Eskaya Beach Resort & Spa — Hotel in Panglao

Upon Arrival
We arrived early because we took the earliest flight from Manila to Bohol.|We were welcomed by the owner, who rudely asked, “Oh, you’re three people?” Yes, it’s indicated in our booking and then said, “You’re too early to check in.” We explained that we were aware of this and were only there to leave our luggage, as is customary at other hotels. Her staff began asking for our IDs, but the owner interrupted and said, “No, no, no! Later at 2 PM. Check-in is at 2 PM. Just come back.” We responded politely, saying, “Yes, we know. No problem.”||Check-In
When we returned to check in, the staff member assisting us was pleasant, unlike the owner. Our booking was for December 23-26.||Swimming Pool
While swimming, I experienced itchy skin and discovered algae in both the villa and common swimming pools. (See attached photos.)||Sun Bed Foam
The sunbed foam was full of mold and clearly hadn’t been cleaned.( see attached photos) ||Housekeeping
On our second day, we placed the “Please make up room” sign outside and also informed the front desk to clean our room. However, no one came. When we returned to our villa at 3 AM, we noticed a housekeeping cart outside our door. We called the front desk to ask why the room hadn’t been cleaned, and they claimed they didn’t have an extra key to enter.||Towels |We used the gym and asked for towels, but they gave us floor mat towels that are meant for feet.||Guards and Cart Drivers
The staff, including guards and cart drivers, were inattentive. Guests are supposed to park in the designated parking area and request a golf cart to the villa, which is fine. However, there were times when it took a long time for the cart to arrive.||Breakfast
It was just okay.|3rd day breakfast we noticed ants all over the ladle for the pumpkin soup. See attached photo ||Beach |Tracks of a tractor on the shore? What is this, a construction site? |And also full of algae in the water too ||Phone Inquiry
No proper phone etiquette. Even the owner sounds like she’s answering her personal mobile phone. No “Good morning,” “Good day,” or “Good evening.”||Villa Key|Is this what you call luxury??? See photo ||And to the owners of this Resort|The lady owner was illogical, rude, lacked emotional intelligence, and clearly did not understand the meaning of "customer service”||The Worst Part: Christmas Day
We went out for a family dinner on Christmas Eve and returned to the hotel at 3 AM. At 7 AM, our phone rang. My husband answered, irritated, and I overheard the conversation. A staff member rudely told us we had to leave because someone else would be checking into our villa. The guy on the other end of the line was very rude, not even apologetic or pleasant to talk to.|We were shocked at how insensitive they were, especially calling so early in the morning. Frustrated, I went to the front desk and confronted them. I asked, “Do you know what time it is? It’s 7 AM on Christmas Day! Is this how you treat your guests?”|After a few minutes, the owner arrived, and instead of apologizing, she was rude. I asked her again, “Do you know what time it is? Is this how you treat your guests?”|She replied, “Yes, because you arrived at 3:30 AM last night, and we don’t allow that in our policy. We have a curfew until 11 PM.”|I was shocked and asked, “What is this, a jail? Why weren’t we informed about this policy from the start?”|The owner replied, “That’s our policy because some people just loiter inside the resort.”|I told her, “That’s not our problem.”|The owner then said, “There are guests checking into your room today.”|I replied, “What guests? We’re booked here until the 26th. That’s not our problem—that’s your problem. Why did you wake us up? Fix your system!”|The owner tried to shift the blame, saying we should’ve contacted Agoda to sort out the booking. I told her, “You’re the resort owner. We don’t know your system. That’s internal—why should we contact Agoda?”||She was telling us that we shouldn’t be talking to the front desk because the front desk is not the one who processes the check-in, but Agora Online? They’ve been in the hospitality industry for so long, and they’re telling us that? Come on! That’s standard protocol.||She continued to talk nonsense. My husband told her, “If you had informed us about these policies from the start, we wouldn’t have stayed here.” The owner replied then don’t book here again. Wow! The audacity! ||The owner then offered to transfer us to a “very nice villa.” My husband said, “We don’t need an upgrade. It’s fine if we transfer to another villa of the same rate.”||Later, the front desk called and said we could stay in our villa while the other guests would be accommodated elsewhere. What a joke! They completely ruined our Christmas Day, which was supposed to be a relaxing holiday. Their rude behavior and poor service were unacceptable, especially on Christmas Day.|This is not the luxury villa they claim to be. Wake up, Eskaya! You are far from being a luxury resort in Panglao. We’ve been traveling here every year since 2019 and have stayed at various resorts, but this was by far the worst experience. Don’t waste your money on Eskaya. We paid premium amount and this is what we got. A complete joke. Sell it to professional corporations and leave it to the experts. The view has potential, or better yet, you might as...

