Pangulatan Beach Resort — Hotel in Palawan

The road to this hotel is beyond your wildest ideas. We knew what we were up to (~ 2 hours from El Nido with minibus - 21 km dirt road from the highway) so we rented a jeep. I drive off-road but seriously, don't even try to drive here without a 4x4, not even if the road is dry. Scooter is out of question, off-road bike maybe if you are an experienced driver. There is no other way in our out to the hotel other then this one road so prepare to stay once you've arrived. If you plan to leave you can only order transport what is costly.||The staff... Many comment praise the staff. We had a very bad experience. I think regular travelers knows the feeling that you're only counted as "guest" if you buy everything from the hotel and spend all your day at the bar. We did spend quite an amount there (had coctails, beers, dinner, breakfast every day, went to a hotel trip, etc..) still we were basically ignored. Especially the manager (?) Jason who does not every look up from his cellphone when talking to us what happened several times and unbelievably disrespectful. I think thigs went wrong after the first day when Jason tried to scam us with a tour. On our first day we went to El Nido Tour C from the hotel. The prices are hanging on the wall in the bar for all tours. We payed +400P each as there is the tourist enviromental permit + an entrance fee to one location. That is actually true so we paid the 1600P each for the tour. When we arrived back he tried to ask for the entrace fee again and when I told him we've paid that already he just left us standing there with no explanation. Also when I asked for the copy of the permit (as we planned to take more tours - not from the hotel and the permit is valid for like 10 days or so) he just refused to give it to us. Not even sure if they purchased it or just took the money.||If you complain about anything (dirty room, clogged shower, no water in the shower...) they just totally ignore you and don't do anything. We had no toilet seat for a weak, our shower was clogged since day one - told the staff 3 times 3 days, every time they said they will come and have a look, nothing happened. I did not try from the 4th day...||The food and drinks are actually OK - but very much overpriced by local standards. Guess due to the remote location taking advantage that there are no alternatives around. The restaurant is VERY slow. Expect 25-30 mins for an omlette and 1+ hour for a main course.||Once you are in the hotel you're stucked as pratically there is nothing to do there. The beach is dirty, the water also, no snorkeling in the bay as it's dirty, corals are dying and there is only seagrass. The hotel texted one day before our arrival that the pool is not operational due to leaking. Well, that pool is not operational for like 5 years. That is uncorrect to say 1 day before arrival when we booked 2 months ago.||There is NO ELECTRICITY from the morning till late afternoon. If you don't wake up early enough forget morning shower as hot water requires electricity. Also no water either if the ballast tanks are empty.||WIFI is available but only in the bar and it is...

Just book somewhere else. SERIOUSLY.

Booked to stay for 5 nights, 6 days. Left on the same day, 3 hours after upon arrival.

Firstly, my dad, my sister and I booked a family bungalow which could accommodate up to ten people as this was the only room available at the time of the booking. We communicated to them at the time of booking that there will only be 3 of us coming and continuously reminded them before arriving to the destination. When we arrived, they kept insisting and telling us, “we thought you had ten people”, which we eventually found out affected the pricing of transport.

We were then brought over to the family bungalow in which we would be apparently staying. What an absolute shocker and kick in the gut. When inspecting the bungalow we found the following: -Such outdated and lack of furniture. There was no sofa in the living room area. Therefore, when hanging out inside, your only hang out place would be the dining area.

-No utensils and no toiletries provided.

-Toilet won’t flush properly. You’ll need to use a pail to fully flush everything down. The water you get from the faucet will eventually turn dirty after a couple of seconds. There was no toilet seat cover either.

-There was no cover on the AC so it’s fully exposed and you can see the dust emitting from the machine.

-There were substantial moulds on the bathroom ceiling.

We were questioning how an accommodation like this would be approved to be operating as business and for people to stay. A lot of what was mentioned above was not in the description of the place.

Other disappointing factors to mention:

-It takes an estimated 1 hour and 40 minutes to get there. Such bumpy and gravelly roads which makes the ride very uncomfortable.

-It was P4000 one way and another P4000 to take you back to the airport. That P8000 could have gone towards your accommodation that’s near the airport and you might find yourself booking a 4 to 5 star hotel. The price of transport was also not mentioned on the website. When we told Jake, the manager, that they didn’t mention this he said that it would’ve been cheaper if it was group sharing van, however no one else was going there and as said, we kept repeatedly saying to them before the trip it would only be the 3 of us. We also felt that they made that price up when we arrived in the place since they knew we’re not from the Philippines.

-It is secluded and away from EVERYTHING. If you’re wanting to book a tour you will find it challenging to find out nearby as majority of it would be in the El Nido town centre, which is 1 hour and 40 minutes away. No local grocery shops, pharmacy or restaurants anywhere close by.

The one winning factor was the view which is a beach front.

I know that everyone’s experience and expectations are different but if you want to get your moneys worth and actually ENJOY your time in El Nido, I would book somewhere else.

Make sure you read the reviews in both Google and Booking dot com. I have confirmed some of the reviews from the people that have stayed...

We stayed here back in March 2024 and I found this place through Expedia; the lodging here is cheap than other places mainly because of its remote location.

If you are coming from Puerto Princesa it will be a 6-7hr drive and the last 1hr of driving will be on a gravel road and a little part on hard sand.

We stayed from Friday to Monday and also took part of the Island and inland tour package that they offered.

The resort is on the old side and quiet since it’s away from the city. The Pool they have doesn’t exist anymore when we stayed and they have a bar/restaurant when you want to order food. Internet WiFi can be an issue at times because of how remote the location is. Overall if you want a quiet place that’s has little to no technology away from city noise a term we call provinsya in the 90s this is it.

We stayed in the Villa that place was nice but needs some little maintenance, it has that provinsya vibe which is cool but it had very basic amenities; bathroom, kitchen(no stove or fridge) and all bedrooms has an AC.

One thing I will note here is the water from the bathroom is clear but a little brown, coming from rust along the pipe from the water tower; regardless it was clean for use to shower, don’t worry there’s no smell.

The price for the Package tours, Airport transport are separate from the lodging so make sure you inquire and check.

The staff members are courteous and friendly, so ask if you need something or have any questions.

The beach on the resort is beautiful;. You can even find sea urchin on the rocks by the dock or jelly fish on the deeper end.

The food here is great. The breakfast however is on the small portion, I’m not sure why but maybe because if you want to swim afterwards you can because you wouldn’t be so full.

On the tour package we did the A package which took us and another group island hopping. The lunch was included for the package and our tour guides were amazing, sharing us stories about the area we were going into. This was an amazing experience which I want to do again because the locations are just beautiful.

We also did the inland tour which took us to other beach attractions, a zip line to an island, and cliff climbing on the northern part of Palawan. The zip line you’d have to pay separately and on site.

Overall the resort was a peaceful getaway from city with basic amenities and tour packages in which our group enjoyed so well.

Pros: Quiet location Beautiful views Cheap lodging Tour packages

Cons: -Resort needs maintenance -Breakfast portion is small -Very remote location -Last 30min ride into the resort has rough roads

To the owners and staff, thank you for your hospitality and courtesy. We...