CChanchanshuoThe hotel is about a 30-minute Grab ride from Cebu Airport, costing around 50 RMB. However, a white taxi from the airport has a fixed rate of 300 pesos (I'm not sure why Grab was more expensive).
First, the positives: The hotel has a certain design aesthetic. When the tide is high in the morning, the hotel's private beach is great for photos. There are paid activities like island hopping, fishing, and jet skiing available right on the beach. All three pools have good water quality (aside from a few fallen leaves). Pizza Hut offers relatively affordable prices, and the beef short ribs at Allegro all-day dining are a must-try for dinner – a huge portion for 950 pesos, and absolutely delicious. The staff are incredibly friendly; as long as you can communicate with a mix of English and gestures, they are always happy to help, but you need to be proactive in expressing yourself. Once, an Alipay payment was delayed, and the restaurant staff verified it through multiple channels – their attitude remained consistently friendly, which is the main reason I'm giving a perfect score 💯.
Now for the negatives: The hotel's own promotion seems to be lacking. Before my trip, I found very few reviews or guides from Chinese travelers online, and indeed, most guests at the hotel were Koreans and Westerners, with Chinese guests making up less than 10%. Secondly, the room type classifications on Ctrip are quite confusing. The 'Executive Deluxe Room' is actually located in the hotel's only 6-story building. If you're afraid of bugs, you can request a higher floor, but this building faces the street, which can feel a bit less secure. The hotel also has room types similar to 'beach villas' in the Maldives, but you can't discern these from the Ctrip descriptions, so an update is recommended. Lastly, there were two issues with hygiene: first, there were quite a lot of flies at the dinner buffet, which Westerners didn't seem to mind much. The other was the water quality – I won't post pictures, but I brought my own shower filter, and it turned yellow after just one shower! I went through three in four days! OMG! I don't know if the water in Cebu is filtered seawater because it tasted a bit salty. So, as soon as you arrive, make sure to turn right out of the hotel and buy large bottles of mineral water from a 'ZMN' mart or something similar! I think you'll need it for washing (though I ate over a dozen meals at the hotel and didn't get sick, so perhaps I'm being overly cautious).
Overall, I feel this is a beautiful hotel that is a bit underestimated in its promotion. If you want to experience the local culture, I recommend staying here for a few days (P.S. The singer at the dinner restaurant did a really great rendition of 'Top of the World').
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