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The facility itself is nice but for the my version of a 5 star rating the resort would need to meet the standard of Peninsula Tokyo or the Park Hyatt in Kyoto. Unfortunately the facility doesn’t not meet that standard. What will make up for the lack of the amenities, cleanliness and attention to detail is the service provider. From the front desk to the waiter and waitress, to the cleaning Male/ladies, the service staff will go above and beyond to meet your needs. Last draw back is the sand flies (nik nik as the locals refer to them) are pesky little suckers….literally which makes one hesitant to enjoy the beautiful beach on the resort…which then leads to you missing the beautiful sunrise and sunset that one would expect in paradise. Over all, yes i would gladly return to this facility. It is probably the best on the island but I cannot on good conscience say the this is a 5star resort.

I understand why reviews of this hotel are so mixed. I first stayed in the newer part - a beautiful room on the 3rd floor, overlooking the beach. The room was clean, new and sparkling. There was a modern key card lock system, a fabulous bathroom and great views. Then, I was transferred to a room in the older section. Here, the bathroom had only a hand held shower head, the grout was discolored and the water didn't drain well, leaving me standing in a puddle while using the sink. The wood furniture and floor was scuffed and worn. The door lock used a key and was a bit flimsy. That said, it had a balcony overlooking the beach that offered the same great views. Avoid the first floor, as others have said, because people walk by on the way to breakfast and there is little privacy. El Nido beach is very busy, with walkers, vendors, even motorcycles, so be sure to get a higher floor.

The location is good and their facilities is awesome. However, i felt disappointed to the smell of the lobby it smells off and feels like dirty because there’s a lot of flies flying everywhere & I don’t know why. Also the cushions and set also in the main lobby looks dirty. This is the first impression of mine thinking that this is one of the luxury resorts in El nido. It would be appreciated if their lobby is clean and smells nice because as a guest this would be there’s first impression upon entering in the hotel.

The resort is in a great location with a small but quiet beach and a nice house reef outside. Beware that some units require walking up a lot of steps and the ones set away from the beach have a lot of mosquitoes around. The staff are super friendly and nice although the service of the hotel could be more attentive i.e when lying on the beach you don’t get asked if you want drinks. Room cleaning was only done once in our 7 day stay and only because we asked for it. Towels are not automatically offered to beach goers all the time. The restaurant is pretty slow with almost an hour for food to arrive sometimes. The food itself can be nice depending on what you order. Some is pretty good actually…others a bit average. Pricewise, this isn’t a cheap hotel and I feel that if you compare the price to resorts in other tropical beach locations around the world, you get much better service in other places like Sheratons, Marriotts and Hiltons etc. that said, overall I would still recommend Matinloc for the great beach and reef.

Pluses • Nice spacious room, very comfy bed and pillows, smart tv, a bottle of complementary wine, bathroom with full amenities, strong water pressure • Masseuse at the spa gave a wonderful full body massage • Breakfast was good – full spread and different dishes every day • We were allowed to keep our room until 2pm as our flight was at 5pm Minuses • For a high-end resort, service is everything. Lihim advertises “bespoke” service with its butler service, but the overall level of service we received was mediocre at best. The butter/s assigned to us had no initiative, did not go out of his/her way to make sure everything was all right, was absent most of the time except to text us and to have us sign for bills, were not knowledgeable about the tours being offered by the hotel. (1) I asked whether we could move our return flight to an earlier flight, the butler just said he didn’t know if there were earlier flights. I asked him to find out, he never did. (2) We had to go online to find out details on the tour we were taking because he could not provide any information. (3)) We asked for a pickup from the town square at 8pm at 7:30pm. At 7:50pm, the butler confirmed the car was on its way. By 8:30m we were still waiting in the street and followed up once again. The car arrived at 8:45pm. Turns out the driver was never informed of the pickup by the butler when she confirmed to us that the car was on the way. No personal apology for the inconvenience caused to us at all. (4) Upon check-out, both butlers came to our room to have us pay the bill. No “hope you enjoyed your staff, thank you for coming, hope you can come back”. One accompanied us to the airport, on bringing down our bags from the car, didn’t even offer to help us with our bags. He said bye, and got back in the car. (3) We did not see or speak to any general manager while in the resort. I don’t know if there was even on one on site. • The ala carte lunch we ordered at Gana upon arrival while our room was still being cleaned was pretty bad. After that, except for breakfast which was included in the package and which was good), we would eat in the restaurants in El Nido town square each evening and had yummy, tasty food at different restaurants at better prices (even if it meant being charged P1000 for the round-trip transfers). On our last day, we tried the higher-end Henri restaurant. Quality was better than Gana but we still preferred eating in El Nido town given the better choice of food outside the resort. • The “bespoke” tours offered by the resort are basic and overpriced for what you get. We did the Hapag and Cadlao tours – except for the use of speedboats instead of outrigger bancas, both could have been run by any tour operator in town, lacking in any differentiated service or experience given the premium price charges. Towels and cold bottled water were provided but that’s a bare minimum for the price they charge. It would have cost next to nothing to have a basket fille

