Big Bamboo Beach Resort Sipalay — Hotel in Sipalay

Big Bamboo is very unique resort. Located technically on an island just off sugar Beach, Big Bamboo is dedicated to the local fauna, waves, wind, views, and wildlife.

When I first arrived I was greeted very warmly by an eager member of the team who went out of her way to get me settled, this is huge plus for this resort. Their staff will do whatever is needed to help meet your needs.

I requested the deluxe room. Quickly I learned of the room's pros and cons. PROS: clean, new, solid wood cabin. Good A.C., ceiling fan, good shower, reasonably comfy new mattress. CONS: NO TV, phone, wifi, refridge, sitting area, limited views

Needless to say the resort is designed around the idea that you go to your room for Sleep, Shower, *hit, Shave, maybe *ex! Lol; but that you do not spend the majority of your time there. Rather they have a great beach, kayaking, boat rides/ Island hopping, and more. The campus is a botanist's delight.. All kinds of unique plants and fauna there. Mosquitos were surprisingly sparse. I saw two different types of frogs I've never seen before my life, and a pair of unique yellow short legged salamanders chasing each other up and down a tree. Mostly I could easily watch a huge variety of colorful and talkative birds from several different species. Unfortunately the two days I was there it rained most all the time. There is Pisonet Wi-Fi in the bar restaurant area but it doesn't reach very far. Smart network works well there, but GLOBE and other networks don't seem to work at all. If you go make sure you have a SMART SIM card if you want data and calling privileges. I was frustrated without any internet or calling privileges because I only had globe and I was a little bit stranded there because of the rain. It would have been nice if the resort had some sim cards for sale for Smart. This would have eased my experience quite a bit. Lastly I have to talk about their food. One would not expect much from this kitchen. One would be very wrong. I had several dishes here which were really amazing. The fried lumpia was the best I've ever had traveling all over the Philippines for many years. Super light crisp skin, with a freshly made filling of delicious chicken, cabbage, and other vegetables in a perfectly balanced dipping sauce. It really was to die for!!! I also had their chicken wings which were done perfectly and more than enough for a meal. Unlike many Filipino restaurants, they have perfected the art of frying foods and really did an outstanding job with a number of dishes. I ate six meals there and wasn't disappointed by any of them. Occasionally I need to ask for something to be cooked a little bit more but they graciously did it. If I had to survive on their food for the rest of my life that would not be a bad thing. They have a perfect Phil/Am balance in their menu. You can definitely enjoy the experience there if you go with the right expectations. I will be going back again sometime in the future just not during...

Terrible resort! Not well-maintained. Owner is super rude! Does not know how to take care of its guests. We made a partial payment to book the room a few days before we were to arrive. It was confirmed. We had communication with the frontdesk but upon arrival, we were advised we wont be able to use one of the rooms pre-booked because its air condition unit wasnt working and the electrician has just been contacted. We asked if we can at least have a discount or any complimentary service since we've travelled from a far and wont be able to use the room immediately. Instead of accommodating us, owner interrupted his frontdesk and said in a rude tone, we can cancel our booking, leave and check out other resorts. It would have been understandable if he had said it in a way he wouldnt be disrespecting a guest since they are out of rooms and couldnt give us another room but instead, he was being arrogant argued with us. Even said he can close the resort and have everyone else fired because he doesnt care. The frontdesk personnel felt sorry for us and apologized. She was also embarrassed of how the owner treated us. We then decided to leave and insisted he give us back our money. Not recommending this resort at all. Not clean and only have 6 or 7 rooms not even worthy of your...

Room rates are very reasonable for its amenities - air conditioning, spacious room with its own C.R., two double deck beds, small ref, shower heater, small security safe, racks for your bags and other belongings. The room we got is good for 6, and is spacious enough for 6 persons.

It has its own restaurant, and I actually did not see any nearby restaurants in the place. Their food is good, and I find them very much worth what we paid for.

It is just a few meters away from the beach. Beach has soft sand, nice for walking barefoot. There are trees around providing shade if you want to just lie and enjoy the beach. I was not able to enjoy swimming there because there was a storm during our stay, and the waves were quite large.

Very friendly staff. Although some of our orders took quite some time before arriving, but they acknowledge their mistake and apologize for it, and gave us other options.

The sliding door lock of our room was very difficult to lock.

When outside your room, there are lots of mosquitoes at night. But they gave us mosquito coils upon request.

There are many dogs in the beach. They don’t bother me, but some people may not be comfortable with them.

The area has weak SUN and DITO signals. When inside our room, there...