Muro Ami Beach Resort

Waking up to the sea view every morning was such a treat. Our room was clean, well kept, and spacious enough for our family of four. The staff, from the concierge through to room service and the restaurant, were consistently kind, helpful, and quick to anticipate what we needed. There was some litter along the otherwise beautiful white beach, which seemed understandable given the waves and currents, and it didn't take much away from our stay. We'd happily recommend the resort to families looking for a laid-back beach break.

Those sea views and the beach with palms moving in the breeze were lovely. The beds were wonderfully comfortable, a relief after so many hard ones elsewhere in the Philippines. Our end room was huge, nicely decorated, and very clean, though the shower had good pressure but no hot water. The area felt peaceful, but over our two days there were two weddings with loud music. Pete and Mario in the restaurant were especially friendly and helpful, and the rest of the staff were lovely too. Food was average, and breakfast was a letdown compared with similar hotels we'd stayed at, especially the quality of some ingredients. There's just one restaurant in the hotel, plus a few places in the small mall next door, though I can't say if they're any good. Beach loungers are in short supply, which should be easy to fix. The restaurant music was mall-style and kept repeating the same song, too. Still, I'd recommend staying here.

When we got back to our room that night, I went to take out cash for the next day and found my wallet in a different pocket of my backpack. I'd left it in the outer pocket before heading out for an island hopping tour. I counted the money beforehand: there had been 24,000 Philippine pesos, and 4,000 was missing. Exactly the small change was gone. I also found that 100 US dollars had disappeared. I had kept five 100-dollar bills with consecutive serial numbers in my wallet. My father-in-law had given them to us as wedding lucky money, and I was saving them for good luck. We reported it straight away. Management said they would look into it, then told us housekeeping had been in the room for about 15 minutes to clean. They also claimed there was nothing in the room except a suitcase. I pushed to see the CCTV footage, which showed my backpack had stayed inside the room the whole time. The housekeeping staff was obviously lying. There are no cameras in the room, so housekeeping can steal and simply deny it without consequences. The hotel still owes guests a reasonable explanation instead of passing the buck and covering up what happened. They completely brushed the incident aside and took no responsibility. This was an extremely disturbing experience and a serious failure of basic integrity. Whatever the view or facilities are like, I don't think a hotel is worth staying at if the staff can't be trusted and management doesn't protect guests' safety and belongings. Keep your valuables with you at all times. Leaving money or other things in the room puts them at risk.

The beach is lovely, and there's coral by the bridge where you can snorkel. The mall next door was a bit empty. Cross the street toward the fishing boats for a beautiful sunset, and it doesn't cost anything. The room was clean, comfortable, and spacious. Breakfast tasted good, though the choices didn't vary much.