Rosewood Place Resort

We had a bonfire on our last night. For a few hundred pesos I got a hut with two beds and two fans. The sea breeze was cool and smelled like fresh salty mint. The hosts need to refill the bath drum each day.

The staff were friendly and accommodating, and their sweet dog Kernel was a bright spot. Still, it was hard to rest after a day of travel with karaoke blasting at 9:30pm. Nobody had told us beforehand there’d be a P150 service charge for each meal cooked, so the P600 charge at checkout came as a surprise. There were also strange bugs in the beds that we had to pick off ourselves. Without Kernel, this would’ve been a one-star review.

When we arrived at low tide, the boat couldn’t dock at the resort. The landing area was three heck of a kilometers away, and the only transport was a motorcycle. We had kids and luggage with us, and nobody had warned us. Customers from elsewhere need to be told about this in advance. I appreciated one staff member apologizing for the manager’s attitude, but this has been my worst resort experience so far. The booking was a deal I’d been offered, and I confirmed first. Yet after confirmation, staff asked us to move to another resort because someone else wanted our accommodation. Later the manager insisted we eat at the resort restaurant when we wanted dinner in our cottage. There were hidden charges, and the manager had an obnoxious personality. At the start, staff should have offered us another room if they thought our group was too large, so we could pay the proper rate for our numbers. They shouldn’t just raise the price because they decide it’s right. The owner should train the staff better.

This is a locally run budget resort, so don’t expect five-star accommodations. We paid 1500php a night for five people, and the food was good and inexpensive. The staff were wonderfully hospitable and went out of their way to help. Belen the manager and her son Carlo were very accommodating. They recommended Robert as our tour guide for two days, and we were pleased with his service. I have nothing negative to say about them. I’m glad to have met such kind people, and the staff deserve six stars out of five. Support the locals. Don’t believe the bad reviews here. That group booked a room for 10 but showed up with 26 people, brought their own pans, pots, and food, then complained about the service fee. The resort is a business, and the people working there need to be paid, it isn’t a charity. They were upgraded to a bigger room and still tried to get a discount because they had seniors with them. They tried fitting 26 people into a 10-person accommodation and expected to have meals served in their room. That’s barbaric. If people aren’t willing to pay, they shouldn’t go on vacation. I hear there are 100 caves on Gigantes Norte where they can stay instead. And don’t expect a swimming pool, western toilet, or jacuzzi in this off-the-beaten-track destination. I can’t stand arrogant, cheap, demanding people.