SSoulBattleThe hotel's interior and rooms were spotless, but the pool wasn't quite as pristine as I've experienced elsewhere, like Crystal Sands. What really surprised me, though, was that I always travel with my own filtered shower head, and this is the first hotel in Southeast Asia where the filter remained completely clean and unchanged!
The hotel's location is fantastic. The restaurant opens right onto White Beach, and this particular stretch has very little green algae. You can walk quite a way into the sea before encountering any, so the photos were all taken right outside the hotel. Staying here, there's no need to visit Puka Beach or venture out for island hopping. While it's a bit of a distance from the main dining areas on the island, transportation is super affordable; a trike ride is only 15-20 pesos per person, which is a steal. Plus, if you walk about 300 meters southeast from the hotel's roadside entrance, there's an amazing barbecue restaurant that's also very reasonably priced.
Most of the hotel staff were very friendly and welcoming. However, I unfortunately experienced some blatant discrimination during dinner at the hotel. One particular staff member was incredibly deferential towards white guests. When we sat down and tried to get his attention, he indicated he needed to serve the white table first. Later, when we were ready to pay, another white table called him over, and he immediately left us waiting to finish serving them before returning to process our bill. There were no 'sorry's, no 'hello's, no basic courtesies whatsoever. I want to clarify that we are always polite guests; we tipped the luggage handlers, housekeeping, and massage ladies, so we're not ones to nitpick. This particular staff member wore a different uniform than the others – black – so I'm not sure if he was a supervisor or something else. From check-in to check-out, all the other staff were incredibly friendly, and we reciprocated, but he was the sole exception.
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