Sunset at Las Cabañas — Restaurant in El Nido

Idyllic setting, spectacularly poor service. Where to start? After dragging my suitcase over the sand on the 25 minute walk along the beach to the hotel I received a text a few mins before check in asking me if I’d like help with my luggage… In the room there was no toothbrush/toothpaste, tissues, body soap (that’s a first!), in fact no toiletries at all apart from shampoo. The tv didn’t work for the duration of the stay, internet only worked 1 day out of 4. Not a huge deal for me as I’m not a tv person and they did have a Bluetooth speaker but without the charging cable. I asked for one but they said they didn’t have one. Urgh. On third day I turned the shower on and the faucet fell off spewing water everywhere. I told the staff about this on the way to breakfast (which oddly is in a neighbouring resort) and left for the day returning at 4pm to find the bathroom still flooding. I lodged a complaint with the staff and they said they would bring a bucket and a pale for me to shower with! We agreed that if it wasn’t fixed by 6pm I could claim a refund for the final day. The shower was finally fixed 11 and a half hours later at 7:30pm upon which the staff told me there would be no refund but in admission of the faulty shower they would waive my charges for the dinner and lunch I’d had at the restaurant. Staff later came to my room and while admitting the shower was faulty and therefore offering to waive food charges they wanted me to pay for ‘damages’ to the shower. What? Your fault but my fault? Hmmm. Breakfast starts at 8am. The main activity in El Nido is boat tours which all start at 9am/gather at meeting point in El Nido town at 8:30. This means If you are booked on a boat tour you will have to skip breakfast - 25mins walk to trike from hotel and 20 mins trike to meeting point. The service is commensurate with the number of guests being that there are only 4 rooms. They try to focus on customers coming to their restaurant (why no breakfast?) to watch the sunset rather than staying guests. I didn’t try everything on the menu but the shrimp tacos were delicious. Everything else was well, old and dry. Staff were constantly smoking behind my hut and when I left the manager said ‘have a nice stay’ leaving the refund/payment for shower issue unresolved. I’m pretty sure they are going to try to charge my card now that I have...

The resort itself is a paradise - very peaceful, the best sunset spot in El Nido, a perfect place for relaxing and unwinding. The resort and the staff exceeded my expectations during our stay. The staff was very accomodating and friendly. Their manager, Echo, was very helpful and made our stay more memorable and worthwhile.

We stayed in Villa7 for 3nights and in Villa8 for a night. It was at the end of the shoreline, that makes it the perfect sunset spot. The rooms were very cozy and rustic, big bathrooms and has the complimentary items, good wifi signal inside the cabin and in their restaurant area, no mosquitoes (off-lotion included in the complimentary in case needed), no cockroaches, comfortable bed (you can also request to change beddings/do housekeeping), bathroom has hot/cold shower (did not encounter water interruption during our stay), cold AC inside the cabins (not loud), no power interruption during our stay and the veranda was very spacious. We even saw a dark brown squirrel beside our cabin!

We celebrated our 16th Anniversary in El Nido, and we were very happy that we chose this place. Aside from the undeniable beauty of the sunset, they also setup bonfire and the DJ plays cool music at the beach. The crowd were so amazing and enjoying the vibe while the sun was settling down. Their Manager Echo helped me setup a very romantic dinner by the beach to surprise my husband. Everything was perfect. Bar music stops around 9pm, and then the place will be quiet again.. Foods were amazing especially their gambas. I enjoyed their cocktails too.

We also explored the reef, and there were corals, turtles, clown fishes and different colorful fishes. We also saw six monkeys at the front of their restaurant near the hill. And a brown squirrel beside our Villa7.

I highly recommend this place in El Nido, we will surely be back...

The resort is at one of the corners/tips of el nido. It's about a leisurely 10-15 min walk from vanilla beach (outdoor mall) where most if not all el nido guests are dropped off and collected.

Best to have an airport transfer arranged thru the hotel, request for beach porters if you have a lot of luggages.

Be sure to hang out at the beach bar for sunset. Food and drink reasonably priced. Mornings are slow, the island starts waking up at brunch time. Rooms are very clean, aircon needs a bit of work but cool nonetheless.

Hotel staff are very courteous and attentive. If breakfast is included, it will be at the next door hotel "las cabanas" (at time of writing). Look for hazel.

For tours/island hopping, check out "dos hermanos" tour, as recommended too by hazel. Request for the tour guides benjie and jomar of the boat "sweet donna". Have some cash with you if you want to buy food/drink at some of the islands. You may also take your own during the trip. Also, bring your waterproof phone cases and bags.

If you want to take a downtown tour, take the tricycle at the entrance of vanilla beach mall by McDonald's for a total fee of P150 one way (3 passengers max), at time of writing. Check out "el nido art cafe botique" for...