Princesa Garden Island Resort and Spa — Restaurant in Puerto Princesa

I'm sure the hotel management will respond to this review with a copy&paste answer about how they're short staffed or the city is struggling with the weather, too, or that the flooding was unprecedented. I am completely sympathetic to all of these items. However, unless they are paying their staff more and actually supporting the local area with the extorted prices, it's just an exploitative, unacceptable excuse.

Giving 2 stars for a 1 star experience only because the staff was great.

We paid $671 for 3 nights. The sole reason we booked this hotel was because of the amenities. The room itself was newly renovated, but both the comforter and pillow cases were stained.

The night we arrived there was a huge storm and terrible flooding. We had to walk in ankle deep water to get to our room. (It's important to note that it is not moonsoon, typhoon, or rainy season. But, we completely understand there's nothing you can do about the weather.) We lost power several times throughout the night. The next morning, it paused raining and the staff did a great job pumping out water and getting the place back operational. But then it was downhill from there.

They were incredibly understaffed and mismanaged. Numerous times, we were left standing at a counter when we'd see a staff member RUNNING in the pouring rain trying to get back to their area. We realized it was because they had to keep leaving for room service deliveries and didn't have enough people to cover their areas. All but one restaurant was open, and a large portion of the menu wasn't available. So you were stuck paying for food you probably don't want, and it is pricy at this hotel. One other restaurant said it was open online, so we walked up to the 8th floor, 4 of those through an active construction site (the elevator is broken), just to be told it was closed. Literally, everything was closed/not available, and not just because of the weather. The activity & kids area was closed due to a previously collapsed roof. When we hit the pool between storms, we came out green from the alge. When we went to rinse off, we found that they no longer had hot water. The spa is only (limited) in-room service as the location is under construction. We tried to send laundry out and were told they had no water to do laundry. This also let us know they weren't washing anything as they switched to paper napkins at the restaurant.

The second day, the hotel completely lost power, and we woke up to cables strung up throughout the courtyard. We were lucky to be staying in the only wing with a generator, but all other guests had to be either moved to our wing or transferred to their sister hotel that runs $51 a night. We weren't given any option to move, but overheard this at the front desk. At night, we listened to the water pump nonstop outside our window and were awoken promptly at 9am when construction started to hammer above us. For breakfast, we arrived just after 9 (it goes till 10) to find barely any food left, and what was, was cold and hard.

Honestly, we would have been fine with all of this had the hotel acknowledged it was happening and offered any type of compensation. Maybe just a discount at the restaurant as we had to eat at the same restaurant for every meal with limited options.

We were told to arrive 10min early for the airport shuttle only for it to be 10min late. I want to emphasize that none of this was due to a lack of care from the hotel staff. They were literally just trying to keep this place above water, but management/ownership is clearly just willing to exploit both the workers and the guest to ensure their profit.

After the construction is finished, they hire more staff, and if they practice crisis management, this could be a great hotel. However, know that the hotel you're booking is not equipped to handle anything other than a sunny day. And if you find yourself stuck in the room without wifi, water pumps going all night, no hot water, and no clean linens, you will still pay for that 4 star experience...

I hate to rate this a 1 star because the staff was incredible here. I would have given them two stars because they were so kind however they have not reached back to me regarding all the problems we encountered and it's been over a month. The following is an email (with a few corrections) I wrote to the managers and no action has been taken.

We booked knowing that it was a soft opening however we did not expect all these inconveniences.

We booked the family room three weeks before our arrival with the ocean view but that was not ready. We were very disappointed but we were understanding. The staff kindly offered us two connecting rooms and complimentary massages but unfortunately we will not be able to use the massages. I will explain shortly. When we entered the rooms it was unreasonably hot. It took a while to cool down the room. When we were about to get into the pool we had to call the front desk to have it cleaned. There was debris floating from the nearby construction. It was not a great first impression.

