Tribal Hills Mountain Resort — Hotel in Puerto Galera

When In Puerto Galera: The Tribal Hills Mountain Resort Review

After road tripping for 3 hours (from Manila to Batangas) and sailing for an hour aboard an inter- island ferry, the last thing on our minds upon arriving at Puerto Galera was finding ourselves in any stressful situation.

Luckily, we were booked at Tribal Hills Mountain Resort - where being stressed out is a thing of the past.

To sum up our stay at Tribal Hills, we gave it our TMW score of 5/5. Here's

SERVICE: The resort prides itself in maintaining a full staff to cater to the guests' needs. The staff were courteous, pleasant and reliable, always willing to extend help and were sincerely eager to please. They were knowledgeable about the region, cuisine and travel related questions.

Another service that the resort provides are the free shuttle services that ferry you to and from the resort. There is a designated schedule (departure and pic up times), but I noticed that they're not so strict in following that scheduled. Upon arriving at the resort, I realized that I hadn't sealed the cap of my contact lens fluid on tightly, resulting in me losing the entire contents of the bottle. Luckily, one of the 2 drivers, Manong Charlo was around. He brought us to a pharmacy at the White Beach area and waited til we got everything we needed, then brought us back to the resort, despite the fact that there wasn't a shuttle scheduled to leave.  SCORE 5/5

CLEANLINESS AND AMENITIES: With the numerous employees at the resort, cleanliness will never be an issue. Tribal Hills Mountain Resort is a well maintained establishment - from the rooms to it's facilities, we did not have any concerns at all.

Room wise, our Double Deluxe room was quite spacious and tastefully decorated.

Our huge private terrace gave us a wonderful view of Mt. Malasimbo on one side and a view of the Talipanan beach and South China Sea on the other.

The queen sized bed and accompanying pillows were quite comfy. A pull out trundle bed was great too for MAX.  For anything, the room also had a personal fridge in it.

The AC was more than enough to cool the room, while the cable TV was great especially for Phil who had to watch the Cavs and the Golden State Warriors battle it out.

An en suite bathroom provided us with hot and cold showers with enough counter space for my toiletries.

signal's a bit weaker in the afternoonsWiFi came in the form of Globe Tattoo LTEs. The only downside to this device was that signals were weak inside the room. You had to leave the gadget on the table at the veranda, but still be able to surf in the cool confines of your room.

Amenities-wise, the resort housed an outdoor pool and a Jacuzzi. They also have a billiards table near the swimming pool area.

I don't know whether to be proud or terrified. Apparently, 2nd and 3rd child are naturals at archery the archery range structure is perched up on a tree house of sorts Higher up the property, you can also find an archery range. The cost of renting out the archery equipment is around P300/hour,regardless of how many people use the bow.

The resort also houses various ATVs that you can rent out and use to go around the island. ATV rentals cost P500/4 hours plus you have to gas it up when you bring it back.

For P2500/5 people, we got to go island hopping, snorkeling and fish feeding in one of the clearest waters we've seen

While we did not take advantage of this activity, it will be good to know that they offer a free guided trek to the Aninuan Falls. Inquire at the front desk if you'd also want to go snorkeling, fishing, fish feeding, parasailing...