The rooms are advertised as 50 sq meters but they are not even close. Roughly half the size of that (see photos). The hotel is also old and noisy (Doors and windows are thin, we were awoken constantly from inside and outside the hotel). Our room had ants everywhere. We told the front desk, and they didn't care. Also the curtains fell off the wall and they put them back up but we couldn't open them. They said they'd come repair, but never did. Breakfast has a lovely view, but the food was a poor assortment of bad tasting items. Sadly the room has a lovely view of the mountains, but also has a view of trash (see photos). Finally, they have the most annoying policies, asking for deposits for a 2nd keycard to get into your room or for towels. That's right, they will give you the first key card without requiring a deposit. But if you are 2 people and want another, they are worried about you losing it and want a deposit. What happens if I lose the first one? No fee? Trying to explain anything to the front desk people is a waste of time. All nods and smiles but no comprehension. I even asked a supervisor to contact me so I could discuss their policies but of course no one reached out during all the 3 days I was there. On a positive note the place is in the perfect location and the staff is at least friendly. They offer offer free water on each floor. And they provided a free shuttle to and from the airport which was a nice touch. It is for these three things I upped them from one to two stars. You'd be better off staying across the street at their brand new sister property (same owner).

Hotel is good for its money. Located almost on the beach. The beach was very enjoyable, even more than nakpan. Approximately the same, but the people are less. Breakfast is weak, the child has nothing to eat at all. There are no fresh vegetables. Still bad noise isolation, people in the hall are saying, everything is heard. And still a couch with the balcony. We didn't have any chairs on it, no swimsuit dry. What the hell is it needed at all?

We had a fantastic stay in El Nido despite challenges at this hotel and the *********** description being inaccurate to the room. Pros of staying: easy access by tricycle off the main road, beautiful sunset views, free kayak rentals, great and attentive bar and restaurant crew, good but very limited breakfast, air-conditioned rooms with outdoor drying racks for clothes. Cons of staying: far from town, no hot water, brief loss of power, terrible to no internet, dogs and cats with mange that will put their paws on your lap while you eat, variable quantity of food for breakfast (sometimes 1 egg, sometimes 2), they do not clean your room, front desk will lie to your face over several important issues (see below), (and minor issue) instant packet coffee only. As for the front desk issues: I at first thought there was a gap in communication, but things kept happening that made it clear they were just negligent and rude. I would like to preface this by saying I've spent over 4 months in the Philippines with no issues communicating even when both individuals don't understand the other's language. This hotel's website is in English and is marketed in English. The front desk also showed their hand by remembering several details including our van transfer time and date while pretending to not remember several other things they literally wrote down on the same sheet of paper. Most of our communications were with Catherine Apa. 1. They tried to kick us out before the day they told us we were checking out. We had booked a 3-night stay and tried to add another day online, but were unable to modify our reservation. We booked a 4th night separately and were happy to switch rooms if we had to. The first thing we did on arrival was to ask if we could stay in the same room for all 4 nights. They said OK and scheduled our van transfer to the airport the morning after our 4th night. Thank God we were in the room at 12PM the day before check-out, because they tried to make us leave. I showed her my reservation (again), and she told us we would have to move to a different room. She said ”don't worry, it's a deluxe room with the same price with an ocean view. But you have to get out now because someone else booked your room.” OK, so we hastily pack up the whole room and just as we finish, she pops in to tell us ”actually you can stay here” with no apology whatsoever. At this point it felt like she was messing with us. The excuses were ”our desk computers don't connect to the internet” ”you are booked twice, for a 5 day stay” (which makes no sense) and ”actually there are people in the new room right now.” 2. They insisted our tour meeting time was wrong and refused to schedule transportation at the time I asked for. The tour said 8AM sharp, and she absolutely insisted on leaving at 8:30AM. She said the tours leave 9-10 so there's no way you need to be there at 8. I asked several times to get there at 8 and she just wasn't having it. So we booked for 8:30. T

The hotel has high-end facilities and a comfortable environment

As a party of Turks, we spent last week at Villa Israel Eco Park. We had a wonderful time. I must express my appreciation to the entire hotel personnel. They are extremely friendly and helpful. My heartfelt gratitude goes to Jeng Jeng for her generosity. She planned a fantastic barbecue by the pool at a reasonable fee. We loved it so much that we demanded it again. One of El Nido's top beaches is accessible from the motel on foot. The village can be reached in 10 minutes by tricycle for only 150 pesos. Although it requires more upkeep, the hotel is very clean. The rooms are spacious. Breakfast might be more opulent. I would recommend the hotel to anyone seeking for a peaceful and welcoming environment.