Hippocampus Beach Resort — Restaurant in Malapascua

I would consider this a “2.5 star hotel” The good things first: The beds are very comfy, and everything was clean. my air con worked very well, wifi worked decent for an island that runs on generators. The room included a balcony with chairs and also a clothing line to hang your clothes which for me was very important. The not so good things: The access to clean drinking water to refill bottles is from the bar/restaurant, and it was constantly empty and nearly every time I needed to refill my water, I had to plead with the staff at the bar to refill it. When waking up early morning for shark diving, I would discover that the bar staff did not refill the drinking water when closing the night before and therefore we were without water. I had to annoy the security guard at 5 a.m. to refill the water tank so we could drink and fill up water before the diving. I wish they would monitor it more and always replace the water tank at night when they close up the bar. The shower is outdated, many times late at night or early in the morning there was no water,water pressure or hot water (I’m not sure if this is their fault or simply because of the energy supply on the island) and several times I had to take a “Filipino style” shower by dumping a cup of water on myself again and again from the sink. They list a rule of “No food in the room” I think this is a bit extreme, especially for the divers like myself who wake up before 5 a.m. for the shark diving and there is no breakfast for us at this time, so we must eat some small snack to start our morning, and this snack needs to be stored in the room. I understand eating a burger or meal in the room is a problem but small snacks should be allowed. There are alot of reviews which complain about the live music being so loud until 11 p.m. on weekends when divers need to wake up very early for the shark diving. I have mixed feelings about this, the live music is very nice and is really the only nightlife on the beach. I am not an early sleeper so it really didn’t effect me much but I understand it is a conflict of interest for the hotel and the divers. Not sure what more to say about this. Overall there is room for improvement, but the room itself was...

Upon checking in to the hotel I was greeted by friendly staff and a welcome drink (iced tea) I was given my room key and shown to my room. (Room 6) ||The rooms were very basic but fairly spacious, consisting of two single beds, the rooms had box style ac which worked well. The downsides of the room were no fridge, electric style hot water which had relatively low water pressure (although water was adequately hot) there was no Tv, and the bathrooms were just a tad on the small side in general. ||When it came time to sleep it was cool in my room with the AC on but humid in my room with the AC off. The beds have only a sheet on them and no blankets. I enquired and was told I had blanket, and then I said I had a sheet and no blanket and they said yes a thin blanket. Almost like they had no idea what a real blanket or quilt actually was.. i was told they don’t use proper blankets at this hotel. This was a bit of a deal breaker for me. ||I also dived with devocean dive centre which is a part of this hotel. ||All in all the staff were friendly and helpful, the dive centre was professional. But the rooms could use a few more features. In my opinion if they threw a quilt, tv and fridge in there they would be decent rooms. (As there isn’t much to do on the island when not diving)||Also worth noting is the walkways to and from the rooms were sand so your rooms gets covered in it, a broom would be handy. (All rooms on malapascua likely have the same problem so don’t hold that against them)||As a result of the blankets I ended up leaving a day earlier than...

1.The rooms are tidy, but the back side of the hotel was very horrible, they use to keep garbage at the back so when we go out of our rooms it smells so bad! Imagine waking up in the morning with that horrid smell. The staff are friendly, but when we had barbecue dinner, i told the cooking staff to cook it immediately so when we come back, the food is ready. 30 mins later, the food was not even cooked. Then after serving the barbecue, nobody gave us the rice that we ordered, when I asked the cooking staff (after 10 mins of waiting), they said that nobody knows that the was was not yet served. Imagine being so hungry and tired after a day of diving. The waitresses also are trying to avoid to look at us when they know we need something. Also, they asked us if they can clean our tables when we are not even finished eating yet. No complimentary water during dinner for the guests. No room wifi. The room also doesn't have any cup or even spoon to use when you need it if you want to drink coffee or tea. The steps of the stairs are so high apart, it is not child friendly and pregnant friendly. The only good thing with them is that the room was tidy, aside from that, nothing special.

I recommend the hotel beside it, OCEAN VIDA. During our 3 days stay in Malapascua, my sister booked there with her partner and their room was amazing. The services was so good. Even though they don't have a lot of staff, but they are more than enough because everybody is working hard. The management was excellent! Food was great! Specially the...