We were told that our room will be ready the following day. We arrived home around 7pm (May 14th). As we approached the door, two men were smoking in front of the room surrounded by cleaning supplies. We entered and were immediately surrounded by mosquitoes. The room was warm and the AC was not working. We put our dinner down and was unable to eat for a few hours because we spent almost 2.5 hours killing mosquitoes. We estimated about 40+ mosquitoes. The back of my legs were covered in bites and I have a severe reaction to them. I barely could sit or bend my legs. My husband's back was covered in bites as well. There is no way we can sit through a massage.

After almost 3 hours we finally were able to eat dinner and get to bed around 10pm. When I lifted the comforter the sheets looked like someone with dirty feet or shoes stepped on it. It was so disappointing and sad after such a rough evening. We were at our wits end. We initially had a trip planned to El Nido but we cancelled it because we wanted to at least enjoy the ocean view room (the original room that we paid top dollar for) and we were exhausted from the previous night of killing mosquitos. We decided to tour Honda Bay so we could at least have a few hours to enjoy the room before our flight in the morning. Unfortunately, my daughter woke up with a terrible ear ache that could be from a mosquito bite.

I'm so grateful that the pool is ready however I would not call this safe. There is a part of the pool with exposed wires and unfinished concrete. I told my kids to not go to that area.

This is our first international trip as a family and this is a once in a lifetime experience for us and sadly it was very disappointing. If we knew the circumstances and state of this hotel we would have not reserved it for three nights. It should have been clear on the website that there would be construction workers, debris and loud noises all around the premises all the time.

It really saddens me to write an email like this however I must document our experience because we paid a lot of money to fly here and to stay here. I hope you can understand the difficulties we all have faced and I hope we come to a resolution.

This was sent May 13, 2022 with a follow up email sent 10 days ago and no one has responded to me. I did not want to take this publicly but I'm left...

Let's start with a few good things. Good view. Some good staff members we remember that were nice and accorded us with commendable service- the security guards, the towel/ pool attendants and airport transfer driver.

Now the issues: Originally booked room that should have 2 Queen sized beds. In actual, we were given a room with 2 Twin sized beds only. This is false advertising and a violation against consumer act.

Not flexible. Arrival is at 7am and departure from hotel is 5am. We did not insist for an early check in. Instead, we requested in advance if we can avail the breakfast form the date of departure to the date arrival since we dont prefer a packed meal. It was not granted.

Slow service. Requests were either given very late or not at all. We requested additional towels upon arrival but it was given late in the evening when we asked for housekeeping assistance. The floor towel was never given related to #5.

Even the call if room was already available happened after the fact. We proceeded to have a tour while waiting for the check in since we arrived early, we were the one who called to ask (around 1230) only to know that it is available already. Then that was the time we received a call.

Long power interruption. Generator not quickly turned on. It happened during our last day since the other time it happened was just just short brown outs. We have an early flight and need to be up early. We did not have a good sleep since power was off at around 230am (at least when i noticed it). Called the recep and told us that it was due to the frequent power interruption, they are having a problem coping up with it. Power restored at 3:50am when we are almost up preparing for check out! Should have a good genset system since I think hotel is aware of the problem when it comes to the power supply of the city.

Clogged shower drain/ bathroom water proofing. For this case, quick action given but the floor towel they took was never replaced as promised. Even did a follow up but still not given which is related to concern #3. The door for the shower leaks to the other side due to a gap.

Buffet breakfast and tomato basil resto. Did several inquiry if pancake and waffle will be refilled since kids want it. Staff always say they will check at the kitchen (at least inquired 2x) but still did not fill up (at least at the time that we were there). Again, related to #3. At the tomato basil, same slow service even if not much of customers. Too soft and oily fries, bland chicken and with sign of blood (possibly frozen when cooked). Not worth the price.

Bathroom. Even if it has blinds, still visible through and through. Not a good scenario if you have kids.

Poor wifi connection. Not so helpful for people who needs to do work given that data connection is also not too good.

Not too friendly staff at the children recreation area (Sunday, around 8pm).

We were supposed to enjoy the long weekend but it was not a great experience. Not recommended if you want a total...