If I could give negative rating or worse to this Eskaya Beach Resort in Panglao Island, Bohol Philippines, I would. This is the worst experience I ever experienced in a resort that seemed to be well acclaimed to be one of the best in the island of Bohol when it comes to Luxury Resorts. What a disappointment and am very disgusted! I booked this via Amex Travel to make sure I get the best experience in a Luxury Hotel in my Hometown, as what other 5 Star reviews I read only to find out those 5 Star reviews were all old. Clearly there is an obvious decline in the management of this resort. I don't understand what happened here...But why the unbelievable attitudes of the staff starting from the front desk and the unbelievable restrictions imposed on the guests? We totally felt like in a prison environment, totally the opposite of a luxury hotel. What a shame! The ambiance is still there, the beautiful infinity pool and the whole landscape is still there but to let go of the quality staff ( seemed to be so untrained), of food served and the service is unacceptable! The Villa we were staying at, while private and beautiful with the native ambiance was very dirty it made me not even want to use the bathrooms! The bathroom sink, while supplied with the standard toiletries, is surrounded by molds! There is a jacuzzi tub that is so full of dirt, insects and just utter grossness, it's so clear they were not cleaned. Never mind that it had a private pool in the villa I was staying, the dirty place? I could imagine how dirty that pool is and unmaintained! The coffee provided in the room is a cheap instant Nescafe powder with uncleaned coffee cups and used napkins... it's gross! This is NOT a luxury standard by any means.On the contrary, it is a very expensive filthy prison cell. On top of this, the lady in the front desk who claimed she is the only one that I could talk to when I tried to complain to higher management about their poor service and attitudes was very rude! They treated their guests like prisoners. They took our car keys and kept them and when one day we needed to leave at around 5 am because we needed to go to town to look for migraine medication, we were told not to leave till 6 am because the guards would not allow us. Are you kidding me??? The worst experience I have ever had and I am an avid traveler and I am very familiar to how luxury hotels operate. I happen to be a Marriott Ambassador Elite member AND Hyatt Globalist this year ( my stay was on December 2022, 6 months ago) and I have traveled the world being from Los Angeles,and I have stayed at Grand Hyatt Manila in BGC and Marriott Manila Hotel for 2 weeks total before flying to Bohol, my home town, and what a big disappointment....maybe the right word is disgusted. I have had great experiences staying at the other Bohol resorts in my previous visits. I was very happy when I stayed at Amorita Resort, also in other Panglao resorts before, which is why I was so inspired to want to stay at Eskaya. But, I will never go back to this place ever again and I will make sure no one among my family and friends will ever make a mistake to choose Eskaya. This resort is more of a Hell in a Paradise setting, only that you have to pay a high price (luxury price ) to be in jail. If could give a negative rating and 0 to the stars I would. I tried to get a refund on my money on the first day I discovered how bad this place was so I could move to another place, but alas, I prepaid Amex Travel and Eskaya would not refund .I REPEAT, Do NOT make a mistake of going there, or you will regret it. There’s a plethora of beautiful and well kept resorts to choose from in Bohol nowadays . There is something going on management...

What can I say. Of all the luxury (and non luxury) hotels I’ve ever stayed in and considering prices we paid, this has to be the worst of the worst. We prepaid for 4 nights for two pool Villas from 28 December to one Jan 1. Of course, there was no refundable option as they do not want to give you your money back. We paid a total of around USD3,800 and was expecting a precious and nice family Christmas holiday. However, we moved out after the first night and will ask you not to make the same mistake as us. ||||Place and facilities were in dire need of repair with little or nothing going on. There were maybe four other families when we were there and there was nothing to eat. Breakfast was an appetising and sorry as of course they need to cut as much cost as possible. They must have outsourced everything as there was no resident chef who only comes in and out during certain period, but even when he was there, food was horrible and unhygienic. We looked at the menu that had a wide variety of food, serving only a few villas, so you will wonder where the fresh food comes from??? There was none. Prawns were dead for a while, meat frozen ( or perhaps just chilled), and the last straw was when my husband got food poisoning, and I decided my family had to move out immediately for safety reason.||||Staff were clueless and do not care. The reception looked like a government office. We were not allowed to charge bills to the room and have to prepay everything in advance, citing inspection by auditors. I take that to mean they are already under receivership and not allowed to grant credit or spend any money on anything, including on maintenance and food hygiene for the safety of the guests. The spa was also outsourced, and even though the backbone was there, they had two freelance workers who come in and charged five star hotel spa prices while offering a mediocre Massage. The only café was sad and lonely, there were no activities, no gym, no life. Cars were not allowed to come in to pick up guests, and they have fights with drivers and guests over this. There was also a curfew at 11 pm which means we were not allowed to come in and out after that. There is no commute to nearby towns, so you are stuck there for the duration of your stay. There was also a fierce German Shepherd dog on site which grows at everyone including the guests. It feels like we are in prison. overall, this place might have been a luxury escape 15 years ago, perhaps? But at some point of time, the owners and the staff stopped investing and stopped, caring, including caring for the well-being, enjoyment, safety of the guests. They have no standard for quality and not interested in the guests well-being. All they want is your money. They do not seem to be surprised when I informed them my husband got food poisoning and just suggested I take him to a hospital so I can get out of their way. They said this is what other guests did. We have now moved out to another resort in bohol as soon as my husband could make it and could not have been happier. I will be asking them for refund of the three nights we did not stay and I will update on the status of my request. I doubt they give a damn as money has already gone to the creditors. Insured, this is a sad, crappy, scamming hotel that just doesn’t care...