Hof Gorei Beach Resort — Hotel in Samal

We booked through Facebook. The person on the other end gave clear instructions and was prompt in her responses.

We brought our own private vehicle and found the place after a bit of trial and error. About 15-20 minutes from Samal Port, but fairly hidden and off trail. Apparently, the location is outdated in Google Maps, but the signages, if one pays attention, are informative enough.

Upon arrival, the lady butler kindly greeted us alongside other workers who helped us with our baggage. We noticed that their reception area was under renovation, but it was looking good despite its lack of functionality.

From the reception area, there is a 3-5 minute "hike" down a long winding set of stairs. It was fairly difficult to get down and could be possibly be exhausting particularly for those who may be physically challenged or elderly.

We initially booked the round hut which has an overview of the entire resort. However, we were informed that the hut was being renovated. This would've been a problem except that, to compensate, they "upgraded" us to the bungalow suite, which was markedly better. So, no issues there.

The place itself was very spacious and larger than what the images show. The old-style european-filipino fusion buildings are surrounded by nature and animals, creating a very relaxing, natural, and serene vibe for those who are looking for it.

Unfortunately, some of the facilities lacked maintenance and were visibly neglected. For instance, a viewing balcony that would've had a great view of the beach and the other suites was overrun by foliage and animal droppings, which gave it a rather unpleasant smell. However, other important facilities such as the pathways for walking, minibar, pool, and our actual suite were well-maintained. Also, there were many animals all around the area- geese, chicken, dogs, cats, peacocks were all roaming around, while other animals like cockatoo's and a monkey were in cages.

The beach itself was very clean and had white sand. The actual beach premises were clearly demarcated and the facilities and furniture were neatly arranged, which added to the overall pleasantry. We had a great night swim, followed by a swim in the beach the next morning. It's also interesting to note that the pool itself had no closing time, and we were free to walk around the premises to our heart's content.

Finally, the customer service was top-notch. In our suite, we had a bell that we could ring (a hand bell) that would call our lady butler at any time that we wanted. She served us welcoming drinks when we arrived, and continued to serve us our dinner and breakfast at prompt times. It rained when we were there, and although we tried to contact her to postpone delivering our food for a bit and let the rain die down, our food still arrived promptly and warm.

However, it was quite sad that the entire place was empty- we were the only guests there from Saturday to Sunday. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but the area itself was so large that it was hard not to feel like it was deserted and lonely. The place would definitely be more lively should there have been more people. But that is not the fault of the place itself. Overall, the place was very nice. In the early morning, the sunrise is clearly visible from the beachfront and the overall vibe of nature from the balcony of our suite was very peaceful and conducive for relaxation and reflection (and even prayer, if you are...

Stayed at Hof Gorei for a week in mid October 2024. Booked via Abgoda.com No ferry transportation as advertized during booking. Santa Anna wharf not avialable, had to take taxi to Sasa wharf, then once on Samal Island tax 40 minutes to resort - all transportation costs contrary to booking website. According to the resort help the ferry that transported resort patrons directly between the warf and the resort stopped during Chovid and never resumed; however the website mentions nothing about this significant change to the resort's ammenities. Prior to checking in the resort help seemed unaware of our booking and reservation. Once at resort had to take about 200 steep winding steps to get to actual resort and we carried our lugguge using these stairs. Nobody met us at the taxi dropoff and upon arrival nothing in sight but old ruins and 200 nasty concrete stairs to reach the resort. I was embarassed as this was our honeymoon. 200 foot vertical drop via steep steps to access the actual sea-side resort. Had to negotiate these terrible steps everytime we wanted to leave the resort to go sighseeing or shopping to or buy drinking water. Resort requested we sign a legal waiver form before we were allowed to leave resort for shopping or sightseeing, very strange. We were at Hof Gorie for a week and we were the only patrons this entire time. Help was wonderful but my wife and I felt like we were the only people on planet earth. We could not wait to leave the resort. Nothing to do at the resort, no other resort patrons to talk to, just nobody, very eerie. The staircase necessary to access the resort or to leave the resort is truly a nightmare, not at all handicapped accessible and at least a couple of hundred feet vertical just to access the road that led to the resort. The king sized bed was actually two twin beds pushed together. WIFI was essentially non-existent. It was advertised that the ferry would pick us up on the mainland at Santa Anna warf. Not only was this not the case but even the literature received after payment gave the wrong warf and then unlike the literature we still had to take a 40 minute taxi to get to the horrible long and steep staircase which ultimately led to the beachside resort far below the street level. I would not recommend staying at this resort, even though the help was very polite. I give the resort employees a high review. But 1 out of 5 starts for the remainder of this resort experience. The television available in the room was terrible. Very few channels and the reception was bad. Ants in the room and all over the furniture outside the room. Had to travel to town to purchase water as the resort only provides two 12 oz complimentary bottles of water - that is it, just two bottles of drinking water! Dirty muddy beach, (no sand), so we did not swim. Resort extremely overgrown and animals, (caged and uncaged) and animal feces everywhere. Trust this advise from someone who booked a week at Hof Gorei -* * *book anywhere else on Samal Island except Hof...

This must be the worst overnight stay of my life. On arrival we had to negotiate some huge downward steps which were too high and too wide and were throwing us out of balance - you had to climb down like step by step, as if you were disabled. Thankfully someone carried our luggage to the room, access to which proved equally challenging as the steps kept multiplying around it. The room was circular in plan and of course completely dis-functional. Someone should have whispered to the owner, who told us she architected everything herself, that there are serious reasons why rooms are rectangular and not circular. Even the door was shaped like a sausage and as a chartered architect myself, I just couldn’t stop laughing. The interior was cramped with unnecessary furniture and the AC pointed directly onto the bed, so just in case you didn’t have pneumonia or lumbago you’d have it. I managed to divert the direction using good ingenuity since the louvre didn’t respond to the remote control. The shower and toilet were a flight of stairs lower and in separate cubicles. There was no shampoo or any other toiletry. ||||We tried to rest for a while and no sooner our eyes were shut there was banging on the door by a young boy claiming to be our butler and wanting to take our order for dinner. I said to him I didn’t realise we were in half board and they confirmed we weren’t but still insisted to take an order from us. We told him we might decide to go out for dinner to which he looked shocked. Anyway he came back in half an hour and took an order we hurriedly put together for him. We slowly made our way down to the seafront after having huge difficulties climbing down those incongruous steps - steps should be 17.5cm max high and max 30cm wide in order to facilitate climbing in a walking style. These were monstrous. ||So we waited for our food and was shocked to see around 4 waiters - all interns - to rush along to bring a plate of food. It was so funny, one waiter ahead with a plate in his hand and three followed empty handed.||||Back in the room I couldn’t sleep even for a minute. Every time I turned I thought the bed would collapse and every time I went to the bathroom (flight of external monstrous steps to lower level) I had to jump over a huge dog sleeping outside our door.||||Finally the bill. We got dumped with a huge VAT uplift and a 10% service charge which we didn’t know about. They wanted to apply the service charge even to the drinks we got from the mini bar. The menu prices should have included the VAT by law but obviously they don’t take anything seriously around this resort. Comparing this place to the 4 star hotels we stayed in and around Davao for the same price, it clearly lacked in standards, design, layout, service and comfort. I forgot to mention that the inclusive breakfast was a one-egg omelette with some fried onion and traces of a sausage. We even had to pay for drinking water. Honestly, we felt like we were mugged....