve you clean, sealed drinking water in a glass bottle to your hearts content.! We all know that its not safe to drink tap water on islands but I drank their water and it tastes good and new! You can save a lot from buying overpriced water at the island.

The food is excellent. They will serve you free buffet style breakfast with from main course to dessert. You won’t have a lot of choices but for a hotel this good, their free breakfast is already too much!

They even serve desserts straight to your room every night - free of charge - to make your day perfect which I really do appreciate. Making them the best boracay hotel for me.

When it comes to value, this 4 star hotel is flying with colors!

I couldn’t ask for more. Halfway through our stay I’m already thinking about how I can write this review because I am just so happy and grateful that I booked this hotel.

Will absolutely...