First time we stayed here was way back in June 2016 for a 3 night 4 day stay at their Deluxe Suite for 3 adults and 1 child. Despite the weather our vacation was superb.||||After 3 years we came back as a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids) plus 1 companion and stayed at their Penthouse for 4 nights and 5 days. Wife was 4 months pregnant with our 3rd child and with 2 restless kids in tow, comfort was a priority for us during this trip and their Penthouse gave us a feel of home. The Suite came with a fully functional kitchen with everything you need to make family meals. The living room had 2 sofas and a flat screen TV, and the bed room had 2 king size beds comfortable to fit all five of us. Best part of the Suite was that it had a balcony that gives you the best view of the area and more that enough space for the kids to run and play.||||Since my wife was pregnant we opted to avail of their rates without breakfast as she loves to cook. We booked the resort shuttle (500 pesos back and forth) to take us to the town to get things we needed at the market. Do take note that there is a small grocery and small meat shops in the immediate area however because of my wife's cravings we made the short trip to town. Our shuttle driver, Jessie, was very accommodating as he showed us the market stalls to get the best meat cuts we wanted.||||We took the shuttle daily to Aninuan Beach which is around a 3 minute ride from the resort. You have about a 2 minute trail walk from the drop off point before coming out to the beachfront fronting the Ayala's rest house which sprawls along the stretch of Aninuan Beach. If you want peace and quiet at the same time enjoy swimming without worrying about your belongings on the sand then this is the beach I'd recommend you go to however if you want to see people around you with resorts and restaurants as your backdrop and beach activities then I'd recommend going over to the White Beach area.||||The only only activity we did was the island hopping which was organized by Val. He booked us a small boat for 1800 pesos (boat prices may vary depending on the size of the boat and the season) good enough to fit 3 adults and 2 kids. The 1st stop was the coral gardens which we all enjoyed - I suggest you avail of the smaller boat (about 200 pesos per head) once you reach the coral gardens to take you nearer as the regular sized boats are not permitted near the area. Take note that it is a long way if you opt to swim to the coral gardens from the drop point. From here we did not anymore go the the giant clam area anymore and decided to head for the island to enjoy the beach and have lunch. I recommend you pack your lunch and enjoy it when you stopover on the island, if you don't like to cook then the resort will be able to prepare your meals for you for the island hopping trip. ||||The other activities you can try are the Tamaraw and Aninuan Falls, the ATV trek offered at Tribal Hills, and Archery.||||This was our last hurrah for a vacation before school starts and overall we all had a blast. We definitely will come back to Tribal Hills when my wife give birth and we will always consider it home away from home. ||||Service is excellent and we commend Shayne for taking care of our booking reservations for both vistis, Lea for taking care of our daily needs in the hotel, Kuya Jojo for shuttling us back and forth to the port, Kuya Jessie for shuttling around town and and Aninuan Beach whenever we wanted. ||||To the owners and the rest of the staff...Thank you much for making our stay wonderful! We will see you soon. ||Jessie...

Staff were friendly and attentive to our needs. Hotel is located at the top of a very steep hill but offers free shuttle service with a driver on call who can bring you to the beaches or the ports anytime from 7am to 10pm. Since the terrain is hilly, the buildings are built at multiple levels, and you need to go up and down many stairs (no elevators), so it's not recommended for PWD or the elderly. The deluxe rooms are large, and open out to a spacious balcony with a wonderful view of the mountains. It's very quiet and relaxing - a totally different vibe from the noise and crowds at White Beach. Resort is not on the beach front, but White Beach is a 5-minute drive, and Aninuan Beach is a short walk. What we liked is that given its "central" location and the free shuttle, we were able to explore all 3 main beaches - White Beach, Aninuan Beach and Talipanan Beach. They provide free pocket wifi, and free distilled water from a large dispenser, which are also much appreciated. The room is clean upon check-in, but they don't clean everyday (we stayed 3 nights and the room was never cleaned). It seems they only do it upon request. The mattress is of good quality, but the beddings are thin. They also need to replace the bath towels and sterilize them well. The pool is also clean but the jacuzzi was not working when we were there. The pool area has a small bar, but the pool itself is not lighted at night so we had to swim in the dark. The restaurant's food is good, but they need to improve the menu variety and food service was a bit slow (takes 30 mins. to an hour). We wanted to try their ATV at the Nature Park but the trails were unfortunately damaged by the recent typhoon. Resort amenities were basic but sufficient. This resort is a lot better than those located on the beach front which have similar price points but fewer amenities and less pleasant surroundings. Overall it was a good stay and worth the discounted...