Garnet Hotel

The main problem was the water, which sometimes smelled and turned brown. It usually happened in the afternoon, so showering earlier helped avoid the smell. Still, I’d give the stay five stars. I paid php3,092 for 4 nights and honestly didn’t expect such good value. The staff were lovely and always greeted us with a smile. They let us check in early in the morning even though our booking was for 2pm, and helped carry our things to the room. The service felt really warm. Coffee and tea were free, and the balcony view while having coffee was breathtaking. Our room was clean and cozy, and the WiFi, air conditioning, and hot shower all worked perfectly. I honestly don’t understand some of the other reviews, because that wasn’t my experience.

We found bedbugs in the bed and showed them to the staff, then left and cancelled our booking. The toilet was dirty, the room looked incredibly old, and the curtains were broken too. What a bad experience in El Nido. I couldn’t recommend this place to anyone.

The room was clean and quiet, and we had a hot shower. I don’t understand the other reviews. There wasn’t a window, which does suck, but opening the door for a few minutes with the fan on helped. The air conditioning worked most of the time, which was understandable since the town had power cuts for most of our stay. The hotel switched on its backup generators every time, so we had lights and WiFi during the storm while the rest of town was dark. The WiFi was pretty decent most of the time, too. The common area outside the rooms was old and used by backpackers for pre-drinks, but I guess security told them off, because they didn’t disturb us at night. The location was good. We’d stay again if we ever return to El Nido. Definitely the best place to be during a storm.

The staff were helpful and nice, and the view from the fourth floor was quite good. Still, this wasn’t a great place to stay. The WiFi only worked in the lobby and was painfully slow. Showers were cold at any time of day. In the fourth-floor rooms, some devices attached to the rear wall, maybe water pumps, started making a lot of noise at random times.