Hotels near Samal Island, Samal Island

I am a hotel guy, hands down but when I found out that I could get my own room, I took a chance and went for it and I am SUPER HAPPY that I did. I normally stay at beach front resorts until a high maintenance friend suggested I give this hostel a shot. In my head, if my diva friend enjoyed this facility, then I could enjoy it too 😆. The place is NOT a beach front resort so you need to know that if you are only a beach front person. If you don’t have a car, there are “tricycles” that can you to the beach front for a super low cost. Drivers and locals are mega friendly and trustworthy. There’s a dog here named Yukie who’d even come with you if you like ❤️❤️. Anyway, the hostel is pretty rad. My room had air conditioning, a very comfortable bed and hot shower. NO television & wifi because the hostel encourages you to disconnect. If you want wifi, like me right now as I’m making this very review, you’d need to walk to the common area where you can eat your self service breakfast. They served me corn coffee which is pretty awesome. Then a continental breakfast as well. This common area has a television too so if you want to watch the news, you go right ahead. When I woke up this morning, there were many exotic birds chirping their little hearts away. So freaking cute. I checked out all the rooms so I can give my friends an accurate description. There are rooms with 4 single beds. Rooms with bunk beds with their own reading lights and 2 bathrooms in each shared rooms. The deluxe room is pretty awesome too. The art works are beautiful. Although the place advertises itself as a hostel, I am able to say that it’s a hybrid of a hotel and a hostel. I’ve seen hostels in Vancouver that made me want to barf. This hostel has gotten me SUPER IMPRESSED. Really clean. Really well maintained. Staff is awesome and initiative. I am very very impressed and I plan to bring my family and friends the next time I come back.

The initial welcome was very good for a hotel of this kind. The room was okay although a coat of paint would make it more pleasing than scuff marks everywhere. The lighting was stark - recessed bright bulbs do not give the right ambiance when no dimming. There is a lack of reading lamps above the bed (yes people do still read). The aircon unit was very noisy at night - this appears to be dependant on the make. Although we were out for a whole day on our return the room had not been made up and tea/coffee went un- replenished. Given the market this hotel is aiming for this was a huge disappointment. The in house meals weee good but there is a lack of consistency with staff service which could be improved.

Samal Island is just a few minutes boat ride from Davao City. Discovery has its own charter speed boat to the property. Upon arrival we were escorted to the main lobby. Main lobby u will see the beach front ( white sand but not that fine). There is also the restaurant Haribsr and Morning Catch. We were then escoorted to our bedroom using golf carts . The bedroom is has the view pf the olympic size pool which has a view of Davao CITY. The property also has a floating chapel, convention center, villas with designated pool. Bedroom is big, with own terrace. Overall the resort is very nice. Only a year from opening, the staffs are very nice accommodating and well trained. Special mention to one if the staffs who took care of is is Sir Ching. He went the extra mile to find us a room with king size bed facing the pool. Thank you!

We really enjoyed our one night stay, wish it could have been longer. The cabins are very nice and comfortable for us and our extended family. The staff are very good, they could not do enough for us. The facilities and beach are all very clean.

We actually went as a couple and with friends. There's no option for that here. I am going to repeat some things you will have read in other reviews but there is much more that isn't. The place in general and the cottages are immaculate. We had a single cottage, not an attached one, same as did both of the other couples who were with us. All were equally nice. But it was not only the cottage, but the grounds, Heck they even racked the sand each night.. all the sand. The staff were amazing and more than earn they salary. They were great. We will return to the place again, so anything I say next is not to indicate anything other then there is always some room for improvement. In our cottage, (#01) you have to wait a good five minutes for hot water in the shower if you are to take your shower at 6am... later in the day, we noticed the hot water came faster, but I normally don't shower at 11am. Also, there are no hand towels, so if you are going to wash your hands, you have to use your bath towel. You get a thermal carafe of brewed coffee and a local newspaper left for you each morning on the terrace The coffee was not very hot, but it was OK. My wide did request a kettle and they did bring one to us. There is a safe in the room , but it is not programmable, nor is there any number pad. You need a key for it and that means a trip to the front desk. Ask for it when you check in. We didn't as we have never seen a safe like this before. The electrical outlets, with the exception of one on the terrace are all dual spade Philippine electrical outlets. Since, in the Philippines, when you buy something electrical, you often get a EU, or UK or US three prong plug, the lack of 'universal outlets and/or a converter in the room meant the only place my wife could plug in the hair straightener was on the terrace, outside. So bring your own converters and if you are coming from the USA, don't plug anything in. There is no 115V service. The food in is good and priced very fairly. However, breakfast items are beyond minimal. You want eggs? OK if you other sunny-side up, you will get two eggs with hard yolks. (That may be what you want, but I like runny yolks. One of our group not understanding how things works, ordered two sunny-side up eggs. He was given two two-egg orders... four eggs. Want them easy over?... that's not on the menu. You can get 'firm' scrambled eggs. And you can get an omelette if you want tomatoes and onions in it, not wrapped into it. But that is the only type of omelette. Our group grumbled a bit about the egg issues including fried eggs that arrived pretty cold. . Want cereal? Well that is only cornflakes, (which I ordered as there was no other option). It was served in a cup with some half sour (to my taste buds) 'fresh' mink in a separate coffee cup (not a pitcher) and no sugar. You have to ask for sugar separately. And yeh, the milk doesn't pour nicely out of the coffee cup. There are no other breakfast items on the menu. In

To answer The General Manager's response. First of all, we took great care of our belongings. We were not informed about the bad weather conditions even the captain was seen unprepared. The strong waves resulted in significant water entering the boat, leaving us soaked, scared, and stressed. We don't want any of our things to be damaged, as we were hoping for a pleasant staycation. I understand that your IT team attempted to dry my laptop using RICE. Is this considered a standard or effective method for fixing a laptop? This experience highlights a lack of aftercare for your clients. 🙅‍♀️👎

The round hut is very classy. You will see the whole Davao Gulf iff you peek by the window. The pool's cleanliness is well-maintained. Foods are cooked and presented very well, and very delicious. Kudos to the butlers and the entire staff, who are very attentive and quick to the needs of the guests. We'll definitely visit again soon.