Belmont Hotel Boracay

For a 4-5 day stay, I expected a bit more from a premier room. There was no view or balcony, and nowhere to hang wet clothes. The front desk could have been more welcoming and helped us understand where things were, explained the free shuttle’s limits, and offered water. It felt like, because we’re Filo, we were expected to just know. The shuttle had limited capacity and needed to be booked well ahead, so we used the hoho after finding it through Google and the web. With the room feeling musty, the breakfast could have made up for it, but it was a bit limited for the price, especially during renovations. I should have booked a deluxe.

The local beach is pretty and an easy walk away, though we were disgusted that it was segregated by religion. We believe the whole beach should be open to everyone. Staff were helpful about arranging tuk tuks to White Beach, but we would have been better off staying closer to it. We weren’t told at first that the hotel shuttle to White Beach had to be booked an hour ahead. Without a reservation, they wouldn’t let us board even when it was empty. On arrival, we also got no information about the hotel, pool, or rooms, though the welcome drinks were nice. The pool bar is meant to open at 10 but didn’t open until 12. The pool was much smaller than the pictures suggested, with only three sunbeds. The hotel felt too small for how many people were there, and by 9 the breakfast area was packed with hardly any food left, so paying extra for breakfast wasn’t worth it. The rooms were clean but very small. This was the lowest-rated of the six hotels we stayed at during three weeks in the Philippines. I rarely leave a bad review, but I wouldn’t recommend this hotel.

I had a wonderful stay at Belmont Hotel, and the people there made us feel welcome and cared for from check-in through departure. Donnie especially stood out: professional, informative, and easy to talk to. His attentive service made our meal a real pleasure.

We stayed at this hotel for my husband’s organization event, then extended the visit because we wanted to relax and trusted the brand. With our toddler, it turned into the worst decision. The amenities may look exciting, but this was no place for a tired parent with a child. When I was exhausted and tried to rest in the quiet part of the cafe, a staff member bluntly said I wouldn’t be served there because everyone was outside. She even asked if I was going to order, though I was holding the menu. At another meal, my husband asked staff to set our table, but they set empty tables instead. I ended up taking the setup from one of those tables myself. We contacted the concierge twice about our key card and were told it had been fixed. After a tiring day out, our toddler had fallen asleep, but when we returned, the card was blocked and we couldn’t get into our room. Housekeeping also told me they planned to open our room while we were out to clean it. When I complained, a concierge staff member sarcastically told me to blame everything on her, then said they were busy with other guests and that was why they hadn’t helped us. How is that acceptable treatment? The manager tried to calm us down with a freebie and an apology dessert, but when we needed to check out early the next day, nobody answered the phone. A manager came up without a luggage cart and said he’d carry our bags himself. We were told no one else was available. It was a shame. Then a staff member came up to thank me, saying I’d opened his eyes to the hotel’s bad system and made him realize he should resign. What the hell? The staff were mistreating us and unprofessional throughout.